Feature: Tale of an Afghan female journalist

Life for female journalists in Afghanistan has never been easy but not for Farahnaz, a 22-year- old news presenter of a private television channel Ariana (ATN News), in the Afghan capital Kabul.

"As a female journalist, I face a variety of obstacles and problems, including abusive treatments, as I do my job each day," Farahnaz told Xinhua.

Farahnaz said what motivated her to work as journalist, that is challenging profession in Afghanistan, is to be able to prove that women can do a man's job even in one of the world's most dangerous countries where traditions are deeply rooted.

Farahnaz, like most Afghans, prefers to have only one name. She has been working as a child program presenter eight years ago and a full-time journalist for three years at TV stations, which made her famous among Afghan women civil society activists.

"I feel very lucky because my family, especially my father, has given me their full support to the career that I have chosen. My superiors and colleagues, including men, have been very supportive of me and thus I enjoy the kind of work that I am doing," Farahnaz said.

According to Farahnaz, the biggest problem faced by media practitioners, both women and men in conflict-ridden Afghanistan, is security and the daily risks to life and limb.

In addition to this, women must deal with cultural barriers as people are unwilling or reluctant to allow women to work in the media sector.

According to NAI, a non-governmental body supporting Afghan media outlets, Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.

Eight journalists were killed in 2014 in bomb attacks in various parts of the country.

Despite all these factors, women have kept on struggling and the number of women working in Afghan media outlets has increased during the past months.

Aside from Farahnaz, there are other women who worked at ATN news channel. Some of them are editors and doing staff work.

"I think the people's attitude towards women has changed. Unlike 13 years ago, most of the families now allow their daughters to work outside home, including in the media sector and I think the development is a positive change and good for women's rights in Afghanistan," Farahnaz said.

In the post-Taliban Afghanistan, mass media has made considerable progress as dozens of TV channels and more than 100 radio stations and several hundred newspapers are now operating across the country.

While the presence of female media practitioners in Afghanistan remains insignificant compared to other countries, women like Farahnaz, who are courageous enough to cross the traditional barriers and endure the hardship that they have encountered along the way could serve as an inspiration for other Afghan women to venture into professions normally reserved for men in a conservative society like Afghanistan.

It is still a long way to go before there will be gender equality in Afghanistan but women like Farahnaz have already shown that this can be achieved in the future as Afghanistan slowly opens up to the world. Endi