Peshawar: Women in a social gathering are carefully listening to the female girl standing in front of them with a mic in her hand. The speaker, in her mid-20s, has a polite tone coupled with energy and confidence in her words.
These women are having a gender-based discussion; women empowerment, gender equality, and other women-related issues.
“We need to step out of our comfort zones and strive for our rights. We need to support each other to make ourselves and every woman around us strong,” Afrah Hassan, one of the speakers and an organizer of the gathering tells women.
The congregation is the first annual meeting of the members of women’s Facebook community group named as ‘The Pakistani Sisters’ (TPS). Women from all walks of life are part of the gathering. Majority of the women had no personal or direct interaction with each other before.
Afrah, the founder of the group, runs it with the help of her friend Areej Amjad. She says the group was created with a purpose of providing women a safe platform to speak their heart out without fear of being judged or facing backlash.
While talking to Truth Tracker, Afrah said that currently TPS had more than 23,000 female members from all walks of life including housewives, students, doctors, engineers, IT professionals, businesswomen, lawyers and social activists etc. The group is a safe platform for women to have constructive discussions on issues impacting women’s life in one or the other way including depression, sexual harassment, child abuse, child marriage, sex, pregnancy, menstruation, domestic struggles etc.
Nuzhat Zia, a gynecologist, one of the active members, says women in our society are expected not to talk or share their thoughts on such ‘sensitive’ issues. Resultantly it creates problems for women in different ways, and also cultivates sexism in society.
“TPS is not less than a haven for women to have a peaceful atmosphere for learning and telling confidently without fear of being judged, rebuked or stalked.”
Nuzhat says TPS and other similar groups on social media play a pivotal role in making such issues part of conversations and normalizing them in society. Normally women suffer all their lives but never open up on such issues with people around them fearing negative reaction, she adds.
Afrah says women in the group share different stories about experiences of life that encourages young women to follow and speak up. The case of Subhh Khalid who spoke and took stand against injustice and harassment by her in-laws, which was also in limelight of mainstream media, is a perfect example of efficacy of such groups.
Subhh shared her story in the group of her scrimmages with in-laws; how she took stand for justice instead of sitting back and keep suffering. Afrah said Subhh got overwhelming support from group members. Besides, her story triggered a long and constructive debate among group members about women fighting against injustices in the life.
When asked about why she felt need of a new group while there are plenty of them already working on for the same cause, she said, “Yes, but there was a need for a group primarily focusing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s women. Conversations and activities of TPS, unlike other groups, are mostly centered in KP and thus they’re more relatable and beneficial for the women of the region.”
Fatima Nauman Khan, a group member and an entrepreneur based in Peshawar, says, “The group is a great platform for businesswomen and entrepreneurs of KP to show their work to not only grow the business but also inspire others who may want to start and be practical women.”
