Our Christmas appeal this year focussed on women’s rights, locally and in Afghanistan.
Under the Taliban, women and girls in Afghanistan were banned from education, and were forbidden to leave the house without a male family member. Today they remain marginalised and poor. An estimated one in three women is subject to emotional, physical or sexual abuse and only 13% of women are able to read and write.
Christian Aid in Afghanistan not only works with women to help them gain access to healthcare, education and employment, but also to protect their rights and the rights of their children.By helping enshrine their rights – not only within the community but also in the Afghan law – Christian Aid and its partners are aiming to ensure the role of women in Afghan society is protected in the long term. The website gives specific examples of Christian Aid partners who are working with women in Afghanistan.
Closer to home the facts of domestic abuse make unsavoury ready too. According to Welsh Women’s Aid:
- One in every 4 women in Wales & England will experience domestic abuse by their partner or ex-partner at some time in their life.
- In the UK 2 women a week are murdered by a partner or ex-partner.
- Incidents of domestic abuse make up nearly a quarter of violent crime and a woman will be assaulted on average 35 times before reporting it to the police.
- In 90% of domestic abuse incidents, children are in the same or the next room e term
But the term ‘domestic abuse’ doesn’t only include physical violence – it describes any abusive behaviour repeatedly used by one person to control and/or dominate another person with whom they have or have had an intimate relationship.
Pontypridd Womens’ Aid has recently joined with neighbouring services to become Womens’ Aid RCT. As well as running refuges for women they provide a variety of outreach and support services.
Our Christmas appeal raised £615 for work with women in Pontyrpidd and Afghanistan ( £405 of this was gift aided which will raise the total received by these two charities).