MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Patriarchal way of life prevents Afghan police from hiring any female police staff, Hekmat Shahi, the head of gender issues and human rights department in the Interior Ministry told Sputnik.
"There are problems that do not allow us to say that our profession is popular among Afghan women. The key of these problems is lack of independence among girls, whether married or not, in decision-making within their families. Their personal interest rarely plays a role, more often it is simply not taken into account. Women are forced to live through the decisions that men take for them," Shahi said.
She added that the work of police is "the best profession in Afghanistan" because the defense of compatriots is an honorable, divine duty.
The interior ministry provided 5,000 positions reserved specifically for women a year ago. Almost all of then remain vacant.
