The U.S. is pushing to get more Afghan women enlisted into the security forces ahead of the upcoming elections in order to ensure that women-only voting sites are able to fully operate come April.
The U.S. Congress pledged 25 million USD in aid to increase the number of Afghan women security force members.
"The United States wants to ensure that all women voting sites are handled by female police officers as many of the only-women voting sites in the districts and provinces may remain closed and women will not be allowed to vote if there are not enough female security officers," an anonymous source within the U.S. government told the Daily Beast.
The Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) has said it has undertaken a number of efforts to increase women's presence in the Afghan police force.
"We are working on several plans to train women, and introduce some who are already in the police to key positions, working to increase their numbers through the end of 2014," MoI spokesman Sediq Sediqi said.
According to reports, only one percent of the Afghan National Police (ANP) and 0.3 percent of the Afghan National Army (ANA) are women.
Aside from the desire to afford Afghan women a greater role in shaping and serving their country, officials are looking to employ more female police officers because only women are allowed to investigate particular issues related to women's affairs.