U.S. military helps Afghan National Police recruit, train women

U.S. military helps Afghan National Police recruit, train women

U.S. and Afghan officials have been able to attract recruits with a $945,000 recruitment and retention fund. Some analysts hail the incentive as an essential tool that will help Afghan President Ashraf Ghani build a less-corrupt, more-efficient security force.

It also will help maintain advances in gender equality made during the U.S. occupation, according to a Council on Foreign Relations report, “Women and Girls in the Afghanistan Transition.” That progress otherwise could be lost as President Obama winds down the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan, the council said.

“The significant gains that Afghan women and girls have made since the 2001 U.S.-led military invasion and overthrow of the Taliban are endangered,” the report said. “Presidential elections and possible peace efforts with the Taliban raise uncertainties about whether the future leadership in Afghanistan will protect gender equality. Further, President Barack Obama’s plan to completely draw down U.S. troops in the country by the end of 2016 risks withdrawing critical security protection, which has provided Afghan women and girls with increased safety and opportunities to participate in education, employment, the health system, politics, and civil society.”

Moving too quickly?

Some women’s advocates say the Afghan government is trying to do too much, too quickly, without properly protecting women from the sexual advances of their instructors or colleagues.

Few policies are in place to shield female police recruits from unwanted comments or inappropriate behavior of their male peers, said Palwasha Kakar, a senior program officer for religion and peace-building at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

“All women who enter the police force are sexually harassed in some way, shape or form,” she said.

U.S. and Afghan officials should halt their ambitious equal opportunity plan until they can ensure that female police officers are treated equally, Ms. Kakar said.

“There’s a huge push by the international community to say we’ve got this 5,000 target and we need to have 5,000 women in the police. But we need to make sure the process of recruiting these women is not putting them in more harm’s way than they already are,” she said.

Story Continues →

via NorthEast Calling http://ift.tt/1DI0TR9