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Friday 13 July 2018, 2-5pm – The Conference Centre at LACE, Croxteth Drive, Liverpool, L17 1AA.
The National Memorial Day pays tribute to the legacy of Shafilea Ahmed and other women, girls and men who have fallen victim to ‘honour’-based abuse.
Shafilea, an A Level student from Warrington who dreamed of becoming a solicitor, refused to be forced in to an arranged marriage. In 2003, her parents tried to erase the shame they believed their daughter had brought upon the family by suffocating her and then dumping her body. They are currently serving long sentences for her murder.
This year, while we remember those killed in the name of so called ‘honour’, we will also hear the voices of brave and inspiring individuals who will share their stories of how they manage to escape their own nightmare, giving others the courage to ask for help.
Meanwhile a special collaboration between Savera UK and the Liverpool Arab Art Festival will bring Simona Abdallah to the conference.
Simona was born to Palestinian parents in Germany in 1979, and grew up in Denmark. She plays Arabic percussion, especially the darbuka despite the fact it is considered a masculine instrument. She was self-taught and is one of the very few, if not the only women, in the world from the Middle East who plays this instrument professionally.
She will perform at the conference and will also share the story of her personal journey. Fighting her own family, who tried to stop her from becoming a musician and wanted her instead to accept her role as a good Arab housewife, she went through four engagements and two marriages before finally gained her freedom and achieving what she thought she would never do.
The day will include other inspiring individuals, as well as high-profile guest speakers:
- Jane Kennedy, Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner
- Nazir Afzal OBE, Savera UK Patron and former Chief Prosecutor for North West England