Being a Woman in Kandahar

Radio Télévision Suisse | 12 mins
Postproduction script

0’07 Women’s prison, Kandahar

00:00:08,625 VO: -In Kandahar, it is said that women are safer in prison than on the outside.

00:00:30,517 Reporter: -How many women are there?

00:00:32,235 Ahmad: -There are 90 at the moment. But it varies depending on the cases we receive.

0’37 Ahmad Shah, Prison guard, Kandahar

00:00:43,337 VO: -We have been allowed to meet some of them. Some ran away; They didn't accept their marriage. Others were arrested with a man who was not their relative. They tell their story in few words.

00:00:58,329 Reporter: -How old are you?

00:01:00,987 Shaima: -I don't know.

00:01:03,936 Reporter: -Why are you here?

00:01:07,952 Shaima: -I wanted to divorce my husband, because he is an old man. My brother forced me to marry him. I ran away and my brother filed a complaint against me. I am staying here waiting for my divorce. If I go out, some of my family members could kill me.

00:01:30,739 VO: -Shaima has been in prison for three months. She will get out when a compromise is reached with her family.

00:01:37,760 Shaima: -My husband used to beat me. I asked the police three times to intervene. My husband got rid of me.

00:01:44,804 VO: -She won't say any more. Eventually, the guard reveals a darker reality.

00:01:50,597 Guard: -Her husband sold their little daughter for 7,000 euros. He kept this money to buy a second marriage.

00:02:01,580 VO: -In this region of Afghanistan, silenced women are always at fault.

00:02:06,682 Girl: -Sir, I'd like to know what to do when I can get out of here

00:02:13,306 Ahmad: -First you must write a letter to the director...

00:02:25,321 Girl: -I don't know how to write. Could you do that for me?

00:02:27,833 Ahmad: -You can find someone to do that for you, or else come and see me.

00:02:37,288 VO: -We are told these women are there of their own free will. The prison as a refuge. We'd like to think so given what awaits them outside.

2’50 Title – Being a Woman in Kandahar

00:02:55,465 VO: -Kandahar, second largest city in the country. This is the bastion of ideology of the Taliban regime, spiritual cradle of its leaders, epicenter of their previous rule. This August 15th, all over the country, the Taliban celebrated the one-year anniversary of their accession to power and the return of peace.

00:03:16,378 Qari: -In our Afghanistan, there will be no more problems for foreigners. If they can provide us with help, they are welcome, if not, leave us alone.

3’24 Qari Hekmat Ullah Hazifa, Taliban member

00:03:25,670 Man: -God is great, Death to America

00:03:33,863 VO: -But for a year now, the country has suffered from an acute economic crisis. The regime has other priorities, such as control over women, of which Kandahar has become the centre.

00:03:53,620 Reporter: -What is the rule for cabs?

00:03:56,642 -Taxi driver: -Women are in the trunk. They are not allowed to sit on the seats.

00:04:06,820 Man 2: -This is a ban put into effect by the Taliban Emirate. They can sit on the seats only if a man is travelling with them.

00:04:22,900 VO: -The laws follow one another, restrictions accumulate. Work, travel, education. The Taliban order continues, and their supporters congratulate them.

00:04:38,390 Abdel: -The city has never been so safe. There are no more thieves, no more criminals. If you put money on a wall, nobody will touch it for 20 years.

4’45 Abdel Samat Muzamin, Police officer, Kandahar district

00:04:56,279 Reporter: -What about the status of women? Will it change?

00:05:01,044 Abdel: -It's not my job, our leaders know what to do. I'm not allowed to say anything about it. I am only obeying my leaders.

00:05:21,148 VO: -Few people dare to oppose this new order. You have to get up early to meet the women and go into the suburbs. Here about forty women are making bread under the supervision of children who have grown up too fast.

00:05:41,163 Boy 1: -Where is this lady?

00:05:43,426 Boy 2: -She is over there

00:05:46,312 Boy 1: -Ok, they're all there.

00:05:49,715 VO: -They are foremen, bakers. They are the only ones allowed to be around women and see their faces. Most of them are widowed, poor, just insignificant enough. They are vulgarly called "the white hairs". Others are married and hide from their husbands that they work here. Originally from Kabul, Spojmai is the only one to let her face be seen.

00:06:31,351 Spojmai: -Some husbands don't let their wives to go out one meter away from their house. Except when they realize that there's no more food for them, then they let them go. Some women do not have the permission of their husbands to come to work, but come anyway.

00:06:57,088 Reporter: -What has changed for you since the arrival of the Taliban?

00:06:59,852 Spojmai: -I was poor before, I am still poor. Nothing has changed in my life. My husband has two wives, he is not only for me. I have not had a single moment of happiness in my life. Maybe God wanted it this way.

00:07:26,270 VO: -Sent to God, who else? To denounce, to oppose, to criticize, is to risk your life. This teacher knows it. When the Taliban proclaimed school ban for girls in middle school, she opened a clandestine school.

00:07:49,076 Anonymous teacher: -This is where girls and boys were taught before the Taliban came. When they learned that we were running a school, they banned our school and we could no longer teach.

00:08:12,950 Anonymous teacher 2: -Here are the pictures of our school.

00:08:19,495 VO: -This couple welcomed about ten students every evening, until they were denounced to the Taliban.

00:08:25,140 Anonymous teacher 2: -First I received a letter, then I received calls from unknown numbers. They said that we were going against the Taliban's Islamic laws. That we receive support from foreigners. They called my father and said to him: "Your son is doing illegal things." "We may have to kill him if he continues." We have moved several times waiting for the for the situation to calm down.

00:09:04,356 VO: -We leave the city towards the tribal areas and most conservative regions of Afghanistan. Neglected areas that are abandoned to hunger, floods and their destruction. Here, for twenty years, the children have known only the school of the mullahs. Despite three prison stays for the last eight months, Matiullah Wasa, son of a former warlord, is fighting to organize an alternative. A school for girls and boys.

00:10:00,637 Matiullah: -Come, come, all of you!

00:10:02,205 VO: -In the open air, for all to see. The school moves from village to village. The idea has travelled.

00:10:10,135 Matiullah: -Come near me, all of you! Come and sit with us!

00:10:24,364 Matiullah: -We met with the village chiefs, the parents, the fathers. When we told them that we had this project, they agreed to try. They sent their daughters, and most of them are happy with it. Many people are in favor of education for girls.

10’30 Matiullah Wesa, Founder of ‘Mobile Pen Path’ school

00:10:45,415 VO: -It's fragile support, and some refuse to be filmed for fear of reprisals.

00:10:52,100 Anonymous man: -The problem is that we don't have special places for girls nor enough women to teach. It's our culture, we can't let our daughters to study with a male teacher and alongside boys. So in the meantime, we'll try this system.

00:11:33,610 VO: -And this is how in the far reaches of Afghanistan, the alphabet is taught. A little girl's voice. A small voice that will perhaps carry, one day, the whole country.