Refuge for abused women in Malaysia

*Shanti was 19 years old when she travelled to Malaysia with hopes to seek a better life, away from the turmoil and genocide her ethnicity experienced back in her home country. Like many young girls from her village, travelling expenses and arrangements to Malaysia were often funded by prospective husbands that they were going to marry. That was their only means of escape from the callous lives they lived in.

Upon arrival to Malaysia, Shanti entrusted her fate onto a fellow villager, who ensured her assistance but married her off to another man with a dowry that she never saw a cent of. Her husband started abusing her soon after she was married off to him. Not long after her marriage, she found out she was pregnant.

During her pregnancy she endured not only abuse from her husband, but also from his friends. She was repeatedly raped and constantly sexually harassed by them. Her husband would never acknowledge her when she used to go to him with her cries and agony. She was financially distraught as she depended on her husband, and the safety of herself and her unborn child was in jeopardy. At breaking point, she was determined to have a better life. Shanti managed to find the courage to walk out of her house and go to the authorities.

Her case was classified under Section 51 (3), under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act. She was immediately placed in a safe home as a place of sanctuary. Her perpetrators were arrested. She was sent to WAO Refuge for further protection and a place to stay for her and her newborn.

During her stay at the Refuge, WAO assisted her with her emotional and psychological needs, as well as, assisted in providing care for her child who suffered a medical condition. She learnt various skills from the different activities conducted at the Refuge. Some of the activities were creative writing classes, beading classes and self-love workshops which took her mind away from the negative thoughts of her past and empowered her. WAO continued to support and provide her shelter, restorative care and psychosocial assistance throughout her stay in the Refuge. Shanti finally managed to seek justice and a sense of freedom when her husband and his friends were sentenced to prison.

Shanti and her son left under the resettlement program. They still keep in touch with the team of social workers of WAO. She vows to ensure her son receives the education he deserves. As for herself, she hopes that one day, she will have the opportunity to study law and advocate human rights to help many other girls who share the same fate as herself.

*Name has been changed to protect identity