Young Women Fight the ‘Talibanisation’ of Rural Pakistan #egender

Eight years ago, when aged 16, Gulalai Ismail set up an organisation in Peshawar to challenge the culture of violence stemming from the radicalisation of young men that reinforces and strengthens the oppression of women.

Ismail now runs two programmes, one on gender empowerment and one on peace-building.

These programmes seek to improve opportunities for young women by encouraging opportunities for education and social and political participation, as well as discouraging extremism.

“I set up Aware Girls when I was 16 because all around me I saw girls being treated differently to boys. My girl cousin was 15 when her marriage was arranged to someone twice her age; she couldn’t finish her education while my boy cousins were doing so. This was considered normal. Aware Girls raised awareness of equal status. We did training that women have human rights, and taught leadership skills and how to negotiate within their families and with their parents to get education and to have control over their own lives.”

Ismail now runs various training courses for young women. A recent course focussed on political leadership, to help boost the participation of women in politics.

Soon after starting Aware Girls, Ismail realised the close relationship between gender and peace. As a result, she set up the Seeds of Peace network in 2010. The network provides training to young people to promote tolerance and challenge extremism.

To read the full article, please visit The Guardian.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 under E-gender.
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