Asian Research Thesis Index

Abstract

This study examines the life experiences of 500 women living in 34 shelter homes established by the Department of Social Welfare and Bait-ul-Mal, Government of the Punjab, Pakistan. The aim of the current study was threefold: to explore the challenges and risks to women’s lives which pushed them into the shelters; to accumulate information regarding available welfare services and their intervention in shelter homes; and to uncover the gap, if any, between existing welfare services and the actual needs of the women and identify the causes of this gap. Primary data was collected from service providers and women residing in the shelter homes through interviews. Face-to-face, in-depth interviews explored stories of extraordinary physical, emotional and cultural violence which were difficult to hear and painful to speak. The nature of the data was both quantitative and qualitative. The proportionate stratified sampling technique was adopted in order to gain a more representative sample. In addition, focus group discussions were conducted at nine locations in Punjab Province. Forced marriage, poverty, domestic violence, fear of honor killing, the right to divorce, love marriage, Watta Satta and Vani were the main factors, but the women were influenced to leave their homes by the intersectional system of society in which the concept of “honor” took the limelight. The results indicated that violence was a tool used by men to control women’s behavior within the patriarchal structure and that the intensity of the violence increased along with women’s demands for legal and religious rights. In such situations, shelters served as a safe haven but intervention and rehabilitation services were missing. The results also indicated that shelters are a taboo in Pakistani culture therefore they tend to provide only a temporary respite in a woman’s experience of violence. Furthermore, the shelters are embedded in a philanthropic model and need broader transformation. The study recommends a feminist or egalitarian approach for service provision in shelters and suggests that a structural overhaul is needed to improve the staff–resident relationship and to curb exploitative practices on shelter premises.

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