As what commentators seeas the only credible female candidate to stand a chance of winning the Vice Presidency in Afghanistan, Habiba Sarabi has become used to frustrating (and sometime life-threatening) opposition when she makes public appearances. This weekend was no different, when Habiba gave a specch to a deeply conservative, all-male crowd at Afghanistan's Kandahar stadium – in a district viewed by many as the heartland of the Taliban.
Habiba’s speech was short and simply thanked the crowd for supporting her candidacy in next month’s general election, but she was met with wolf whistles, boos and jeers.
It’s all the more frustrating considering how close Habiba (who was appointed Afghanistan's first female governor in 2005) is to winning the Vice Presidency. The pharmacist and former governor is running mate for presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul, a former foreign minister endorsed by the president's brothers. If appointed, Habiba hopes to stop conservative leaders from removing hard-won rights for women when foreign tropps leave the country at the end of the year.
From 1996-2001, the Afghan Taliban banned women from education, voting and nearly all work. Women were not allowed to leave their homes without a male escort. Since then, conditions have improved, but as a prominent female politician Habiba still feels that her life is at risk – although she attempts to take it in her stride. ‘Of course, to be in politics as a woman is a risky task,' She told The Independent. 'But we have to take the risk, otherwise we cannot achieve our goal. We cannot expect that everything can be soft or everything can be clear on our way.’
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Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.