SUGHAR FOUNDATION

More than one thousand women are murdered in Pakistan each year in the name of Honor. A practice not assigned by religion, or by law, but created by ancient patriarchal systems that are persistent among tribal communities of Pakistan.

In 2009, Sughar as an idea was founded by Khalida Brohi, who lost her cousin to this evil ritual and decided to take a stand against it. Khalida believed that to end a custom like honor killings, it was not enough to rescue victims, advocate for their rights and lobby with the government to change current policies, but to take measures to prevent and ultimately completely abolish honor killings from society by empowering women at risk. And, hence, Sughar Empowerment Society was established to give strength to tribal women to stand up against crimes like honor killings and other customs that restrict their rights and take away their power for decision-making, including wata sata (exchange marriages), forced and child marriages. The primary goal of Sughar Empowerment Society, therefore, was to provide women in tribal and rural areas of Pakistan with social and economic opportunities that will help them stand as leaders in their households and communities, increasing their ability to make decisions about their own lives as well as the lives of their daughters.

With the increasing success of the Sughar Centers, in 2014 the Founder of Sughar Empowerment Society decided to replicate this concept around Pakistan and since has founded Sughar Foundation here in the US.