Dastak organized a series of activities to celebrate International Women’s Day in 2024. Each year Dastak marks this day with thoughtfully designed and planned events that are collaborative and in line with the theme and spirit of IWD. This year’s theme was #InspireInclusion to promote the creation of a society that involves women and girls in all spheres of life and allows them easy access to resources and opportunities.
Limited or zero financial independence and economic abuse is most commonly experienced by DV survivors that seek help at Dastak. They heavily rely on their families to fulfil even their most basic needs and continue to live in and tolerate abusive households due to absence of economic power. One step towards gaining economic strength and inclusion is understanding financial management, budgeting, saving and accessing small loans. Dastak collaborated with Habib Bank Limited’s DE&I Unit to conduct a financial literacy information session for women availing Dastak’s services. Parallel to this session, a few members of the HBL team engaged the resident children in art activities in recognition of their right to play while the women could participate in the information session.
For the first time, Dastak organized a therapeutic drum circle at Dastak as a means of empowerment and catharsis for women receiving legal aid and shelter services. In line with this year’s IWD theme, Dastak wanted to #inspireinclusion by introducing women to new experiences for entertainment, self-expression and healing. The drum circle was led by an expert percussionist Kumail Tirimzi, CEO of Beatnik, who curated and guided the session. The women collectively played the drums in a common rhythm giving rise to a sense of community and cohesion. In addition, participants also narrated poetry written by survivors of violence to truly express their feelings.
This years IWD activities ended with a session on Journeys of Women Leaders organized in partnership with Global Shapers, an organization working with the youth to attain Sustainable Development Goals. In this session, women heard about the story of Javaria Khan, Founder of All Pakistan Women Movement and CCO of Chugtai Healthcare who spoke about her journey and ways to achieve self-reliance, empowerment and a forward-looking approach to life.
16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence Campaign – 25 November...