Say Something When You See Domestic Violence

Last year there was too much news about domestic violence. This should not be happening!! This year, our organization is declaring to expose domestic violence and any abuse to help protect those in abuse. Domestic Violence is a reality in our country and everywhere else. Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten. Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. In the year 2000, 246,000 women survived rape and sexual assault. Most often, the abuser is a member of her own family. According to the attorney general office, there were 131 people murdered during a domestic violence incident in North Carolina in 2010. Of those killed, 99 were women, 32 were male, and most of the offenders were male (103 male offenders and 25 female offenders. In Eastern North Carolina, 7,432 cases of aggravated assault were reported in 2010.  556 cases of rap were reported in 2010. In Pitt County alone, 568   cases of assault were reported in 2010 and 32 cases of rape were reported the same year.

In a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease control of 5,000 college students at over 100 colleges, 20% of women answered "yes" to the question "In your lifetime have you been forced to submit to sexual intercourse against your will?"Female Genital Cutting (FGC) a practice associated with African, Middle Eastern and some Asian countries is a common cultural abuse of girl and women. It is estimated that 100 to 140 million girls worldwide are living with the consequences of FGC. According to the UN, the UN, at least 2 million girls a year experience genital mutilation globally, approximately 6,000 new cases every day-five girls every minute. This practice mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15 years in on the increase in developing countries like the United States due to immigration.These statistics are a mere misrepresentation as many do not report their experiences. 

Sexual trafficking is on the increase in our world today.  About 293,000 children in the U.S. are in danger of being sexually trafficked. Pimps commonly sell minor girls for $400.00 an hour on America’s streets and the girls received none of the money.

Honor killings, a practice commonly found in Middle Eastern countries is slowly creeping into developed countries. About 5,000 honor killings occur annually. Many more are not reported or disguised as suicide, accidents etc. For instance, in 2009, a phoenix jury convicted an Iraqi Muslim of killing his 20 year old college daughter by deliberately running over her with a car for refusing an arranged marriage and for being too westernized. In 2008, a Muslim man from Jonesboro, GA strangled his own to death in her bed with a bungee cord because she wanted a divorce from an older man who she was forced to marry. 

Those who care, help us stop domestic violence by donating to WISO. Send your donations even $5 dollars are accepted so we can help a victim/ or survivor transition from an abusive relationship. You may save a life by your generous action. Mail donations to  P.O. Box 3043 Greenville NC 27858 or visit Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/WISO/144978142239603. Email wiso2011@gmail.com

Happy New Year News!!!

Happy new year our readers everywhere around the world. We express our sincere gratitude at your support in all the ways you have been there for us in hard and good times. We appreciate that and want too let you know that the struggle  continues over here and your support is still needed. Aluta continua!!! 

It is really hard to be hopeful in our world today with all the bad news happening in various corners in our society. I would like to pause and send our condolences to all victims of terrorism in France and elsewhere. We vehemently condemn any behavior that targets the innocent. We condemn hijacking of good religions to propagate political or person agendas. God, who is Allah does not condone any violence against innocent lives. God as described in the Torah, the Bible and the Qur'an condemns killers, murders and hypocrites. It is common sense that God condemns evil.

Good Muslims know that Allah does not condone terrorism. True Muslims know the difference so lets not blame the religion for actions of a few disgruntled human beings. Evil doers will and should not discourage us to pursue right. God will always triumph, so we can and should not give up hope. We have to stand our ground and stand for our values if we have to continue to thrive. If we stand with God, the devil will retreat. Lets stand with God.

I want to apologize for WISO organization that in December we were unable to post much for our readers due to unavoidable circumstances. We are back in the new year and we are ready as usual to go forward in inspiring each other and to care about those in abusive relationships. So don't give up, there are gliches in life as usual. Don't let these hinder your progress. Here at WISO we are not different.

Good news though!!! WISO has been on the move to a new location. Our new location is 2531 S. Memorial Drive, Greenville NC, 27858. So those who want to contact us through snail mail, do so using that mail or you can use our P.O Box 3043, Greenville, NC 27836.

Our mission remains the same. With this new location we plan to be more lucrative and productive and with your support as usual, we are gearing for better greater things. Most importantly, we should remember is those we are standing for. Those who struggle with abuse in various forms in their lives.
 Our new feature is workshops at our new location. You are all invited to sign up for workshop sessions in person or by webinar to participate in our discussions on abuse in our societies. We also feature educative films to help facilitate discussions. Rummage sales are on. We are accepting donations for that.

I want to invite readers who so wish to consider sending us articles so we can publish on our blog and in our WISO Newsletter. Stories help to educate the community and others about issues of abuse, especially those that are committed in the name of culture or religion. Do you know a friend who is suffering from abuse and would like to tell her/ his story anonymously? We will pay you $50 to publish it,if we approve it. As you can see, the world could use some knowledge. Schools aren't doing enough. We have to reach the entire community in many ways. We need to reach out to many especially those who are not able to go to school or attend courses that teach these values.

I hope to hear from you and I want to end again by wishing you the best this year. Spread the word and we can together save a life, give hope, make someone laugh and who knows, maybe change a life. Visit our website to support us in kind and refer your friends to help us voice out our concerns. Changes are happening to our website as well and will be revealed soon. bear with us.

Cheers!!!!
WISo President
Mary