UAE | General
More Rooms For Women's Home
The merger of a private shelter for abused women with Dubai Women and Children Foundation brightens prospects for residents.
- By Kamakshi Gupta, Staff Reporter
- Published: 14:23 October 4, 2007
- Image Credit: XPRESS/Abdel-Krim Kallouche
- Sharla Musabih with a child inmate of the shelter run by her.
The mood at a privately-run local shelter that protects abused women is unusually upbeat as residents are busy packing to move into a facility at Al Aweer 20 times bigger.
The move is a part of the merger of The City of Hope shelter with the new Dubai Women and Children Foundation at Al Aweer.
The merger is being described as a huge step in the right direction for abused women and children whose only safe haven has been the six-year-old local shelter.
A relieved Sharla Musabih, human rights activist and founder of The City of Hope said, "We could not have asked for more. In a country where rapid development is taking place, the social structure needs to be at par and this is a huge step. We needed this kind of backing."
With hundreds of women coming to take refuge in the shelter's four-bedroom Jumeirah villa, Musabih said she often found herself overburdened.
"In the last six months, we had 400 women because of the amnesty. Most were maids, victims of human trafficking and domestic violence.
"We survived on donations and blessings because at one point accommodating them became nearly impossible."
Extra Space
In comparison, the new facility can accommodate 260 women and is equipped with a swimming pool, gym, library and play area.
Musabih, who is also a member of the newly formed committee, said that this foundation will further help in protecting the rights of women.
"The problem is culturally domestic violence is considered to be an internal matter. Victims are often silenced and asked to go back home. This decriminalises the crime and puts her back in danger."
She said, "We will do everything in our power to ensure emotional, legal and psychological protection of the victim."
Last month, Musabih sent back 35 human trafficking victims to Ethiopia by providing them Dh100,000 worth of air tickets donated by Emaar.
"My volunteer is in Ethiopia at the moment liaising with the Clinton Foundation because we never send a victim back home to nothing," said Musabih.
But all this is not easy and in the past she has been through trying times.
"Numerous attempts were made to shut this shelter down. I was defamed and my family had to undergo a lot of stress but the shelter wouldn't have survived without the support of state authorities. The merger is proof of the credibility of my shelter."
The Dubai Women and Children Foundation was set up on the orders of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to provide care and protection to women and children who have suffered from any form of inhumane practices.
A Fresh Start
Arusa Kasum (name changed), 21, an Ethiopian housemaid, arrived in Ajman four years ago but ran away from her sponsor's house. Working as a housemaid in another home, Kasum met with an accident which left her paralysed below the waist. She was in an Ajman hospital for eight months and was later moved to the shelter. But with no funds for her operation, she has remained a paraplegic for over two years. Today, thanks to the merger, her treatment will be covered by the Dubai Women and Children Foundation.
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