Sikh women in Birmingham dying at hands of abusive partners increased

RELIGIOUS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – A vigil will be held to honour Sikh women killed or pushed to suicide by abusive households

Birmingham Mail reports a poignant vigil will be held in Birmingham for Sikh women who have died at the hands of abusive partners.

Organised by Sikh Women’s Aid, a charity tackling violence against Sikh women, the charity said the issue was particularly urgent in the city.

Set up two years ago during Covid lockdown, the organisation was horrified to hear reports of Sikh women dying in abusive households during the pandemic. Inspired by Islamic women’s groups who they believe are leading the way, founders including Sukhvinder Kaur believe a space is now needed to save Sikh women’s lives.

Chair of trustees Sukhi, 40, said: “This year we lost three women and five to suicide, we want to say to women: ‘There is help out there’. We don’t want to lose any more.

“As Sikh Punjabis, we understand the culture and we have to understand the cultural nuances to reach more women. One of our founders worked in a women’s refuge and said Sikh women were never found there because they don’t come forward.

“Birmingham has our highest referral levels. We noticed calls went up 216 per cent during lockdown and the stats are vile. We also work with the Muslim Women’s Network.”

In 2022, Sikh Women’s Aid published its second report that observed the impact of domestic and sexual violence in the Sikh Panjabi community. The report was based on a survey which had 839 respondents and revealed 62 per cent of Sikh Panjabi women and girls who responded to the survey, reported they had experienced domestic abuse.

Nearly half, 46 per cent, of all respondents who experienced domestic abuse had more than one perpetrator. Almost a third of all respondents experienced sexual abuse with a majority saying the abuse took place when they were children.

Sukhi continued: “We help women with student visas who have no access to funds who are being exploited, many don’t know how the UK works. Some cases include attempted suicide, family court cases, mental health and children raped by family members.

“We even have elderly women who just want someone to speak to, they say ‘I wish you were around 30 years ago when I was younger’. Some claim their husbands beat them so badly they lost babies they were pregnant with.

“Every life we save makes me want to wake up and work.” The vigil will be held on the first Sikh Women’s Remembrance Day on July 17 and will run from 1pm to 2.30pm in Centenary Square.

Guests are due to include city community safety boss Coun Nicky Brennan, specialist domestic abuse agencies, voluntary organisations, politicians and family members who have lost loved ones. The vigil will coincide with the birthday of Surjit Athwal, who was murdered by her husband and mother in-law in an honour killing in 1998.