Samra Zafar faced years of abuse after arriving in Canada as a teenage bride in an arranged marriage, but nothing could stop her from pursuing her dreams of education and freedom.
While speaking on the CKNW Simi Sara Show Wednesday, Zafar detailed how her life dramatically changed at the age of 17, when her family arranged her marriage to a man who was 11 years older than her. Subsequently, Zafar moved to Canada with her new husband, leaving behind her family in Pakistan.
“I had a lot of dreams of getting an education and going to… universities that were abroad. I was very passionate about my career and fulfilling my dreams. But I was often told that my dreams were too big for me because I was a girl,” she said. “The only way that I would be able to go abroad was to get married to this man because, as a girl, I can’t be sent away. Who would guard me? Who would be my chaperone? So I was pressured into it.”
