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The last thing Hatera, 33, saw, shortly after leaving her job at a police station in Ghazni province, was three men on a motorcycle shooting her and stabbing her in the eye.
When he woke up in the hospital, everything was dark.
“I asked the doctors why I could not see anything. They told me that I was still blindfolded from the injuries. But at that moment I realized that I had no eyes,” says the young woman.
She and local authorities blamed the attack on Taliban militants, who have denied any involvement, and said the perpetrators acted on the basis of information from her father, who strongly opposed his daughter working outside the home.
For her, the attack not only deprived her of her sight, but also of her dream, which she had struggled to realize, that is, to have an independent career. He had joined the Ghazni police as an officer a few months ago.
“I wish I had served in the police force for at least a year. If this happened to me later, it would be less painful. It happened so quickly … I went to work and lived my dream for just three months,” the young woman told Reuters.
The attack on Hatera, which only uses her name, is indicative of a growing trend, say human rights activists, of a strong and often violent backlash against working women, especially in the public sector.
In Hatera’s case, being a cop could have enraged the Taliban.
The childhood dream shattered
Hatera’s dream as a child was to work outside the home, and after long efforts to persuade her father, to no avail, she managed to secure her husband’s support.
But her father, as she explains, did not abandon his refusal. “Many times when I went to work, I saw my father following me … he had started contacting the Taliban in the neighboring area and asked them to prevent me from going to work,” Hatera says.
According to her, her father gave the Taliban a copy of his identification to show that he works for the police and called her on the day of the attack to find out where he was.
A Ghazni police spokesman confirmed that the police believed the Taliban were behind the attack and said Hatera’s father was in custody.
Reuters was unable to reach him directly for comment.
A Taliban spokesman said the group was aware of the case, but that it was a family affair in which the Taliban were not involved.
Hatera and her family, including five children, are in hiding in Kabul today, where she is recovering and mourning the loss of her career.
She has trouble falling asleep, flies every time she hears the noise of a motorcycle and has severed all ties with her extended family, including her mother, who accuses her of being responsible for her father’s idea.
She hopes that a doctor abroad can somehow restore her vision.
“If it is possible for me to regain my sight, I will go back to my job and serve in the police force again,” he said, adding that he needed to have some income to escape poverty. “But the main reason is my passion for working outside the home.”
The Taliban
Human rights activists believe that the combination of conservative social norms in Afghanistan and the growing influence of the Taliban as the United States withdraws its troops from the country lead to an escalation of the phenomenon. The Taliban are currently in Doha, Qatar, negotiating a peace deal with the Afghan government, many of whom are awaiting a formal return to power, but progress has been slow and there has been an increase in attacks on prominent officials and women. . in the country.
“Although the situation for Afghans in public office has always been dangerous, the recent escalation of violence across the country has made things worse,” said Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International activist for Afghanistan.
“The significant steps that have been taken for women’s rights in Afghanistan over a decade should not fall victim to any peace deal with the Taliban,” she said.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
