12 c) Focus group discussions aimed to further explore masculine perspectives on women. Individuals associated with religious establishments, media and civil society, the family and the market place participated in each focus group discussion. d) Semi-structured interviews were conducted with male interviewees representing categories such as family and religious institutions, the market place, public sphere and culture and traditions. The interviews were to complement information collected through focus group discussions and theatre performances and theatre workshops. e) Throughout the different stages of the program, certain cases stood out more prominently and required further scrutiny and investigation. Follow up research was carried out to expand these cases in order to consolidate and verify the available information. f) Lastly, the findings of the project combined with analytical policy recommendations were taken to a roundtable in each of the four regional centers, providing opportunities for all the relevant actors to debate the findings and recommendations, add their view points and confirm these as policy platforms for future action. Limitations: a) The Afghan men who participated in large part avoided speaking open heartedly about women in groups. They often attempted to portray themselves as individuals with open approaches to women’s rights and roles, offering twisted images of women in their areas. In private, the same individuals often confided otherwise, contradicting their statements made in the public forum. Certain cultural traits and the fact that association with a liberal view is being touted as a credit at present in Afghanistan, account to this deceptive masculine approach which is being open in word and restrictive in practice, vis-a-vis women’s rights and civil freedom. b) The participants were reluctant to share their day-to-day observations on local circumstances under which women live. Instead, they made frequent references to general statements and clichés they had heard from mullahs and other elders like comparing the status of women in Islam to the status of women in the West. Such comparisons were out of context, imaginative and highly self-fulfilling. c) Cultural limitations were interfering with the discussions. Talking about women was visibly uncomfortable as it was felt, indirectly, to be an intrusion into issues deemed largely private. As the discussions progressed, the participants settled down and seemed to open more freely to the discussions. 2. Security was a constraining factor. Some of the project staff received threats. Religious actors interfered in the program, and voiced their disapproval of the