Before the ban, female staff working for IOM used the road between Herat and Islam Qala to reach vulnerable women at the border. This road is now dotted with numerous checkpoints run by the DfA, some of whom are unhappy to see women continuing to work.

“The main challenge I face when I’m not at home is a lack of security,” says Zahra*, who started working for IOM three years ago.

“We always feared these checkpoints, they were always there. Now there are more of them, and I still fear them even though I hold proper documentation and a permission letter, because [the DfA] are often verbally aggressive to me. Sometimes when I am in the car, they look at me very angrily and that makes me feel afraid.”

Women humanitarians in Afghanistan also face threats from civilians. “Earlier last year there was a shooting in our province, we were in the field and while community members were fighting with each other, one of them shouted, ‘Where are the women staff? Tell me! I will kill them! Where are they?’ We were petrified,” Noor adds.

Before resuming operations following the issuance of the decree, IOM put in place mitigating measures to reduce the risk faced by female staff. This includes continued negotiation efforts at the central and local level to obtain assurances on the safety of female staff, and exemptions for them to provide direct assistance to affected communities.

Freshta, a 46-year-old mother of seven and returnee from Iran, received mental health support from a female IOM counselor upon her return to Afghanistan.