There are many factors to abuse - Farida | Sunday Observer

There are many factors to abuse - Farida

8 March, 2020

On Saturday Farida Shakir Lukmanjee was conducting a workshop for youngsters who are at risk of various issues, speaking on sexual abuse harassment and awareness. Over the years Farida, together with her anonymous foundation and as the Zonta International Ambassador has worked and is working in creating awareness among the youth concerning many issues. While taking a break from the schedule, she spoke to Youth Observer, on how youth should be more aware of their surroundings.

“Through my foundation, we work on a lot of projects, most of which involve youth at risk, many of them young girls and women. The most vulnerable are girls aged eight to 16. At present I am working with girls who are facing issues from sexual harassment to those who have survived human trafficking. My work goes beyond Lanka, I travel to Bangladesh, Nepal and India and I was invited to many conferences to talk about child marriage and consequences faced by the victims. These issues are common in many countries, including Sri Lanka. We have received a lot of information about underage girls being forced to marry without their consent”.

She said most of the complaints are from the age groups 12 to 16, sometimes as young as eight years. “I have spoken to some of these children who have survived the trauma and are trying to come out of it, realizing that the decision made by their parents were not how they want to live. Some of them have got caught to abusive, and much older men.” At present she works on three major projects, covering areas of child marriage, and thereby connected with many victims. Most of the projects include structures of rehabilitation programs. “With the rehabilitation work I do, I want to give these girls a ray of hope. They have endured so much. Human trafficking is another subject close to my heart, as most of the time girls are being trafficked for sexual exploitation. Even in Sri Lanka I know cases of young girls being exploited by foreign nationals visiting the country. I am currently working with a couple of girls we had saved, who were tricked into the trade and who suffered for years. All this is happening with the consent of the parents, who are using the children for this trade”.

Spending most of her weekends at workshops and charity work, through fundraisers she was able to collect money to create awareness. “Awareness is important, and some victims are completely clueless that they have been abused. They don’t know the meaning of abuse. That’s why we do a lot of awareness programs, it’s important to know the right from wrong”.

Another issue which Farida has been working on for years is the awareness of the spread of HIV/AIDS among youth, “Most of the time youth don’t report or seek help, for the simple reason as to how society would react. I have been working with the AIDS Foundation of Lanka and conduct a lot of workshops, in remote parts of the country. We educate factory workers, youngsters, women and teenagers too. We help those who are working in their communities to educate people about AIDS, and extend support to those affected through counselling and job opportunities, helping them to become stable. It’s shocking that youth are unaware of the basic sex education aspects”.

“There are many factors to abuse, which must be addressed. It’s not only among women but men too. Today one of the biggest issues faced by youth is cyber bullying, a form of abuse which brings on a lot of harassment to a person. There are many forms of cyber bullying and it should be reported, we help those victims too. To stop this menace, they must report.”

Finally concluding her session, she said, “It’s important that the youth have a lot of political awareness and understanding. The future is theirs and they have a responsibility not only to themselves but for the next generation too. If it doesn’t start now, it will be too late, because having a political understanding is very important.”

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