KABUL (Pajhwok): Despite multiple challenges, the number of female employees in the media in different provinces has increased, said free media advocacy group NAI on Sunday.
NAI director Mujib Khelwatgar told reporters here their findings showed the number of working women has increased in Kabul, Parwan, Logar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Helmand, Herat, Farah, Sar-i-Pul and Badakhshan provinces.
He said during the period woman’s presence in another 11 provinces — Panjsher, Ghazni, Laghman, Kunar, Badghis, Nimroz, Balkh, Jawzjan, Takhar, Faryab and Daikundi — was constant but declined in Wardak, Bamyan, Khost, Samangan Kunduz and Baghlan provinces.
Khelwatgar said currently no woman employee worked in media organizations of Ghor, Paktia, Nuristan and Zabul provinces and asked the government to provide necessary facilities to enable women to work in the media.
Referring to incidents of violence against journalists, he said 166 incidents of violence had been registered last year which included 19 murders, 41 injuries, 16 arrests, 23 torture and 67 incidents of threats.
He said NAI findings showed violence against journalists had increased last solar year compared to the previous year. Khelwatgar said government’s influence on media had also increased.
Offering government posts was among the tools the government used to influence media persons, he said adding the government had hired 41 qualified and talented journalists in civil and nine others in military, he said.
But deputy Presidential Spokesman Shah Hussain Mustafavi rejected the government’s influence on journalists and accused NAI of releasing baseless information.
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