The monthly meeting of a coffee club to deliberate ideas for women empowerment among the South Asian community in the South Island has highlighted the need for generating awareness against domestic violence and the depression it causes.
An initiative of the regional branch of a community organisation based in Manukau, Sahaayta, the meeting saw, several speakers, including Christchurch City Councillor Anne Galloway, who talked about empowering women to break the abuse cycle. The club was launched in January this year.
The Pakistani community was also represented this time by Ms Asma Azhar and Ms Samira, a beauty therapist, who shared how during the course of her work she gets to hear stories of women suffering from domestic violence every day.
Representatives of Christchurch Punjabi Social and Cultural Group and Indian NZ Association of Christchurch were present in the meeting too.
On the question of what's next for Sahaayta in Canterbury, the organisation's regional co-ordinator and facilitator of the coffee group Ms Nimi Bedi added, “Next year, we plan to organise workshops to educate and impart tools to our sisters so as to enable them fight domestic violence and abuse on their own. We need to tell women that help is out there. They just need to ask. Awareness is the key here.”