Her Name is Haq, We Call Her Arezo

She speaks of her interest to work in media and of her family’s resistance to it. She said that the public’s negative image of media was the main reason of her family’s opposition to her activity in this sector. Moreover, people did not allow their daughters to work in the media. Killing journalists made it even worse.

Sodaba Nasiri  has a bachelor’s degree from economics department, and has participated a training in journalism. After graduating from school at the age of sixteen, she overcame her family’s fear by starting her job dubbing in a private television. Although she passed the exam for the position of newscaster, she had to start dubbing because of her young age. She temporarily quitted her work, to pursue her education.

 It has been three years since she restarted her work in media as a women’s rights activist and director of economic programs. Despite the fact that women working in media tolerate harassment and the accusation for promoting inappropriate social behavior by majority of the  people, she appears on television as newscaster. Moreover, women face harassment in social media which harms them psychologically. She added that she has been constantly harassed on social media. to the degree that it created distrust between her and her family.  Another challenge of working in a media is that there is no social or financial insurance for the employees. She had to sign a contract stating that the media she worked at had no responsibility whatsoever with regards to her life or financial insurance.

The most serious challenge for employed women is not the security threats posed by the Taliban or ISIS, but the people who are supportive of their ideologies. She said that she knew from the beginning that her work might be disrupted considering security threats which is serious and people lose their lives because of it. But, those people who are supportive of radical and extreme ideologies are after the violation of fundamental rights of citizens including the right to education which is every person’s inalienable right.

Speaking of security, she said that as women who has faced countless obstacles for achieving her goal and has worked in many different sectors. She expects active participation of women in the society and their achievements not being sacrificed. Women demand the right to education in a peaceful society. However, she is not optimistic about the outcome of peace negotiation. She claimed that the Taliban have not agreed to women’s participation in the society and that she could not imagine the possibility of women working in any sector with the presence of the Taliban in the government’s body. She added that the President should stay committed to her promises and put women’s achievements as the most important priority of the government.