Farida Shaheed's Video Presentation at 'Women and Girls Rising'

Farida Shaheed is the Executive Director of Shirkat Gah - Women's Resource Centre in Pakistan and the Thematic Coordinator of the Political Participation area of WELDD.  She is also the UN Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights.  

This video was shown at the Roosevelt Insitute's event, 'Women and Girls Rising: Historical Refelctions and Future Prospects' on the panel entitled 'Reconciling Universalisms and Cultural Rights'.  The video touches upon Shirkat Gah's activities under the WELDD programme, discussing their Women Friendly Spaces and the importance of women's leadership and their awareness of their rights.

Quotes from the video:

On Women Friendly Spaces: "Women need public discursive spaces...that gives them the ability to plan and strategise for the future.  That is what we have done - we have set up Women Friendly Spaces across Pakistan." 

On women's leadership and empowerment:  

"One of the crucial things that we are doing is building leadership and in that leadership promoting critical thinking and an understanding of state-citizen relationships, because most women do not believe they have the right to be rights-holders"

A quote from a woman who benefited from the Woman Friendly Spaces: 

"We were sleeping in the darkeness before, now we have come into the light" 

A quote from a man whose attitude changed as a result of a Women Friendly Space:  

"We were always fighting in my house; I used to hit my girls, my daughters were supressed, I used bad language and was very abusive.  I initially did not give them permission to go to the Women Friendly Space as people don't think well of NGOs...but eventually I let my daughters go...and slowly the environment in our house changed...we started fighting less as I learn that beating women, abusing women, is an injustice and violence - they are also equal to us, the way we worry about poverty, so do they.  There is peace in our house now."