Gender Identities in Transformation: Afghan Female Police Officers` contested profession in Post-Conflict Afghanistan

Abstract

Afghanistan has been in turmoil in recent decades. US-led coalition forces invaded the country in 2001 when it had already suffered from decades of ongoing conflict and gender relations had been radicalized to a point of extremity. Alongside intensive fighting against the Taliban and the other insurgency groups, the US and its allies took an active role in rebuilding the country, where the SSR played a key role. Women were for the first time in the history of Afghanistan formally accepted in the police forces and gender equality was promoted throughout the security forces. However, the number of women in police forces has not increased as expected. The varying insurgency groups have taken policewomen as their targets and their presence has awakened dissonance inside the forces and among the larger society. At the same time, they are seen by the international community as crucial actors for increasing the human security of the whole nation.

This thesis seeks to increase knowledge on how Kabul based female police officers navigate their lives around their contested profession. The research is based on thematic interviews with seven female police officers living in Kabul. The main focus of the study is on gender identities; how they are constructed in surroundings which may be characterized as an extremely patriarchal society, excessively internationalized state-building reforms, and a highly masculine professional context.

The data reveals that the presence of female police officers in Afghanistan threatens the existing gender order as they occupy positions that are commonly seen as best performed by men in a context where the duty to protect has traditionally been connected to men`s pride. Thus the participants have not been able to build their identity vis-à-vis the traditional roles assigned to men and women. In a civilian context, the post-conflict setting, the institutional changes as well as the re-organizing of social action it has brought, have enabled participants to stretch the norms related to gender and find new positions for themselves. However, the sustainability of these new roles and statuses may be questioned as the state-building has been excessively internationalized and the reforms have lacked real legitimacy among Afghans themselves. Furthermore, it should be re-considered whether the female police officers really have space to express themselves as individuals or whether their lives have been essentialized to another rigid interpretation of womanhood, as saviors of all the Afghan women. In a professional context, participants were more willing to obey the security sector`s particular and persistent gender norms. This was especially strong among the youngest participants, whose lives the new profession has affected more comprehensively.

This thesis concludes that from the participants` perspective gendered social hierarchies in the security sector have remained stagnant as there is very limited space for ideas of gender to change or to develop in comparison to a civilian context where the participants have been able to stretch the norms related to gender, although their sustainability may be questioned due to the present situation in the country and the complex historical context of Afghan women. Furthermore, it may be stated that the present data reveals that there have been deficiencies in SSR`s ability to form representative police forces in terms of gender.