“I pray to Allah that no girl ever needs to be born in Pakistan.”
Faranza, Lahore, Pakistan
Sheema
“I pray to Allah for forgiveness five times every day.”
Name: Sheema
Age: 18
My sister also works at the brothel. Now that I’ve run away I can’t have any contact with my sister. The brothel madam’s son used to drive us from one customer to another and take all the money.
I’ve done everything the men have asked of me.
I’ve had an abortion.
I pray to Allah for forgiveness five times a day, because I know that what I’ve done is wrong.
Phindi
“I just stood there, holding a pan of boiling water I was going to throw over him.”
Name: Phindi
Age: 42
Blessing
“I was only three the first time someone took my pants off and put his finger inside me.”
Name: Blessing
Age: 27
Maryam
“It’s better to bring the girls up properly than to put them through that. And now my own mother feels the same way!”
Name: Maryam Saiid
Age: 32
The midwife had a razor. I bled for a whole week afterwards.
I never talked to my mother about what had happened. It was a forbidden topic of conversation.
I still don’t enjoy sex.
