The Terrorist-Fighting Female Commandos of Pakistan | Woman with Gloria Steinem

Every time religious fundamentalist groups come to political power, women's equality is threatened in Pakistan. The Taliban have controlled large areas of tribal lands for decades. They use violence and terror to assert male dominance over women in ways that permeate every facet of society we travel through. border with Afghanistan to learn how this religious tide is affecting the lives of millions of women. We are in Karachi, my hometown, which is the largest city in Pakistan. It has a population of more than 20 million. It is also possibly the most liberal city in the country. However, as a Pakistani

woman

over the last decade I have noticed a huge cultural change due to the rise of the Taliban which oppresses and marginalizes women, but this has not always been the case: our constitution guarantees that women have the same rights as men and the outlaws. gender discrimination we are only interested in peace and stability in 1988 we even elected Bayo as the first

female

leader of a Muslim nation, but the tribal areas that straddle Pakistan's 1,500 mile border with Afghanistan They have become a hotbed of extremism that threatens everyone.

From Pakistan, we now travel to the borderlands to see how this violence began and how women suffer and fight against it. In the mid-1990s, the Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan when US-led coalition forces overthrew the regime after 9/11. Thal crossed the border into Pakistan's semi-autonomous fata or federally administered tribal area. The mountainous region is largely governed by traditional tribal law and is already home to other extremist groups due to ongoing military operations aimed at eradicating militants in Fata, thousands of civilians from this region. They have been pushed into refugee camps like this even though some of the women agreed to talk to us, the men have not let the women leave their homes at the moment, we are just trying to gain access despite the risk, we found to a willing

woman

. talk to us while her husband was away, we have been trying to get stories from women here and found it very difficult.

Women don't want to come up and talk to us because they are afraid, what are they afraid of? Did women's lives change after the Taliban took over their area? Baby, we had to cut the interview short because the woman who was talking to us had not told her husband that she was going to give an interview and it was almost time for her husband to come home but she was very scared so obviously we had to end it Talking to us without her husband's permission puts this woman at risk because the vast majority of these refugees adhere to a cultural and semi-religious practice called parda parda literally means curtain or covering, but the practice also dictates how a woman behaves. woman in society in its most liberal form.

Forums simply implies a loose covering for women in public, but in this ultra-conservative region under the influence of the Taliban women must wear what is known as a full ruffle. bka, they have limited interaction with the world outside their home and cannot leave it without the permission of a male family member. There is greater trauma and frustration among women, particularly younger ones, lawyer and human rights activist Rakanda Naas explains how subjugating women really is. a terror tactic used by militant extremists to maintain power even in the patriarchal system there was a culture of tolerance but now we lack a culture of tolerance, this culture is really dangerous for us and if we go even covering our body according to our own cultural way. of parda, then we could be attacked by a man outside our family, the male member of the family, they feel pressure because if a girl in your family is attacked, you will be considered shameful, you could not control your women in the family. unable to implement the rules set by society or the community because families were so insecure, the entire social fabric was totally changed by restricting and persecuting women.

Extremist militants have created a culture of fear that destabilizes communities and makes them easier to control. It's hard to understand why. It is very important to men that women remain covered and secluded. I am in K Bakuna province, in a community center for displaced people. Here I meet two men from the north of a Taliban stronghold where parda is strictly enforced throughout the border area. Militant Islamists turn. Their extreme interpretation of the Quran turns into laws that subjugate women, but even in this region there are places where women are exceeding the limits imposed on them. Rana Jabin is the vice-chancellor of Sardar Bahadur Khan University, where women from even the most conservative families can get an education located in qua capital of the volatile Balochistan province is one of the few places where women are free to get rid of its PARTA, but in 2013 the University's security was breached when a bus full of university students was bombed by an extremist militant group targeting girls. from a minority sect, a comfortable environment like the one these women have to pursue an education carries great risks;

They know that the reason they have been attacked is because an educated woman is a threat to the existing power structure, but they refuse to become victims of this violence. They have owned their destiny, they are challenging their destiny, and they are using education to change their future. Women along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan are

fighting

the religious extremism that has gripped the region, some by gaining an education and others through broader education. unconventional approach that challenges gender norms in their culture we are now on our way to hungu which borders the federally administered tribal areas in

pakistan

the streets are really secluded and you hardly see any cars it is an area rarely visited by men journalists because it is considered Too dangerous to reach, we are here to meet Shazadi Galani, who is the highest-ranking officer to ever serve in this conservative issue, as her family adheres to the strict brown culture.

Shazadi has had to give up everything to be a police officer, even though her parents. She finally accepted Shaz's decision. Her work has caused a rift within her extended family even though she is a commander. Shazadi cannot leave the compound because she is a woman and it would be too dangerous. Instead of being active in the field, she limits herself to teaching antiterrorism. measures for trainee officers although she is confined to the academy shazadi believes she is making a difference Sports maor I got a job to play such a senior role in the fight against terrorism shazadi has had to make sacrifices, but the next generation of police officers Women who answer the call to serve are finding ways to fight extremism without giving up their PDA culture.

The escorts have just arrived, so now we will head to Elite Force Cent training. Today, a new generation of women are dedicating their lives to defending Pakistan against religious extremism by becoming Commandos in a specialized anti-terror squad led by the Kakuna Police Department after 9 months of training that includes hostage negotiation, gun shooting heavyweights and hand-to-hand combat, these women will be sent on raids of urban

terrorist

hideouts Elite For opera, these women are transcending the social boundaries dictated by their gender while also honoring PARTA culture. As a result, women are now seen as an asset in the war on terrorism. a lot has changed for Pakistan zindabad SSG zindabad leader for zindabad G for zad the lives of so many women we have met along this journey have been affected by conflict the struggles we have seen of people who have been displaced people who have been lost dears, those are the stories that really form the fabric of today's society, but they say that when a country is affected by conflict and war, communities that have been repressed for a long time begin to emerge and you are seeing that with women in Pakistan.

The most surprising part of these stories is that all of the women we filmed were taking a risk simply by speaking to us, that is because their voices alone are a threat, it is a powerful reminder that women are the best weapon against oppression, those that not only demand change. but those who achieve it through their own brave words and actions obtain