Precious Lives has been implemented in Kabul and Herat provinces with the aim of bringing dignity back to the Afghan women. This project provided Legal Aid for women victims of violence in 4 centers (HAWCA LAC Kabul, LAC Herat, HAWCA WPC and OPAWC) have been established in Kabul and Herat, where women victims of violence received legal and psychosocial services.
Since April 2014 HAWCA legal aid centers in Kabul and Herat provided free legal and psychological services to 660 women victims of violence, 588 legal advices, legal awareness to 600 people, legal trainings to 243 committee members, English and computer to 210 girls. The project also supported internship for girls and under this project a number of 32 newly graduated lawyers learn the practical ways of lawyering and how to defend a woman victim of violence.
Through this project OPAWC center on the other hand provided literacy, computer, English and Vocational training to 645 women living in Afshar, Char rahi Qamber and Qaragha area.
HAWCA WPC activities that contribute to the project main goal also supported 541 women victims of violence and 231 children.
In total the direct beneficiaries of this project were 3750 men, women and children.
Beside the main activity of the project which was providing free legal and psychological services to women victims of violence, the project focused on establishment of women right defending committees which consisted of men and women. These committees are created so that the number of women right defenders at community level are increased and when the project is over, these committees could continue to defend from the rights of women.
Public awareness on women rights was another major activity of the project where people were given information on issues such as EVAW law, women inheritance rights, women marital rights, child rights, right to education, right to medical services, right to information etc.
The English and computer courses of HAWCA was to create a gateway for our women right defenders to meet and communicate with the international women right defenders. The committee members learned how to use internet and social websites to publish their comments and views on women and how the life can be made easier for them.
Making women self-sufficient was another major activity of the project and the responsibility was given to OPAWC. Women from Afshar and nearby area came there to learn literacy, English, Computer and vocational training. The main focus of the project was on the literacy and vocational training courses so that the women could learn how to read and write and how to cook food suitable to be sold in the market and how to make cloths which are sellable in the market.
The Action Research has been implemented to get an in depth understanding of women and children victims of gendered based violence needs, problems, expectations, and help seeking processes and of the response capacity at both the institutional and civil society level in the context of targeted communities, that is the communities where the project has been implemented.
On 19th of Nov 2017 the implementing partners of Precious Lives, organized a gathering in babor Garden to present the achievements, challenges and lesson learned of the project.
A round table was organized in this program where head of the family court, head of the women protection center of ministry of Women Affairs and 3 HAWCA lawyers participated in it. 3 beneficiaries of HAWCA women protection center presented their cases and demands to the government and the participants of the round table expressed their views and answered their questions. The main question raised by the victims were:
1- Why should I wait for 3 years to complete to get divorce based on the absence of the husband?
2- Why did the general attorney released my husband who has committed many crimes against, by taking a 200 AFG mobile as guarantee and now the police cannot find him.
3- Why doesn’t the government provide the women who are homeless with secure residency and job opportunities?
