Monthly Archives

December 2017

PAVE 001: Mandy Sanghera; building bridges and smashing ceilings

2017-12-06

Mandy Sanghera is an international human rights activists who has spent the last 27 years supporting victims and survivors of Honour Based Violence and cultural Abuse, Forced Marriage , Faith Based Abuse etc. Mandy is an international motivational speaker who has spent years supporting and empowering others find their purpose and rebuild their lives after abuse .

To listen to the episode for Apple users: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1203285774

Mentioned in this podcast:

CSW for youth

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/3/youth-forum-at-csw60

King’s college

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/idi/Events/IDI-News–Events.aspx

Mandy holds a weekly twitter chat called #EmpowermentHour @Mandy_Sanghera1

Girl summit 2014

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/girl-summit-2014

Kalbir Bains, author of “not our daughter” https://twitter.com/kalbirbains

Hello Mandy, welcome at the PAVE podcast. There is so much we can say about you; you are a Tedx speaker, an international human rights activist who has spent the last 27 years supporting victims and survivors of honour based violence and cultural abuse, forced marriage. Mandy what can you tell us more about yourself?

Mandy: Okay I am Mandy Sanghera, I live in the UK but actually I travel all around the world and talking about honour based violence, ritual abusive practices. So a lot of the work that I do is nothing to do with religion it’s about cultural practices. So we talk about FGM, we talk about forced marriages; we talk about children being branded witches or young girls experiencing breast ironing. So forms of violence against women and I have been doing this for 27 years.

Alianne: And you are involved with UN?

Mandy: With what I am involved with the UN is actually a part of the UN women for youth. So what I am doing now, because something that I am very passionate about is actually inspiring and motivating the next generation. Because somebody like myself who has now smashed the glass ceiling is so important that actually I inspire and actually empower and help the next generation. It’s important that a woman of colour who has campaigned on disability and women’s rights and talked about issues that my community would not talk about 27 or 25 years ago. So it’s important now that I am empowering the next generation to take a stand so that’s why I am involved. I am flying out to New York again in March and I will be talking at CSW for youth, I will be talking about ending violence against women again.

Alianne: Is this something going on right now that you are working on?

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When others talk badly behind your back

2017-12-05

When someone talks badly behind your back it can feel pretty awful. It doesn’t matter if that person is someone close to you or someone you barely know.. Knowing that someone is deliberatly degrading you in public, trying to hurt you or even trying to persuade others to think negatively about you, is enough to feel hurt for several days.

Gossiping is often not about you

Most of the time when people talk badly behind your back it has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with them. They probably have an issue with themselves and they blame it on you so they don’t have to sort things out with their own personality. That they are talking behind your back instead of facing you and talk open and honestly in your face is a sign of immaturity and a reflection of them, not you.

There are many reasons why someone might talk badly behind your back. It is likely that person may suffer from poor self- esteem, anxiety or jealousy. That person may even have some trouble with control issues. They feel the need to degrade you behind your back so they can either feel good about themselves or can shift the blame of something they know (deep, deep) deep down is their own issue.

If you make your issues the problem of someone else you don’t have to work on yourself, right? For the bad-talker to realise that they are the one that has some work to do is scary so it is easier to make it your issue. This is especially the case for someone with anxiety or poor self-esteem.

Sadly, as I have said in previous blogs: you can’t choose what others say about you. But you can take the power back and choose your response. You can engage in their little games and let them dictate how you feel and how you behave but you can also raise your own standards by realising that their need to degrade you has everything to do with their issues and insecurities and NOTHING to do with you personally.

Choose your response

Once you know that, you can decide how you want to respond and thus take your power back. Do you think the gossip was an one-time event and you just want to ignore it? Do you want to confront the other? Or do you want to kill them with kindness? You can choose a method that best serves your standards.

Kill them with kindness.

This is one of my favorite methods and it has nothing to do with faking kindness. In many cases I try to feel compassion for the gossiper. Try to see their insecurities, anxiety etc. That does not mean that I want to justify their behaviour, it just helps me to understand the motives of the other person, forgive them, hold my power together and maintain the standards I have set for myself for how I want to treat others.

Limits

It does not mean, however, that you have to spend a lot of time with people who literally keep you down. I suggest that you keep them at arm’s length. Stay true to yourself, uphold your standards, refuse that the behavior of others dictate how you should respond. Just don’t be too personal. They have shown that they are not trustworthy in that way. Pouring your heart out could be ammo for even more gossip.

Choose people who support you

They say that you are the average of the people you spend most of your time with. So you best spend it with people who love you, support you, are honest, mature in a way that they dare to talk openly and honestly. Surround yourself with people who makes you feel energized and who are not degrading your self-confidence.

Confront them

Another favorite of mine: tell them that you’ve heard that they have an issue with you and that you would like to talk about it. This shows your goodwill, your level of maturity, your courage, your ability to set your ego aside and that you are willing to take the first step eventhough that other person has hurt you.

Don’t take it personally. Above all: refuse to be a victim. Remember that it is their issue. It has nothing to do with you. And while you can’t choose what other say or think about you, you are always in control in the way you choose to respond.

Love,

Alianne

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