Afghan women living within their compounds in Helmand are barely visible to the outside world Sunday 27 February 2011
Wooing widows
Afghan women living within their compounds in Helmand are barely visible to the outside world After decades of conflict in Afghanistan, there are almost two million widows leading secluded, poverty-stricken lives. But now all-female army units are going into remote villages in an effort to integrate these women into wider society.
In a small village on the edge of the Bolan desert, near Laskhar Gah, a group of women sit huddled together on a sunny terrace. Some are girls, barely out of their teens.
All are shrouded in dark veils.
These women are widows. This one village is home to at least 80 of them.
They are the tragic victims of three decades of conflict which has created a generation of widows and orphans.
In rural Afghanistan women are invisible, locked behind doors in the safety of their compounds.
Reaching such women is a huge challenge for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), but one that is considered vital.
It is also viewed as an important part of the wider counter-insurgency campaign in Afghanistan.
As it is culturally inappropriate for male troops to have any contact with local women, teams of women soldiers form units, known as the Female Engagement Team (Fet), to try to engage with Afghan women.
Corporal Raziya Aslam British military linguist, Helmand“You walk through bazaars, you will not see a woman. They are just hidden away”
In Helmand there are huge challenges.
"It's very different to Kabul, there's a big difference. A large proportion of women in Helmand are uneducated. You walk through bazaars, you will not see a woman. They are just hidden away," says Corporal Raziya Aslam, who works as a military linguist in Helmand.
"Women in their culture get kept behind closed doors. It's not because the men want to rule the roost, and it's more about their safety," says Lance Corporal Stacey Nicholson, a member of the Fet, based in Lashkar Gah.
To help them, she needs to travel to their villages in an armoured convoy. This remains a patriarchal society and Lance Corporal Nicholson has to talk to the local village elder before she can meet any women.
"Once that elder gets to know me and knows what my job is, he then invites me to his compound to meet the women. Once he's comfortable, he then takes me to another compound, maybe his friends or relatives," she says.
This eventually leads to a meeting, known as a "shura".
I travel with the team to a shura. We go to a small village to meet a group of elders. It has been arranged with Wakil, the village elder.
The aim of this shura is to help local widows set up a sewing co-operative. When we arrive, we are greeted by Wakil and his brother, who share the compound with their wives and children.
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