2,085 women from the provinces of Herat, Nangarhar, Balkh, Helmand, Takhar, Bamiyan, Kandahar, Daikundi, Panjshir, Jawzjan, Farah, Faryab, Badghis, Baghlan, Kunar, and Paktia were polled on their perception of security in their provinces and their own safety.

• 43.76% of survey respondents replied that their province’s security “improved a little” with 18.44% responding it “improved a lot”. 16.52% saw “no difference”, 11.34% responded it “worsened a lot” and 9.94% replied it “worsened a little.”

• Overall, 33% of all respondents identified theft as a threat that had been most reduced in their communities while 29% identified reduced explosions. Interestingly, areas that saw reduced perception of theft as a threat saw increased perception of explosions as a threat and vice versa. This mitigated shift of threat perception is shown in the mirror image statistics that 30% of respondents overall perceive theft as a “least improved” threat with explosions being the second most important threat at 22%.

• 36% of women reported feeling a degree of unsafety when going out into public spaces.

• The majority of focus group participants often contradicted the narratives of the statistics provided by the survey results. While a small minority agreed with the statistics that security was improving somewhat, most said the statistics hid grimmer realities and an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear.