In its latest report, the Center for Freedom of Expression says the number of women journalists in Afghanistan has dropped sharply since the Taliban took over Kabul.

The report notes that before 2021, nearly two thousand women were working in media across the country. Today, that number has fallen to just around 190.

It points to restrictions on women’s employment, economic hardship, security concerns, and the shrinking media sector as key reasons many women journalists have been forced to leave their jobs.

The center stresses that women’s presence in the media is vital for the free flow of information and for ensuring balanced representation in society, and calls for proper conditions that allow women journalists to work.