Freshta Hemmati and Shogofa Danish are refugees from Afghanistan and permanent residents in Canada. They — along with colleagues in Germany, France and the United States — are the co-founders of Women Organization for Rights, Dignity and Speech, a non-profit advocacy group based in Calgary.

Five years after the fall of Kabul, women journalists face oppressive measures meant to silence them and erase them from their profession.

Our new study reports that press freedom restrictions apply broadly under the Taliban in Afghanistan, but they are not gender neutral. Restrictions that prevent women from participating fully in Afghan society have profound impacts on journalism.

WORDS, an advocacy group we founded with other women in exile from Afghanistan, interviewed 40 female journalists across seven zones of Afghanistan, and reviewed reports and data from media organizations and freedom of speech advocates.

To protect participants, we did not record or publish identifying information.

Every journalist interviewed reported practicing self-censorship. All 20 women interviewed in Kabul said they no longer have the right to freely question officials at press conferences; some are only permitted limited attendance and must listen from behind screens without the ability to ask questions.

Gender-based restrictions are sharper outside the capital. Sixty-three per cent of all journalists interviewed cited the mahram (male guardian) requirement as a barrier to work, a figure that rises to 95 per cent among provincial journalists versus 30 per cent in Kabul. 

In some cases, women were barred from conducting interviews directly, with the task reassigned to male colleagues or family members.

The restrictions have reshaped the professional and economic standing of these journalists. Half now work for low pay or as unpaid interns. A quarter has changed professions; one in eight has become house-bound and has been interrogated by authorities during the past five years. 

Our research also documented a collapse of women-led media institutions — television and radio stations, news agencies, magazines and newspapers — that were run by women during the Republic era. Some organizations now operate in exile.

The pressure shapes access to sources, professional independence, income and career longevity. 

The call to action: WORDS is calling on human rights organizations to coordinate their efforts to create an accurate picture of women journalists in Afghanistan and the challenges they face.