Bedari is a national level non-governmental, voluntary, development organization in Pakistan working with women and children for the promotion and protection of their human rights. It started its activities in 1991. It got registered in 1992 under Societies Act 1860. Its registration number is RS/ICT/155. It established Pakistan’s first crisis centre for women survivors of violence. In the past 30 years, it has developed expertise on issues of gender empowerment, addressing violence against women and children, and processes of attitudinal change.
Bedari is a national level non-governmental, voluntary, development organization in Pakistan working with women and children for the promotion and protection of their human rights. It started its activities in 1991. It got registered in 1992 under Societies Act 1860. Its registration number is RS/ICT/155. It established Pakistan’s first crisis centre for women survivors of violence. In the past 30 years, it has developed expertise on issues of gender empowerment, addressing violence against women and children, and processes of attitudinal change.
Bedari started with a vision in the form of a small organization with no regular staff. It relied entirely on the time and efforts of volunteers for the achievement of its objectives. The lawyers, psychologists, doctors and all members were working as volunteers. Every individual worked selflessly for people with the same spirit and vision. Bedari supports 1000’s of women in each year. The core spirit remains the same but the vision gets bigger with each passing day.
Bedari has a formal, paid full-time working staff that has a support from a wide network of volunteers. It is establishing partnerships with donors to execute various projects with specific objectives. It has not dissociated itself from its past. Discrimination and violence against women remain core subjects. However, it has expanded its wings to other areas which affect women’s condition in the society. These include education, economic empowerment and formulation of explicit laws and their implementation to safeguard women’s rights. Today Bedari is working more vigorously on these issues.
Bedari expanded its geographic coverage from Rawalpindi/Islamabad to Chakwal, Attock, Jhelum, Vehari, Multan, Lahore, Chiniot, Karachi, Malir, Peshawar, MirpurKhas, Nowshera, Tando M Khan, Larkana, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Sheikhupura, Sargodha, Khushab, Mianwali, and Bhakkar. With a great presence in key locations of the country, Bedari aims to have a solid footprint all around the country and work for each oppressed women of this country.
In a society that blames women for everything, it is extremely difficult for them to raise their voice against the manipulation and abuse that they go through in their own homes. As a result, innumerable incidents of mental torture, rape, incest and domestic violence go unreported. Those few women who do break the silence and seek help are usually driven by desperate and intolerable circumstances. Even for those few, the society provides no appropriate means of immediate or longer-term assistance.
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The lack of support to women in difficult situations results in many returning to the same unbearable circumstances that they had tried to escape from. Alone, isolated, no productive assets and with no one really to turn to, many women continue to tolerate all sorts of injustices and harsh treatment in their homes, in their job situations, in public and in the society. It was the urgent need for providing help and support to women in Pakistani society that led a group of professional women to initiate Bedari (Awakening) in 1991.
Our team members work with full dedication to bring happiness in lives of people
The master-builder of human happiness no one rejects, dislikes
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Ms. Anbreen Ajaib is a known women’s rights activist based in Islamabad.…
Samina Afzal serves as the Head of Programs at Bedari, overseeing initiatives…
With a Master's degree in Art Education and an undergraduate degree in…
The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence.
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Bedari is a member of the following networks and alliances
