Zarifa Qazizadah: Afghanistan’s First Female Village Chief

Zarifa Qazizadah, 50, has become the first woman in Afghanistan to hold the title of village chief after she was elected mayor of new Agad, a village in the northern province of Balkh.

Qazizadah, who was married at the age of 15, became a mom by age 15, and now has 15 children, always wanted to be a judge, but was unable to after she got married.

When the Taliban fell, she set her sights on a different goal–leading her people. The grandmother of 36, now leads the community and even patrols the streets at night on her motorbike, helping out wherever needed.

The ambitious woman is also responsible for connecting her city to the electrical grid. She explains, according to the Al Arabiya News, that even the men in her town respect her now. She stated:

“They saw I had given them access to electricity, had had a mosque built and stood by their side even though I wasn’t yet in office.”

She stated that when she first came into office, however, men did not appreciate her presence. That changed however. The mother of 15 stated:

“When I started my work, some men laughed at me but I pushed them and used my body weight to calm them down.”

She also impressed a group of male villagers one time, but helping to pull a car out of a ditch. She recalled that:

“I got behind the steering wheel of a tractor after scaring the driver away. He shouted at me saying women couldn’t drive so I told him to shut up and pulled the car out. All the drivers were stunned.”

In a male-dominated society, Zarifa Qazizadah is becoming a role model for women who want to break the mold of what their society has told them they must be like. She said of her new position that:

“I am telling the men in my village that if they have any problems, I will talk to the government on their behalf and in case of any trouble at night, I will carry my gun and come to your houses to solve the problem.”

No longer wishing to be a judge, the new mayor in Afghanistan is aiming for a seat at Parliament.