Afghanistan: 'Combatting Hidden Enemies': Meet the Women on the Front Line of De-mining Afghanistan

Dec 8, 2019 | Roshan De Stone and David L. Suber, Independent
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Nearly 100 Afghans are killed every month by unexploded mines, and yet when Gulandam first signed up to help with de-mining efforts, men would hurl insults at her in the street. “At the beginning we faced many problems, especially when we used to walk around Bamyan wearing our de-mining clothes,” explains Gulandam, one of the first 16 female de-miners on a team whose funding is provided by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS). Her family were also worried that the job was “too risky” for a woman.