Hadramout, Yemen – ““I will take it upon myself to never let any woman or girl suffer from violence, oppression or humiliation in my family and community, I will hold their hand until they can start a new life like I did,” tells Najat, 45 from Hadramout.
Najat was married off at fifteen years of age to an older man. Her education was cut short and instead she bore three children and continued to endure physical and verbal abuse and violence for the sake of her children for the next 25 years.
“When I turned 40 years, the violence towards me did not stop or reduce, but I decided to get rid of it,” tells Najat.
Najat separated from her husband, taking her three children. She did not have any money or a place to live but was determined to find a way.
“The suffering I endured alone was huge, but not greater than the violence and injustice I endured for over two decades,” stated Najat.
Najat reached out to a women and girls safe space supported by UNFPA with financial support from KSrelief.
The safe space helped Najat to obtain a legal divorce, psychosocial support and learn several life skills.
At the safe space Najat learned to make perfumes, incense and scents. Upon the completion of the course she was rewarded with an economic grant. Najat was determined to start her own business with the grant, working day and night, until she opened her first store in the city.
“I felt like I was finally standing on my own two feet, and able to provide my children with a decent life, but iit felt like just the beginning, there was more to do with my life,” adds Najat.
Najat decided go back to studay at the same school she was forcibly taken away from in her childhood. Najat became a fast learner, learning to speak fluently in Arabic and taking on management courses.
Soon, she assgined her eldest son to take care of the shop, while she took on the role of an executive director at the Hadhramout Center for Training and Rehabilitation, affiliated with the Hadhramout Cancer Foundation.
“When I took on this position, it was the moment I decided to transform from just a survivor of violence to a woman with a message and a mission to help women and girls who have suffered like me,” tells a proud Najat.
KSrelief support to UNFPA in Yemen is helpinf to increase access to quality gender-based violence response services across six governorates in southern Yemen, where protection needs of women and girls are severe.
Twelve safe spaces are being supported by KSrelief to provide women like Najat with psychosocial support services, legal aid and livelihood opportunities.
