Compassionate yet competent counselling is essential to maintaining the psychological health of women and rebuilding their confidence, especially when they have survived instances of severe physical, psychological, sexual and emotional abuse.
The women we work with often find themselves victimised by their own families, evicted from their marital homes, neglected by their loved ones. They face a multitude of issues including financial instability, lack of assistance in childcare, poor health, legal battles, and so on. From accompanying them to police stations, the family court, or meetings with religious authorities, to helping them put together the necessary documents for administrative processes, we provide logistical and emotional aid.
Many women are becoming economically independent through the home-based work we have helped organize.
Paralegal
Paralegals bridge the gap between the community, lawyers and judicial system.
Most times, a common person finds it difficult to understand the technical legal procedure. This leads to more people suffering injustices and failing to fight for their rights. A paralegal, who has knowledge of the law, attempts to simplify it. As the law does not deal with injustices but rather with illegalities, paralegals know what the courts can and can’t do.
Paralegals, thus, add a legal perspective to social issues. They have the ability to convert a social problem into a legal case. Often, lawyers are only interested in legal cases; common people expect someone to help them through their problem, not just legalese.
Our obstacles include sometimes being called the ‘talaq center’ by outsiders because they think that women who come here become ‘modern’ and end up divorcing their husbands.
Many of the women that initially came for help, are now active members of the collective and contributing to the cause.