Projects like Violence Against Women Centre (VAWC) and Women on Wheels (WoW) have played a significant role in empowering women and taking down patriarchy in Pakistan.
However, both projects are in a dire need of government and public support in order to further their cause of providing shelter and transport to Pakistani women in order to make them independent.
The staff of Multan’s VAWC has recently complained that they have not been getting salaries since July 2018 because the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government did not allocate funds to the centre.
VAWC has received 1,545 cases of violence against women and provided these women with legal help and shelter. Despite the staff members’ financial woes, they managed to help 9,000 women over the past 9 months. But if immediate action is not taken, VAWC may not even be able to survive. WoW faces similar financial constraints.
More than 700 women were handed over bikes under the WoW. The project was initiated by the Punjab government and was appreciated by many civil rights’ activists.
Many research studies have found a direct link between effective mobility and women empowerment.
The project was initiated to carry out the same task—empower women through empowering their mobility. As mentioned earlier more than 700 women were made independent through this project.
However, now the fate of the project hangs in balance due to financial constraints. Both projects played a vital role in making women more independent and it is pertinent that these projects keep receiving funds to further their cause of empowering women of Pakistan.
In the below video Salman Sufi tells us how can we help!
