Several female candidates that are attempting to stand in the upcoming Parlimentary election report that due to lack of support and conservative traditions there success is being hampered.
Women wanting to stand in the election, particularly in rural areas, said they had been warned to withdraw their candidacy, either verbally or by letter.
"I have been threatened and persuaded to resign," a female candidate in the southeastern province of Paktya, said on condition of anonymity. She said local religious conservatives were behind the threat.
Meanwhile local officials in the central province of Wardak said a female candidate's house was rocketed in early June by unknown armed men but that the motive remains unclear.
Another female candidate was wounded when she was shot by an unidentified gunman in Qalat, the provincial capital of the southern province of Zabul, on June 10.
In some places women can't be seen in public which impedes their ability to attend town council meetings. New Democracy does not equal women's increased participation in government. Shocking.
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