Saima
Afzal Solutions She Dared : She
Won
Equality & Human Rights Advice/Research & Training
Testimonials
Dear Saima
I attended the seminar in St Asaph today and was variously inspired and moved to tears and laughter by your talk. I don’t think you should have worried about the timing, you could have held that room for at least another few days!
I grew up as an expatriate in an Islamic country so your emphasis that this was not about religion really resonated with me, I know from the hundreds of many great, generous, loving and kind Muslims I met during my childhood (and since then, in the UK) that violence and repression is not what this is all about, especially for a religion whose very name has “peace” at its root.
My work as a solicitor specialising in domestic abuse work used to bring me great energy but due to various tedious “internal political” circumstances I had been losing vigour and passion for it in the last couple of years, I just felt weary where previously I had felt the sort of “inspiring anger” that kept me going. However, your talk today re-ignited some of that and I can actually see the point of my job again!
In my “spare time” (such as it is!) I am also a volunteer on a Mountain Rescue Search & Rescue Team and my main role (due to my Family Law experience of talking to people in difficult circumstances) is talking to family members of the missing person. My experience is that they will often speak more openly to me, in my Mountain Rescue “uniform”, than to the police – when I heard Det Supt Geraint Jones speak after you I realised there is potentially also a role for awareness of HBV and FM in Mountain Rescue search management, if a person from any cultural sphere which vulnerable to HBV or FM goes missing and we are called out to look for them. Geraint was really supportive of that so I have emailed my Team Leader tonight, suggesting some awareness work with Search Managers. The “one-chance” rule means that it might just mean that one day a Mountain Rescue member is the person that flags up the possibility of this being an FM / HBV situation.
Anyway, this rambling email was just to congratulate and thank you, on so many levels, for everything today. It was an inspiration and a privilege.
Kind regards
Caroline Yorke
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Dear Saima,
RE: Forced Marriage/Honour Based
Violence & Female Genital Mutilation Event 22nd March
2012 – Grimsby Institute
On behalf of the College, I would
like to thank you personally for inviting the PSNI and Social
Services to Grimsby to attend the above event. I would also
like to take this opportunity to thank The Grimsby Institute Group
for hosting the event, the college was an outstanding building with
fantastic facilities, and I speak on behalf of all
my
colleagues when I say that we were
made to feel very welcome and we are very grateful for the
opportunity to attend the College.
With regards to the programme
content, I found it very interesting and informative and highly
beneficial to our organisation at this time, when we are actively
seeking to raise our understanding of Honour Based Crime and how to
deal with it appropriately within Northern Ireland, both from a
Police Investigative approach and a Multi Agency
Prevention/Protection approach. The programme content
highlighted the need for Training, working in Partnership with
agencies and Engaging with local
communities.
The workshop provided an ideal
platform to help us understand the seriousness of the issues at
hand and also it stressed the importance of providing our front
line and key officers with an awareness of Honour Based Crime and
the key issues to be aware of, which could help prevent loss of
life. This will help us as we develop a strategy within
Northern Ireland. This event provided a much needed
understanding of what Honour base crimes actually are, and where
they are likely to be occurring within ourcommunities. It was
highly beneficial to learn about the Muslim culture and where
‘honour’ fits into the culture, how it has developed, and the use
of Hadeeth. The handout from “guidance for a Muslim wife” was
very informative.
It was then of great benefit to
look at the travelling community and see where “honour” based
crimes sat within their community, the video provided was a good
resource. The
information provided in relation
to looking at Honour related issues from a male’s perspective was
also very informative.
The discussion around Protection
Orders, and examples of what can be added to the order and how the
orders can impact upon the child/person at risk was highly
beneficial.
As was the discussion surrounding
the use of DASH forms and how they could be utilised in other areas
and expanded upon.
The discussion which took place in
relation to early intervention, through the use of schools and
doctors, assisted in the realisation that a multi agency approach
is essential. The mnemonic “PREVENTION” is a useful one
to remember.
The subject of FGM was covered
very well, it provided a good background as to what it actually is
and why it is carried out, by whom and the laws in place in
relation to it. I found
the video shown to be very useful,
in that it was impactive and put the subject matter in context, of
how extreme and torturous it actually
is.
Saima, I could go on, as we
covered a huge amount of material at the event, all very relevant
and very informative and I must thank you for all your hard work
and time in assisting us at this stage in our development.
The video/audio material used was fantastic, somewhat powerful in
content, but that was of great benefit to assist in our
understanding. The
handouts provided will be of great
assistance to our Organisation as we endeavour to develop courses
to bring awareness to our officers.
Many
Thanks
Pamela Steven
Crime Training Department
Garnerville