Negotiating New Norms

Aggression towards the policewomen has led participants either to hide their profession or reject the prevailing norms. Half of the participants decided to hide their profession (Participants 1, 2, 3, 4).

They don`t use their uniform outside the office. They have revealed their profession only to close family members. They state that there are two reasons why they hide their profession: society's intolerance and the security threat, which is prevailing for both men and women working in the security sector. Participant 2 portrays her decision to hide her profession in the following words:

”I would really like to wear my uniform, do work in the field but our people are not ready yet to accept that in this way. So because of that, I`m not doing that. Afghan people, our society, our culture, it is not ready yet.” (Participant 2)

Another half of the participants decided to reject the prevailing gender norms (Participant 5, 6,7).

They work in the field and use their uniform publicly. For them, it is a matter of honor and pride to present their profession publicly.

However, all the participants state that cultural and traditional norms related to gender have started to change. They believe institutional changes in the Afghan society have enabled it. The government has publicly embraced their importance (Participant 2) and there are more and more women conducting different roles in society (Participant 3). Appreciation towards policewomen is especially seen among the ones in need of police forces because they understand why policewomen are important (Participants 5,6,7). Participant 7 depicts her professional contact with society in the following way:

”It used to be really bad (the reaction in society), but now it has changed. I handle domestic violence cases. Men can not enter the house first, because there are women in the house. So I`m the first person entering to house and then the men follow me. These people who have cases like this (domestic violence), when I go in, they really appreciate my interest and presence in the house, because now they thank me, that thank god there is a woman, who got into my house because I have wife and children in here. And I could not let men come in, and handle this case. This is why people know, they know the problems they have, the domestic violence cases are always family problems.

And they really need women to be there.” (Participant 7)

Families of the majority of the participants resisted when they heard that their daughters or wives wanted to join the police forces (Participants 1, 2, 3, 5, 7). However, all participants stated that they were able to negotiate with their families and husbands for their new role in society. Two of the participants stated that the negotiation with the family and decisions made in consensus with the parents are crucial features in Afghan culture (Participants 2,3).

”We are Afghans, we have a different culture, we have to listen to our parents, we decide together with our parents.” (Participant 3)

This can also be realized from the fact that at the moment families of all the participants have accepted their daughter's or wife`s new profession; if they had not had, these women probably would not be police officers.

Institutional changes in society eased negotiations with the families. Families who might not have been able to send their daughters to school before because of the tuition fees, were now able to send their daughters to the free Police Academy. Additionally, there was a realization that their daughters and wives could also support the family financialy, which would benefit the whole family.

Participant 3 depicts the discussions in her family in the following way:

”In the beginning, my father was against it (the police work) but we had a lot of financial problems.

I gave my university exam and I was elected to literature. But when I came home, I asked my brother, if he can afford my finance, my brother said he can not afford it. And then I spoke to my father. After that, my father agreed because they could not afford my education. That is how they started agreeing with what I wanted to do.” (Participant 3)

Now she supports her family financially by giving the whole salary to her mother every month.

Several other institutional changes have eased police officers’ chance to organize their everyday lives around their profession. MOI has offered kindergarten for police officers` children. Several participants have either own drivers or they use buses organized by police forces to get to their workplaces. Additionally, the fact that in present-day Kabul women can walk alone and run their errands alone has enabled women to be more independent and participate in social action differently.

The re-organizing of social action has additionally aided participants in convincing their families that norms are changing in their society. One participant recounted how meaningful was the First Lady Runa Ghani`s public speech where she embraced female police officers. Two of the participants referred to television ads which encouraged women to join police forces.

In negotiations with the families, the new profession has been justified as serving the country and helping other women (Participants 4,5,6). Two of the participants had told their parents that if they became police officers men would not need to conduct searches on women, because female police officers would do it (Participants 1,2). Thus their profession would actually enable society to live up to its norms.