Domestic violence remains one of the world's most undervalued types of crime: victims' relatives usually keep quiet about the abuse that occurs in the family, and even medical personnel can manipulate facts and conceal traces of torture with the best of intentions, you'd think: to save the family. After all, the family is traditionally the most important aspect of life in Azerbaijan. According to the Azerbaijan State Committee on Statistics, 1,175 cases of domestic violence were reported in our country in 2018, resulting in 47 deaths. Women and children, of course, are the most vulnerable.
Mehriban Zeynalovaour is the founder of „Clean World“, a women shelter for a variety of reasons, as eachwoman has her own worldview, emotional intelligence, and perception of events. There are women who are beaten on a daily basis, and they humbly tolerate all beatings and humiliation, sometimes without even imagining that such "angelic patience" could lead to their death. But there are some women who refuse to accept humiliation and come without waiting for physical abuse. These women want nothing more than to be free and live apart from their relatives.
Since 2002, "Clean World" shelter for women and children has been in operation. There are nine people working there, including a psychologist, a lawyer, social workers, and management. When a new victim arrives, they all participate in the process amicably: it is necessary to assess the victim's psychological condition, listen to her problem, and try to solve it. The workers ask questions about the family, socioeconomic situation, relatives, education, hereditary diseases, and so on. In short, they try to identify and account for all the details in order to provide a more reliable assessment of the difficult situation.
Women and children are found on the street and brought by the police. In that case, the shelter is looking for relatives, investigating why the victims ended up on the street, and doing everything they can to assist.
Zeynalovaour says: “We are working hard to solve the problem of every resident of our shelter. There are women who would like to stay with us, but we believe that it will harm them: in such case, a woman becomes dependent on her asylum, her integration into society becomes difficult, and her fears only grow. We try to prepare our wards for independent life and now we prepare the new program of integration into society.
My observations show that most women, instead of creating their own "umbrella", try to hide under one "umbrella" with someone else − their parents or husband. One way or another, a woman starting to live and work on her own should keep her children under her "umbrella", despite everything, although it is not easy...“.
One of the most pervasive and destructive abuses of human rights occurring in our world today is violence against women and girls.
It is a significant barrier to the realization of the human rights of women and girls as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Regardless of age, race, disability, or other background, it affects all generations, countries, groups, and areas of our societies.
Women who demonstrate what it takes to be a female leader inspire young women to join the fight against gender violence through education and advocacy. A global society addresses world leaders as well as younger generations, encouraging them to fight for equality now and in the future. More information: https://nargismagazine.az/en/articles/clean-world-by-mehriban-zeynalova/