As Chair of the Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights, I was delighted to preside over the launch of its publication, ‘Islam and Muslims Oppose Violence Against Women’, today. 

Developed by Joumanah ElMatrah, the CEO of AMWCHR, this booklet was developed as a guide for Muslim women and communities to increase awareness and understanding of family violence, early and forced marriage.

 

Guest speakers included the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, Gabrielle Williams MP, and Member for Batman, Ged Kearney MP. 

The absolute highlight of the event, however, was Amani Haydar. A Sydney based activist, artist and writer, Amani’s poignant presentation, linking her personal tragedy with state statistics, national figures of murdered women and then international gender based violence statistics, was a compelling testimony to the horror and pervasiveness of family violence . Her articulation and bravery left everyone visibly affected. Sarah Malik, award winning journalist and feature writer on Family Violence, closed the proceedings with an inspirational call to gather and combat this vice across all levels of society. 

Kudos to the AMWCHR staff of legends for steering this event with seamless execution. We had a full house, rave reviews, brilliant resource, superb speakers and massive banquet to boot.  In all, a brilliant outcome. 

This particular resource was funded under the Respectful Relationships initiative of 

the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet. 

In addition to this booklet, this initiative achieved:

Intensive group work programs, in urban and rural areas engaging over 328 Muslim women from diverse backgrounds 

• Training with service providers in Melbourne and Shepparton, engaging with 81 service provider participants

• Radio programs, 7 radio programs were aired in four community languages Farsi, Dari, English and Turkish on Family Violence and Early and Forced Marriage

In order to reach diverse groups, translations of the booklet have been published in 6 community languages; English, Farsi, Urdu, Dari, Arabic and Somali.