MSNBC published an inspiring report about two acid victims in Pakistan who have become beauticians to keep their independence.
“I’m independent now, I stand on my own two feet,” she says. “I have a job, I work, I earn. In fact, I’m living on my own … which isn’t an easy thing to do for a woman in Pakistan, for a lone woman to survive.”
 ~Urooj Akbar, survivor and beautician
These women show us how far strength can take you. I applaud not only these two women, but all you survivors out there who continue to be strong and accomplish all your dreams.
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The NY Times recently published a very interesting study on children who are exposed to domestic violence and the impact they have on their peers.
The conclusions of the study proved to be quite disheartening:
*Article submitted by Pooja Trehan
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A recent report* released by the Voices of Women Organizing Project depicts how insufficient the U.S. court system is in dealing with domestic violence cases and bringing justice to survivors.
Some of the facts presented are extremely dishearterning:
Family courts traumatize battered women and hand child custody to their abusers 37% of the time
About 30% of women said they felt unsafe in the courtroom, and 40% felt unsafe in waiting areas.
67%Â of the women could not afford copies of court transcripts, leaving them unsure of how accurately the official records reflected the proceedings.
About 15% said transcripts were not accurate.
Why are such conditions still present in our court system and what can we do to incite change?
*Article written by Alison Bowen from WeNews
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Condoleezza Rice was a co-host of the State Department’s Senior Roundtable for Women’s Justice held March 18,2008, in an effort to call attention to violence against women and help them seek justice.
The roundtable was a public-private partnership between the State Department and corporations such as Avon, which has made money available to help women around the world empower themselves and seek justice. (www.cnn.com)
Rice: Justice for women must be priority (www.cnn.com)
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The UNFPA has launched an excellent online exhibit documenting the fight against gender abuse. The website documents UNFPA’s experience in the field supporting projects that address violence against women in its many forms, and also documents approaches that can be used to confront the problem on a larger scale. The site is a great resource to learn more about domestic violence and how we can combat it in our community. Â
UNFPA: Ending Violence Against Women
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The following is an article posted February 12, 2008 by Alison Bowen on Women’s E-News (www.womensnews.org)
The American Bar Association’s new standards for representing domestic-violence victims are designed to instruct lawyers on how to help their clients outside the courtroom. That includes enforcing protection orders, which are too often ineffective.
Legal Standards Target Protective-Order Breakdowns
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 Read the rest of this entry »
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This article posted in the NY Times describes the lack of discussion of domestic violence issues in the Muslim community.
More specifically, the article describes the situation of a young Yemeni-American women who was a victim of domestic violence but found it increasingly difficult to get help. The article goes on to describe the prevalent problem of combatting abuse in the Muslim communit:
“Domestic violence among Muslims has long straddled a blurry line between culture and religion, but now scattered organizations founded by Muslim American women are creating a movement to define it as an unacceptable cultural practice. The problem occurs among American Muslims at the same rate as other groups, activists say, but is even more sensitive because raising the issue is considered an attack on the faith.”
The article exhibits the importance of raising awareness in our communities and how education of such issues is a key step in preventing abuse in the first place.
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