From 25 November (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) to 10 December (Human Rights Day), the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world. This years’ theme is to “End Gender-Based Violence in the World of Work”. These 16 days we will be sharing the stories of our very own ‘Siyani Sahelian’ (Wise Friends) who have faced violence and freed themselves through education. There are many more like them but they are faceless; these have come to the forefront due to their deeds and images.

Childhood is envisioned as a beautiful period in a person’s life, where one spends their time playing with friends, discovering which ice cream flavor is their favourite, learning to recognize the colours of the rainbow and returning home to warm food and a bedtime story. Asia’s* childhood, on the other hand, was instead spent facing domestic violence, fighting abuse, being forcefully removed from education and married against her will, and then striving to rebuild her life.

Asia is the eldest of five siblings: three sisters and two brothers. She was raised in an atmosphere saturated with domestic violence due to her abusive father, leaving her mother with physical disabilities as a result and her and her siblings psychologically scarred. She was forcibly married at the age of 13 to a man that was almost her fathers’ age. When she was 15, she was removed from education by her father and sent to live with her husband with neither the consent nor the approval of the rest of her family. There, she was abused for two years by her husband, her father-in-law and her visiting father. Asia, a confident and independent girl, managed to make her escape at age 17 and divorced her husband with the help of a lawyer friend. Upon hearing this, her father simultaneously divorced her mother and left the mother so physically injured that she was no longer in a condition to continue to provide for her children – the same children the father had now abandoned.

Asia’s challenges did not end there. She was temporarily freed, but needed to ensure her family was never dependent on any (abusive) man again. She was quick to enroll her younger sister in the Siyani Sahelian program, realizing that education was the means with which to secure a future for her sisters that was free from violence. She took the ultimate sacrifice to take care of her mother, supporting her siblings to ensure they were educated and empowered.

*Note: Names have been changed to protect the identity of the mentioned persons.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA)