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struggling for it. She thought it was best to forget her PhD and go back to work. Gordon Riches could understand her decision.
The trouble was that with so much going on at Karma Nirvana, that had to be my priority. The PhD felt like my own private pleasure and I wanted to
go on with it but I was struggling, Gordon, bless him, understood. He made me work out
– realistically – how much time I could give to my studies and then he said, „Face it Jasvinder, it‟s not enough. You mustn‟t
let this hang like a dead weight round your neck. Why do n‟t you put it on
hold.‟ I left his office feeling that a burden had been lifted off my shoulders; for the first time in months I was confident that I could get my
life back under control. Sanghera 259
3. Comforting the Victims of Forced Marriage
Jasvinder imagined a support system for young women who had recently left their homes and been rejected by their families. Jasvinder did not only provide
a charity to protect the survivors but also comforted the survivors. First, she comforted Shazia. Shazia was a victim of forced marriage and she is a survivor
today. When she was seventeen, her parents took her to Pakistan. Her parents said it was for a holiday but after two weeks they told her that she was getting married
to a man she had never met before. She could escape and she met Jasvinder. Jasvinder said to Shazia when she believed in Jasvinder, she did not work alone
but Jasvinder would help her. Her next client was Kiren. Jasvinder received a phone call when she
accompanied her children in the Park. She thought there was a young woman hundreds of miles away who was desperate and need reassurance. She could not
procrastinate. She had to offer help for her. She said that there were safe houses,
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refuges and people who supported her. Kiren had to believe in Jasvinder and her life would be okay.
The next client was Shabana. She escaped from her home and she was waiting to make sure that her identity would be protected. She felt sure her parents
would try to find her. She started talking about suicide. Jasvinder suddenly felt choked by worrying Shabana. Jasvinder sent a text, asked when she could ring
Shabana and she needed to reassure Shabana that there was hope for her. After Shabana, Jasvinder still had many clients. One of them was Maya.
She had an alcoholic husband. Her husband was quite violent towards her. He would twist her wrist, slap her when he was drunk and pulled her backwards if she
tried to walk past him. Her husband became very controlling. He forced her to give up an accountancy course she had started, prevented her from going out
alone, forbade socialising, monitored her calls. He called his wife „fat bitch‟. She
had been abused by her family and husband, kidnapped, forced into marriage. Jasvinder reassured her and she promised to accompany Maya in solving her
problem. „ I took her hands in mine, squeezing them tight as if I could pump hope
into her. Look how strong and brave you are: after all you‟ve been through you have held yourself together because you want your girls back. You
have to focus on that. Everything you‟ve done so far you‟ve done by yourself but now I‟m going to support you. You no longer have to walk
alone.‟ Sanghera 220
4. Doing Preventive Actions against Forced Marriage in Schools
Jasvinder came to some schools in her surrounding. It became one of her first step in fighting forced marriage. Children, especially girls, who had been
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suspected had to know their fate before it happened. Some of them had no idea of where to turn for help. Therefore, Karma Nirvana took the preventive action and
schools were one of their early targets. I keep in touch with all the schools in our locality; I ask to speak to the
person in charge of child protection and try to make them aware of the issues surrounding teenage girls and forced marriage
. It‟s not always easy. A lot of the schoo
ls don‟t want anything to do with me. They say the things I‟m talking about are „culturally sensitive‟ and they don‟t want to
upset parents Sanghera 9 -10. She kept in touch with all the schools in her locality; she asked to speak to
the person in charge of child protection and tried to make them aware of the issues of forced marriage. She explained that some of the victims of forced marriage are
being abused at home. It means they had to escape from home and they had no place to live.
The charity I run, Karma Nirvana, helps women overcome cultural and language barriers. Most of the women who contacts us are south Asian, a
lot of them are young, like you. A lot of them are being abused at home by their families, or their in laws. Some of them are afraid of being forced
into marriages Sanghera 12. Jasvinder was invited to the school to give an assembly on the work she
did at Karma Nirvana. School was a place to find education and knowledge. In schools, students will be taught about truth, justice, human rights and equalities.
After the assembly was over, she continued her actions and it began to find the goal.
„ 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
