Violence against women

Director of News and Current affairs at 1TV Samiullah Mahdi.

Panelists Samiullah Mahdi, Saba Ayub-Riipinen and Alex Munive.

"We are fighting to create awareness."

Afghan TV-producer Sami Mahdi's first comment about his TV-show Niqab (the Mask) hit the audience; this young Afghan man was truly speaking about women to women. 80 percent of the audience at PLAN's Because I am a girl -seminar were women and as Mahdi put it, "in Afghanistan it would be 99 percent male audience".

During the Taliban-rule it was forbidden to own a TV-set, now 80 percent of Kabul's citizens have access to one. In a war-torn country there are now 65 TV-stations and 1TV-station is a bit different from the rest.

"I wanted to give those victims of violence a voice", Mahdi explains why he is making a program of 24 episodes about domestic violence and human rights.

Women talk about their painful stories behind a blue-and-white mask. The colors symbolize purity (white) and the pain of mothers of Afghanistan (blue). My heart missed a beat when Mahdi said "if you'll wear it, you'll feel like in a prison".

A silent voice

Victims' identities are protected and security of the burkha-wearing women appearing on the show is provided. Women are allowed to share their stories of domestic abuse, child marriages and prostitution.

Stories feature of young girls who are forced to marry or to work as a prostitute in Afghanistan or in Pakistan to provide for the family. Often girls traded for blood money are treated as slaves and cast-off from their own families. There is no return for girls and situation isn't stable for a lonely woman in a city like Kabul.

This quite radical talk show is changing the society and combating against child marriages and breaking the taboo of talking about domestic violence. Viewers of the show are divided into three categories: viewers who are against the concept of the show, viewers who believe it is only a commercial project (when in fact the program has no sponsors) and the third group of viewers who understand the concept and believe it will change the Afghan culture.

To be a journalist in Afghanistan is a dangerous profession and to do background research for the Mask is dangerous. It took one year to find women to talk about the violence they faced. The idea of the program is to shake the conscious of the society and to convince the victims to speak out about their situation. "With TV-programs we can change the minds" Mahdi said and continued about the importance of education in his country "education must be the first stone of our society".

In Afghanistan the challenge is to survive to live. As the wars and terrorism changed the country badly the situation of boys and girls are equally bad. Danger is real for both in the society and we should emphasize the non-violence values in schools and universities.

Gender based violence

Silence surrounds the violence women and girls face. How to break the silence? The Afghan men should support their women speaking out about the injustice in society. System isn't supporting and often women don't dare to break the silence because of the lack of justice from court.

"How to make the security?" Mahdi asked during a panel-discussion and spoke about the role of the religious leaders in an Islamic country. Little educated mullahs make big problems; they have lots of effect on people's minds and society.

The Mullah talks about Islam and the Quran on the program, just how those elements are affecting the viewers and correcting the misunderstandings of religion. "We play with that", Mahdi admits and keeps working on different levels to help the girls and women of Afghanistan with his TV-program.

Text and pictures: Anna-Maria Tukiainen