Nabila* is an 18-year-old villager girl who lives in a mud house without any facilities. She has 6 sisters, but her parents have always considered them a burden.
In Pakistan, a woman’s parents are expected to pay her groom’s family a significant dowry. Three of her sisters are already married, and her parents arranged their dowry with great difficulty.
However, her sisters are not happy in their husbands’ houses as the husbands’ families continue to demand more dowry. Nabila told us that her parents are already in great debt.
While Nabila wants to become a teacher, her parents do not have enough resources for her to pursue her dream. Seeing her parents’ debt and her married sister’s condition, Nabila decided to learn sewing skills as a way to earn income.
She hopes that one day she will earn money not only for herself but for her family, too. She is very grateful to RAM for her enrollment.
Unfortunately, the dowry system in Pakistan leads to daughters being viewed as financial burdens. Parents often sell girls into domestic servitude, prostitution, and forced marriages.
Going into debt to pay a dowry is also a driving force behind families taking out loans from brick kiln factory owners.
However, at our vocational training program, women and girls are offered a safe place to learn an in-demand and marketable skill, basic good business practices, and become educated on their rights as women under the law.
Would you like to support our sewing classes? Just $25 sponsors one month of tuition for a student! You can also sponsor a sewing machine for $90.
Learn more by visiting our gift program here.
*Name changed for security purposes.
Pakistani women stayed in abusive marriages because Pakistan failed
This article was originally published in Dawn. You can read the full article here. When domestic abuse is discussed on TV and in drawing rooms, people often ask: why didn't she leave her violent husband? Dania endured violent beatings during her pregnancies. But...
Aqsa’s Rescue
Day in and out all she has known is work. In a society where men virtually dictate everything, Aqsa represents thousands of young women with little hope to find a better life. The term “better life” does not mean the same that you and I would think. To a Pakistani...
Abram a Survivor of the Easter Suicide Bombing in Pakistan Needs Help!
Abram a Survivor of the Easter Suicide Bombing in Pakistan Needs Help!Abram, along with his four friends was present in the park at the time of the blast. A splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat ul-Ahrar, claimed responsibility for the attack, which the...
