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Afghanistan: UN blacks out site’s photos to point out women’s plight

PHOTOGRAPHS of Afghan women on the UN development programme website were blacked out yesterday and replaced with the hashtag #WhereAreTheWomen.

The UN agency’s decision to stop publishing photographs of women on its website is intended to highlight the plight of Afghan women in the run-up to International Women’s Day tomorrow.

It aims to bring attention to the fear many Afghan women have of the potential consequences of appearing in public or having their photos published, said UNDP head of communications Rob Few in Kabul.

He said that captions to the pictures would remain, so that visitors to the site know what they are missing, and no new photographs would be posted during the campaign, which will last about a week.

Afghan women are often subject to abuse, forced into arranged marriages and even traded to settle disputes.

Domestic violence is endemic and high-profile women have been murdered.

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