The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Monday raised deep concerns over what it described as “immoral advances” towards women in the Afghan workplace, both in the government and private institutions.   

TOLOnews correspondent Tamim Hamid talked with two Afghan women who have faced immoral and unethical demands:

Maryam, 20,  is an Afghan young women who after completing her secondary school decided to work in a government ministry. However, she was faced with various problems.

“They asked if I was married or unmarried, or if I had a boyfriend or not, and they told me ‘I am at your service, please give me your number,’” said Maryam.

But Maryam left her job at a government institution and tried sought work at private institutions.

At one job encountered harassment:

“When I met the boss, the boss smiled at me and said ‘you are suitable for this job’ without asking my work experience or my educational qualification. He said ‘you are beautiful’ and ‘you won’t have any problems, just start your job,’” added Maryam.

Masooma, 26, has a different story:

Masooma came to Kabul from another province where she had to work at a health center in an insecure, Taliban-controlled region of the country in order to help her family.

While in Kabul, Masooma tried hard and inquired at several private and government institutions for work, but failed.

In one case she encountered trouble:

“The boss asked me to go with him alone and so I accompanied him and I was talking to him, and he suddenly stood up and put his hand on my shoulder. Then I stood up and said ‘what are you doing?’ and then I left his office,” said Masooma.

Last spring reports surfaced in media of similar occurrences in the higher levels of government, and many people inside and outside the country called for an investigation of the issue.

“The secretariat, which was formed within the Independent Human Rights Commission, was intended to go and launch investigations into such matters, both in government institutions and also outside the government institutions-- wherever allegations of sexual harassments exist,” said Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the Afghan president Ashraf Ghani.

“The consequence of ignoring such issues, besides endangering the workplace safety of numerous Afghan citizens, is the harm to the process of women’s participation in the administrative process and governance,” said Naeem Nazari, deputy head of AIHRC.