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Media development agencies in Afghanistan claim that theirs has been the largest media reconstruction effort in the world, and largely a success story. Irrespective of whether such claims are true, the media development sector in Afghanistan now plays out competing visions for Afghanistan's "modern" future in a very unique media space, where media reconstruction of a traditional, post-conflict, Islamic, primarily rural oral society has been spearheaded by Western professional, secular, urban, media-rich agencies and agendas. Media (particularly radio) interventions have been seen by some activists as a way of extending the reach of development efforts into remote rural areas, positioning the radio as external authority and “arbitration” within the household. Agencies like UNIFEM have shifted their development communications strategies to providing technical information and resources to journalists on Islamic teachings on women’s rights, and providing structures and arguments bounded in Afghan values and law that might offer women in abusive situations space for negotiations within the household. This chapter charts the effectiveness of the media as a force for combating domestic violence in such a context. The lessons to be learned are of interest across Muslim communities.
About the Author
Sarah Kamal is a media specialist who has conducted independent research in Afghanistan since the summer of 2001. She is currently investigating gender, media, and social change in Afghanistan for her doctorate at the London School of Economics.
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