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miscarriage. The first time, she was carrying twins. Nobody, not even her mother, asked questions about how she was. She had to ask permission to go to the
hospital each time it happened. The day after she could escape, she went to Karma Nirvana to look for protection. She told about the forced marriage, the rape, the
domestic abuse, the miscarriages and her suffering. Looking at the reality about domestic abuse, Jasvinder never waited for
too long to do her actions. Her sister‟s bitter experiences had driven her to clearly realize her actions. The numbers of the victims of forced marriages increased
every time. Looking back now I realise I had no idea of the scale of the problem I was
tapping into, I wasn‟t even sure what problems I was going to find. But I didn‟t have to wait long to find out; it very quickly became that clear that,
time and again, the women who came to us for help were suffering honour-based violence
– appaling cruelty meted out by whole families, not just by their husband
– and forced marriages Sanghera 9 When Jasvinder was invited in Crown Prosecution Service assembly, she
had a chance to share her actions to Nazir Afzal, the director of Crown Prosecution Service. Nazir strived to achieve justice for those who have been
killed in the name of honour. He said “A man is like a piece of gold: if you drop it in the mud you can wipe it clean. A woman is like a piece of silk: if you drop it in
the mud it is stained for ever.”
2. Building A Sisterhood between First World and Third World Countries
In order to have a big support, Third World countries had to have a good relation with First World countries. Jasvinder realized the limitation of Third
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World countries especially South Asian like India and Pakistan if they tried to solve their problems themselves. They needed support from First World countries.
Therefore, Jasvinder built her charity in Derby. Derby is a city in United Kingdom.
She introduced herself as the Karma Nirvana‟s worker, a Derby-based organization helping south Asian women who had been the victims of honour-
based violence and forced marriage. She did not build her charity in Pakistan or India because the culture was due to honour called izzat. Izzat was the most
important thing in South Asian‟s family. She knew that she would find many obstacles and prohibitions if she built her charity in South Asian country.
Jasvinder introduced Karma Nirvana through mass media such as magazine. The purpose was to make her charity become well-known by the
women who needed help especially South Asian women around the world. She wanted the citizens in UK to know if there was a crime called forced marriage.
Kiren, one of the survivors found the telephone number of Karma Nirvana in Marie Claire
magazine. She silently could call Jasvinder and her mother did not know it. Kiren was in Bournemouth, UK. It made her easy to be helped because of
her location. „I found your number in Marie Claire magazine.I- „ The line suddenly
went dead but then, just a couple of second later, she was back.„ Sorry, I
had to ring off because I thought I heard my mum coming up the stairs; she might still come so I have to be quick. I‟m locked in my house. I‟m in
Bournemouth. They want me to marry my cousin. I don‟t even know him, but they won‟t listen to me. I‟m a prisoner; I‟ve been locked in for two
years. I‟ve got to get out. I can‟t stand it any longer.‟ She stopped and gulped a breat
h, „I need help.‟ I spoke quickly: „ Are you ever left alone? Do you think you could get out? If you can, there are all sorts of people
who can help you.‟ Sanghera 44-45
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In Derby, the role of police was very important. Jasvinder could not do her actions alone without help from the police. In the urgent situation, she ordered the
victims to call 999 and the police would protect them. „All right. Okay. Try to keep calm.‟ I took a deep breath myself. „Right: I
know what to do. I‟m going to ring a friend of mine. He‟s a Metropolitan police officer. He‟s London. I‟m going to ring him now and see if he can
help. Stay where you are. Don‟t let them take you home. As quickly as I could I outlined the situation and asked if he could help. Without a
second‟s pause he said he would. Sanghera 47
Jasvinder was also supported by the House of Lords from the Liberal peer, Lord Lester. She joined the second reading of forced marriage Civil Protection
Act. The victims at Karma Nirvana all believe forced marriage was inescapeable. She hoped Lord Lester‟s bill would grant their hope.
Early in 2007, I received an invitation to the House of Lords from the Liberal peer, Lord Lester. He invited me to attend the second reading of
Forced Marriage Civil Protection Act; a bill that he had introduced in order to try and prevenr people from being froced into marriage. Of course
I accepted; this subject is so close to my heart. Sanghera 108
One of the survivors who had been rescued and rebuilt her new life after being forced into marriage came to Jasvinder. She rebuilt her new life in London.
It meant London promised to give her a better life. I had invited a survivor to come with me, a young woman recently rescued
by the Forced Marriage Unit from a marriage to a much older relative in Pakistan. She was trying to rebuild her life in London. I hoped that being
at the debate might help her recovery by inspiring her to dream and making her believe that anything is possible Sanghera 108-109
In helping the victim of forced marriages, Jasvinder expected support from Derby‟s government to help South Asian. First, her action could not be heard by
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the government, but oneday Jasvinder was called by Home Affairs Select Committee to give evidences of domestic violence, forced marriage and honour-
based violence. For her, it was a good point to make the stories of the victims to be heard.
„ I‟ve recently given evidence to a Home Affairs Select Committee which is investigating domestic violence, forced marriage and honour-based
violence, and several of my staff have done the same: at last the government is listening to us. So the stories of thousands of victims could
be heard.‟ Sanghera 279
David Cameron, the representative of Home Affairs Select Committee spoke against forced marriage. In his opinion, four hundred of forced marriage
cases were just the tip of an iceberg. There were so many unrevealed cases and they started to take them seriously.
Only last week David Cameron spoke out against forced marriage. At the request of his staff I arranged for him to meet survivors from a refuge in
Bradford; he came to the city and consulted with us and on the strength of what he learnt he said- he believed- what we all know- that the four
hundred forced marriages reported to the Home Office each year are just the tip of the iceberg. At last politicians are beginning to understand these
issues and take them seriously. To me that‟s change. Sanghera 279
Jasvinder has brought the issue of forced marriage into the public eye and helped Forced Marriage Bill to go through Parliament. In 2007, she received one
of the pretigious Women of the Year awards for her work. She has also received the McWhirter Foundation Award 2007, Best magazine Bravest Woman Award
2007, and the Inspiration Award for Women 2008. Finally, Jasvinder was made an Honorary Doctor of the University of Derby in 2008.
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3. Being a Women Activist
The rule of women activisms and feminist mobilization could be the best way to create women‟s rights. For the last ideas of Third World Feminism,
Jasvinder had done a lot of actions in creating a women‟s world without forced
marriage like I have proven in the previous part. Firstly, Jasvinder did preventive actions against forced marriage in some schools of her environment. Then, she
campaigned against forced marriage in front of public like governmental departments, laws and bills. After that, she had a lot of opportunities to be a
speaker at some international conferences. She shared about her experience and her struggles against forced marriage. Finally, she could change the survivor‟s life
and hope. She promised that the survivors would not walk alone. She provided a refuge that was needed by the survivors.
