Female Police Officers Help Security on Afghan Front Line

Newly-graduated female Afghan National Army (ANA) officers attend a graduation ceremony at the Afghan National Army training centre in Kabul on August 24, 2014. Afghan security forces are due to take over from their Western allies, a US-led NATO force, by the end of 2014 when the foreign troops leave the country. SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan–Shokria Jan, a female police officer in southern Afghanistan, is in a small force of women operating in one of the world’s most conservative Muslim societies and difficult security environments.

Working in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar province, she faces not just danger from terrorist attacks but also heavy pressure from a society in which many believe that women have no place outside the home, let alone in the security forces.