This month is Domestic Violence Awareness month

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 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?"

In the year 2000, 246,000 women survived rape and sexual assault. Most often, the abuser is a member of her own family. Female Genital Cutting (FGC) a practice associated with African, Middle Eastern and some Asian countries is a common cultural abuse of girls and women. It is estimated that 100 to 140 million girls worldwide are living with the consequences of FGC. According to the U.N.at least 2 million girls a year experience genital mutilation globally, an approximation of 6,000 new cases every day and five girls every minute. This procedure mostly performed on young girls  between infancy and age 15 is on the increase in the West as in the U.S due to immigration. Sexual trafficking, is another practice 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 The   girls received none of the money.

Honor killings, a practice commonly found in Middle Eastern countries is slowly creeping into the developed countries. About  About 5,000 honor killings occur annually. Many more go unreported or disguised as suicide, accidents. For instance, in 2009, a phoenix jury convicted an Iraqi Muslim of killing his 20 year old  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, Georgia strangled his own daughter to death in her bed with a bungee cord because she wanted a divorce from an older man who she was forced to marry. While incidences of abuse are rampant in our communities, girls and women are especially vulnerable. We can do better to protect them from  abuse whether these are   culturally or religiously sanctioned.

Abuse is abuse and it should not be condoned. We are religious congregation to  lead on this issue. They must serve as sanctuaries for the vulnerable. Lets communicate awareness on this issue. If you want to talk, or report, contact us at wiso2011@gmail.com. We will be happt to listen and direct you way forward.