- Dettagli
- Categoria: Women views on news
- Pubblicato: 24 Gennaio 2014
Celebrating the bravery of those who take a stand against ‘honour’ based violence.
On 24 January 2014, in central London, the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO), a leading women’s rights charity campaigning to end all forms of ‘honour’ based violence including forced marriage, child marriage and female genital mutilation, is holding the third True Honour Awards.
These awards recognise those who have bravely taken a stand against so-called ‘honour’ based violence.
The awards ceremony is held on 24 January in memory of Banaz Mahmod, a 20 year-old Kurdish woman from London, who was gang raped and brutally murdered by her family on 24 January 2006 because they disapproved of her relationship with her boyfriend.
Her body was later discovered buried in a suitcase in a back garden in Birmingham.
IKWRO led the ‘Justice for Banaz’ campaign and continue to campaign for better laws and policies to protect women and girls at risk of honour based violence.
Through the True Honour Awards, IKWRO aim to ensure that honour based violence is known about and addressed and to inform people at risk about specialist organisations such as IKWRO which exist to support them.
The nominees for this year’s True Honour Awards include survivors of honour based violence, campaigners, charities supporting victims of honour based violence and front-line professionals working to protect victims.
Each nominee has stood up in the face of danger to help protect people’s right to live and love in safety.
The nominees this year are:
Nimco Ali, co-founder of Daughters of Eve, nominated for her involvement and persistence in the fight against female genital mutilation,
Detective Constable Alex Montgomerie, for tackling high risk crimes involving domestic violence and honour based violence and sex crimes requiring high levels of victim care in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea for the past ten years.
Former BBC broadcaster and writer, Frances Harrison, whose work currently focuses on exposing crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka.
Campaigner Jagdeesh Singh, who campaigns against honour based crimes. Her sister sought divorce from a violent marriage and was murdered shortly after by her husband and mother-in-law.
Jasvinder Sanghera, a survivor of a forced marriage, and author and founder of the leading national charity Karma Nirvana which hosts a dedicated helpine for victims and professionals and supports thousands of people every year.
Professor Lisa Avalos, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Akansas School of Law and whose research focuses on internal human rights with a focus on gender-based violence and sexual violence.
The London Kurdish Film Festival (LKFF) whose opinion is that their festival should not be used merely as an artistic platform but a medium to highlight important issues such as honour based violence. On that belief they screened ‘Banaz: A Love Story’.The 8th film festival took place in November 2013 and screened several works by Kurdish film makers about issues affecting Kurdish women.
The opening gala was crowned with the UK premiere of ‘Before Snowfall’, a thought-provoking and poignant film about honour killing, by the multi-award winning director Hisham Zaman.
Maureen Ebhaleme from Look Ahead Care and Support, an organisation which supports 8000 people througout London and the South East of England each year and runs three refuges. In her role, Ebhaleme ensures the smooth running of one of these refuges and provides key work support for women to help them move forward.
Sabjit Kaur Athwal who joined the Metropolitan Police Service in hope of helping other victims like herself and published her account in Shamed in June 2013. Together with Pavanpreet Ahmed, she hosted a meeting at Parliament to raise awareness and keep the issue of honour killings at the forefront of everybody’s minds. She has now set up an organisation called ‘Your Voice’ to help support others facing abuse.
Pavenpreet Ahmed, a brave, inspirational campaigner, seeking justice for her mother, Surjit Kaur Athwal, who was murdered by contract killers in India in an outsourced honour killing. Along with her uncle Jagdeesh Singh and her mother’s sister-in-law Sarbjit Kaur Athwal, Pavanpreet campaigns tirelessly for justice for Surjit.
Saliha Rashid, a survivor of honour based violence. After battling with her own experiences and making numerous attempts to flee for her safety she is now in full-time education, and she volunteers with Karma Nirvana who praise her for her commitment and courage. Her aim is to support others and she campaigns for their rights. Through her volunteering she gives a voice for those who otherwise do not have one.
Saheliya, a charity offering free and confidential services offering support and promoting the positive mental health and well-being of black, minority ethnic, asylum seeker, refugee and migrant women and girls,including victims of honour based violence in the Edinburgh area.
Zlakha Ahmed, a woman who, 20 years ago, set up ‘Apna Haq’ (translating as ‘Your Right’) an organisation that provides one-to-one support for women from the ethnic minority communities in Rotherham facing domestic violence, honour based violence and forced marriage .
The ceremony will be attended by over 100 guests including high ranking police, professionals and survivors.
Diana Nammi, executive director of IKWRO said: ‘The True Honour Awards 2014 give us all an opportunity to celebrate the dedication of people who bravely speak out and break the silence on ‘honour’ killings and all forms of ‘honour’ based violence.
‘We recognise those who campaign for justice for those who sadly have had their lives stolen in the name of ‘honour’ and we praise those who work tirelessly to protect those at risk.
‘There is so much more to be done to prevent further women and girls from facing the fate of Banaz. We need a national strategy on ‘honour’ based violence and to ensure that all front-line professionals, including all police officers, are fully trained on the issue.
‘We must also educate our children about ‘honour’ based violence by addressing the issue on the national curriculum and we need secure funding for organisations like IKWRO which provide essential support to those in danger.’
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