Magazine gives Afghan women new voice

For years women have been denied a public voice

		By Kate Clark BBC Afghanistan correspondent

A new women's magazine, The Women's Mirror, has been published in Afghanistan giving a female perspective on news and social affairs.

The magazine, a four-page independent publication, demonstrates how some Afghan women are re-entering public life, but also how Afghans generally are pushing for greater civil liberties.

Even without the Taleban great fear remains

The new magazine brings the number of independent publications in Kabul to at least six.

Just publishing is a victory after an era in which women were denied any public voice.

But state censorship in Afghanistan has a much longer history than the last five years of Taleban rule - broadcasting and most of the print media is still state-owned and very much state-controlled.

The radio still reports on how Afghan leaders give satisfactory answers to the questions of visiting delegations.

Seeking answers

But some of the new publications do question the actions of the new interim administration.

That is not easy - under the Taleban, people were terrified to criticise the state and although the fear is much less now it is still there.

There are still intelligence agents in the new Afghanistan - all appear to be drawn from one of the factions of the Northern Alliance, Jamiat-i-Islami.

The armed men still have a lot of political power here, despite their poor human rights records.

Pushing for freedom

Even so, many people say the fact that the world and the United Nations are watching Afghanistan closely, gives them the opportunity to push for greater freedoms.

Clandestine political parties are starting to operate openly - the first seminar on civil liberties was held this week.

And Afghan journalists and writers are publicly asking questions about corruption and accountability in the post-Taleban era.