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 year’s 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.

Fatima was studying in a public school in her area (Mely Wali Gali, Bahawalpur) when she was younger. As is characteristic of men in her community, Fatima’s father was not supportive of girls’ education, often taunting her for ‘wasting her time’. There were times when Fatima’s father would get physical with her too, hitting her for not obeying his order of staying at home. Fatima was young and dropped out of school out of fear, having been stripped of her basic and fundamental right under Pakistani law. 

At times Fatima would try to convince her father for permission to attend school again. Once, a private school opened right down the road from her house and she asked her parents again. Her father was opposed but her mother managed to convince her husband and enroll her daughter. The fees were PKR 500 per month. After just 2 months, Fatima’s father had stopped paying her fees (partly because he could no longer afford it and partly because he did not see girls’ education as worthwhile). Fatima again was forced to drop out of school. 

The abuse Fatima faced at the hand of her father did not stop when she dropped out of school. It had now become habitual, for minor reasons such as serving her father food that was a little cold or not cleaning the house in the way he liked. When Fatima realized that she was going to get punished no matter what she did, she realized she might as well pursue her education too, but it had been 8 years since she dropped out of school and too late to join formal education. Fatima then learned about the Siyani Sahelian second chance initiative and was thrilled that she had a means with which to return to education. She enrolled in the Long-Term Primary completion strand and has particularly enjoyed learning about her rights under law as part of the Life Skills-Based Education, which allows her to fight her father’s abuse and start to free herself from her prison. She is looking forward to using her education to teach her father what girls’ education is capable of and why girls are capable of more than ‘servants’. 

*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)