In 2009, WISE collaborated with Bedari, a women’s rights organization based in Islamabad, on a domestic violence awareness campaign in district Jhelum, an impoverished region of Punjab, Pakistan. Impetus for the project came after a bill against domestic violence passed in late 2009 by the National Assembly of Pakistan but which later lapsed in the Senate.

Bedari, a non-governmental development organization holds a 15-year record of successfully supporting women survivors of violence through crisis centers and other services, such as increasing public awareness about domestic violence through creative community-based education and cross-sector communication among legal and social service professionals.

Anbreen Ajaib, program manager at Bedari, proposed a joint collaboration with WISE after attending the 2009 WISE convening in Malaysia. She was influenced by the Change through Communication module of the conference to develop an education and advocacy campaign against domestic violence.

With WISE, Bedari developed a domestic violence awareness campaign designed to encourage dialogue and understanding of gender equity.

The program consisted of four key components:

• Producing literature in Urdu on domestic violence
• Facilitating dialogue among all members of the community, including police, politicians, and opinion makers in ensuring strong domestic violence legislation
• Producing a theatrical community performance on domestic violence
• Facilitating community-based awareness workshops with experts on how to recognize or speak out against domestic violence.