During the massive earthquake that struck Afghanistan on the night of September 1, male rescuers and doctors could only help men.
The New York Times writes about this.
The magnitude-6 earthquake killed more than 2,200 people and injured another 3 600, according to figures released by the Afghan government.
While the Taliban did not release a gender breakdown of the casualties, more than half a dozen doctors, rescue workers and women in the quake-hit areas said women faced a particularly difficult ordeal, made worse by neglect and isolation.
Women and girls in Afghanistan face some of the harshest restrictions in the world under the Taliban, which came to power four years ago. It remains steadfast even as much of the Muslim world, numerous human rights groups and institutions such as the World Bank warn of the long-term consequences of such policies for the countryʼs social fabric and economy.
Girls are banned from attending school beyond the sixth grade. Women cannot travel far without a male companion and are barred from most jobs, including in non-profit and humanitarian organizations.
Afghan women working for UN agencies face repeated harassment. This year, it has led to threats so severe that agencies have ordered their staff to temporarily work from home.
The country also faces a critical shortage of health workers, especially women. Last year, the Taliban banned women from training in medical institutions. The shortage of female doctors and rescue workers became all too apparent after the earthquake.
Strict cultural and religious norms dictate that only a close male relative — her father, brother, husband, or son — may touch a woman.
The same thing works the other way around: women are not allowed to touch men outside their family. In disaster zones, female rescuers are not allowed to help men. But a woman can pull non-family women out of the rubble.
A New York Times reporter who arrived in the Mazar-i-Dara district the day after the earthquake saw no women among the medical, rescue, or relief teams assisting the victims.
One of the district hospitals visited did not have a single female staff member. If male relatives were not nearby, rescuers pulled dead women out by their clothing to avoid skin contact.
When a small number of nurses and aid workers began arriving in the affected areas on September 2, only a few of them were women. Soldiers monitored them and prevented journalists from asking questions or taking pictures of them.
Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman acknowledged that there is a shortage of female doctors in the areas affected by the earthquake.
"But hospitals in Kunar, Nangarhar and Laghman have the largest number of female doctors and nurses, especially to treat earthquake victims," he said of the worst-hit provinces.
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