The maximum stay at Asyiah is seven days, during which Ms. Darwish connects survivors to well-established organizations that provide longer-term support such as housing, job opportunities, and legal assistance.
As of mid-March, 73 women had stayed at Asiyah — all immigrants from Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, or Yemen, from all five boroughs of New York City. There have been several mothers, including a Pakistani who had just given birth prematurely, she said, after her husband tried to poison her, as well as a Bangladeshi with three children in tow. She had visible black and blue marks, and was still bleeding from a miscarriage.
Ms. Darwish said that all of the women at Asiyah are afraid of being deported if they turn in their spouses. “Many women who come to us are sponsored by their husbands, and they are scared to report,” she said. “Abusers threaten them that if they call the cops they’ll be taken to jail.”
Kavita Mehra, executive director of Sakhi for South Asian Women, a New York organization committed to ending gender-based violence, said she saw a drop in the number of women contacting her nonprofit from 400 in 2017 to 350 in 2018. “Even in the most progressive city in the country,” Ms. Mehra said, “the fear is real.”
Ms. Zahan was among the 350 women referred to Sakhi in 2018 and has, so far, managed to take successful steps in starting a new life for herself in New York. She was connected with a pro bono immigration lawyer, and in late September, Sakhi helped her move into a shelter run by the nonprofit Womankind.
The maximum stay in a shelter is 180 days, or six months. So, last week, Ms. Zahan moved to a new apartment. She was also able to find a job as a cashier at a fast-food chain, and is “no longer scared of using public transportation,” she said, with a rare laugh. Recently, she was accepted into a nursing program at a community college — but for now she is focused on making enough money to pay the rent.
“Six months sounds like a lot of time, but when someone is healing from trauma, that process can look very different,” said Ms. Mehra, who is about to start a new transitional housing program for survivors. “We live in the most expensive housing market in our country,” she said. “And for survivors, stability is essential.”
from Best News Viral http://bit.ly/2uZYTGz
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