Savera UK Youth and some of our inspiring service users worked together to create this stunning new campaign that not only raises awareness about harmful practices but encourages everyone to speak out about them.

The campaign begins with a poster being shared on the M62 screen at the gateway into the city on the day that would have been Warrington teenager Shafilea Ahmed’s 33rd birthday.

Shafilea was murdered by her parents in 2003 after she refused a forced marriage. The A-Level student’s body was discovered in the Lake District five months after she disappeared from the family home, but it took several years to bring her killers to justice.

The poster carries the striking statistic that 3,000 incidents of honour crime are reported each year in the UK* with a bold call to action – “Speak Out”. The image, along with others created by working groups facilitated by Liverpool-based branding agency, Nonconform, will also be shared on social media with #ImSpeakingOut, to extend the reach of the campaign.

Founder of Savera UK, Afrah Qassim, said: “Our new campaign is designed not just to raise awareness of ‘honour’-based abuse and violence, along with other harmful practices, it seeks to empower people to speak out, either for themselves or others, particularly those from affected communities.

“It also encourages people outside of these communities to recognise these practices and provide them with the knowledge required to report them effectively.”

Internationally, very little is known about the true extent of ‘honour’-based abuse, but estimates suggest there are 12 killings per year in the United Kingdom**. We want everyone to stand together and help break the silence about ‘honour’-based abuse and harmful practices. Too many lives have been lost in the name of so-called ‘honour’ so join us in our campaign to educate and eradicate these practices for good.

Get involved and Speak Out: here

*http://ikwro.org.uk/2017/11/violence-criminalisation-marriage/

** Source: http://hbv-awareness.com

We will also be holding an event on Tuesday 16th July (11am – 5:30pm) on Church Street in Liverpool city centre, which will be opened at 11:30am with a minute’s silence for Shafelia Ahmed after a reading of the poem Remembering Shafilea, plus speeches from Councillor Maria Toolan, Detective Superintendent, Dave McCaughrean from Merseyside Police and Afrah Qassim, Founder of Savera UK.

There will be a number of activities and opportunities for discussion throughout the day, including drumming performances from Friends of Savera (11:15am and 5pm), poetry and positive messages read by Kiara Mohammed (12 noon), a survivor of FGM and the reading of another survivor story (12:15pm).

There will also be performances of a special piece entitled ‘Break the Silence’ led by Joanne Tremarco (12:30pm and 3:30pm) a dance performance by Movema with audience engagement (1:30pm) and a dance performance by Maxine Brown (2:30pm and 4pm).

Savera UK and Merseyside Police will also join forces on Wednesday 17th July at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, where Merseyside Police will have a stand and will be engaging with passengers and handing out leaflets to raise awareness of the issue of ‘honour’-based abuse. There will also be an additional performance of ‘Break the Silence’.

 

Join us in speaking out. Find out more about our 2019 campaign here