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After the long debate, Jasvinder travelled home with a new sense of optimism about what might be a
chieved. Lord Lester‟s bill was subsequently taken up by the government and adapted.
The resulting Forced Marriage Civil Protection Act received Royal Assent: it gives courts the power to pass protection orders or injunctions
preventing or pre-empting Forced marriage from taking place. I welcomed it as a first step, but in my mind the issue of criminalisation still needs to
be addressed Sanghera 110.
6. Being a Speaker at Women ’s International Conference
Jasvinder was invited to be the speaker at the international conferences in Dubai to discuss the best practice. The subject was forced marriage and child
abduction. She shared her knowledge of forced marriage with delegates from Islamabad, Mumbai and other countries. Karma Nirvana had brought her to the
world where women needed freedom. While she was being a speaker, she still thought about her „children‟ who needed her at Karma Nirvana. It meant although
she had a big job, it did not make her forget about her focus in helping the victims of forced marriage.
After being a speaker at the international conference, Jasvinder‟s action
could be heard. She could spread her wings in fighting against forced marriage. Before she became the speaker, Karma Nirvana was not yet well-known
worldwide. Karma Nirvana began to be well-known and had the attention of people in the world. The international conferences afterwards became the
milestone of Jasvinder to go around the world and spread the action to fight against forced marriage like what she had done.
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The conference was successful. We were there to discuss best practice and the other delegates seemed interested in what I had to say. That trip
confirmed to me the fact that although in scale Karma Nirvana might still be a small local project, its reach and influence had spread way beyond
Derby. As the year wore on more and more of my time was spent travelling Sanghera 115-116.
7. Changing Her ‘Daughters’’ Life and Hope
One of the goal of her action was the freedom of every women who had been trapped in forced marriage. She had helped many women and the most
wonderful thing was when one of the sur vivors called her „Mother‟. Jasvinder was
recognized as her mother because Jasvinder could gave her the protection she needed. When Jasvinder and Shazia made a meal together, Shazia started calling
her “Mother”. „What about this melon? Do you think it‟s ripe?
„I‟m going to get a handful of these and look – shall we share this garlic?” „ I need some chillies, how many should I get, Mother?‟ This from
Shazia. I can‟t remember when she started calling me „Mother‟, but it‟s stuck and she has to concentrate on remembering to call me Jas at
conferences Sanghera 174
One of the survivors called Surjit had grown from frightened and traumatic memories. She could change into an independent and optimistic woman.
She had rebuilt her new life. After she escaped from her home, she plucked up her courage to phone her mother. Her mother said
that she was dead in her family‟s eyes and they wanted to have nothing to do with her. Her family had told
everyone that she had died. But in fact, she moved to a new city. But whereas Maya
– with almost two decades of abuse and isolation behind her
– needed a great deal of support in her recovery, I was amazed by how quickly Surjit grew from a frightened, if resourceful girl into an
independent, optimistic woman. Some time after her escape she plucked up the courage to phone her mother and was told, You are dead in our eyes
