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This week many of us British Asians have had to hang our heads in shame and collective self-reproach. Most of us are innocents bearing witness to unforgivable crimes committed by some of our folk on those they should love and protect - kids, wives, sisters: crimes endlessly justified by community spokesmen. The victims are sacrificed to placate the dogs of "honour", always on the prowl, sniffing out the girl or woman who breaks strict codes of behaviour or simply tries to defend her human rights.
Things may actually be getting worse. Two new reports confirm these fears. Thousands of forced marriages take place - British girls, given to men they do not want, to be "tamed", raped within marriage and trained to obey. A Select Committee investigation shows countless Asian girls disappearing from schools, never to reappear.
As if that wasn't depressing enough, the Southall Black Sisters, a tenacious and skilful organisation protecting Asian female victims of domestic violence, is facing drastic cuts from Ealing Council because SBS deals only with Asian women. I understand the reasoning - the Government is trying to discourage cultural separation and move towards shared solutions for social problems. But nothing is that simple.
First, SBS is a secular, feminist advocacy and safety project which reaches out to Asian women of all faiths and ethnicities. It has been around for decades, and saved many lives, both through individual casework and campaigning. SBS aided and defended Karanjit Ahluwalia, who set fire to her appallingly violent husband. She was imprisonedand SBS carried on the fight, eventually freeing her and getting the courts to accept cumulative provocation, a landmark legal decision.
There is a wider argument too. These workers are specialists meeting a desperate and specific need. Such campaigners have a view from the inside, know all too well the lies and secrets of Asian families, speak all the relevant languages and understand our laws and their impact on these communities. Their clients will not, cannot use generic services and so will be left to the hounds.
Health authorities would never dictate that all specialist surgeons had to become generalists - that would be to fail the professional experts and their patients. Yet Ealing is doing just that with SBS. What a terrible dereliction of duty to some of the most voiceless and helpless Londoners.
Reader views (1)
Well done Yasmin - great article. Southall Black Sisters are indeed an irreplaceable organisation with the courage to campaign against the worst of crimes committed in the name of "honour" or "culture". Shame on Ealing Council for cutting their funding in the name of the Government's facile policy of "community cohesion" which is likely to seriously damage other specialist services which work with particular groups or sections of the community for the right reasons.
- Andy Gregg, London, UK, 18/03/2008 13:03
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