WES holds a seminar on Rising Above Gender Barriers
Women Empowerment Society, in collaboration with Dastak Foundation, hosted an event titled Rising Above Gender Barriers on 16 March 2016. The event was open to everyone at FCC, and outsiders as well. It was aimed at women who wanted to follow and achieve their dreams, but could not due to various constraints placed by the society on their gender. To achieve this, WES was successful in recruiting 2 guest speakers for the event.
Vaneeza Ahmed, an ex model/actress and now a successful entrepreneur, drew in a lot of crowd due to her stature. She tried to inspire and motivate women who felt they were being shackled by this society, and talked of her own painful journey and struggle to become the celebrity she is today.
The second speaker was Asad Jamil, a Human Rights Lawyer who also writes for various news publications like the Tribune and The Nation. He talked of women’s rights, and shed some light on the case of the girl Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy who made an Oscar winning documentary. He also discussed the Violence against Woman Bill, which was recently passed in the Assembly, and termed it as a major step towards women being on the same pedestal as men. Their talks were followed by a question/answer session, in which the students interacted freely with the guests and asked questions pertaining to the event.
WES was also successful in getting together students to do a short skit on the problems women face in the society. The play was about a girl whose mother wasn’t in favor of educating her, much like the view shared by a lot of uneducated citizens. It was important in getting the message across that women deserve to be educated as much as men. The people in attendance enjoyed the display put on by the actors.