women’s issues

Late last year, a Staten Island woman and her toddler were attacked by a pedestrian who punched her in the face, pulled on her scarf, asked her why she was in America, and called all Muslims and Arabs terrorists. One week later in Seattle, Wash., two American citizens of Somali descent were physically attacked at a gas station. The female assailant called them suicide bombers, terrorists and told them to go back to their country.

Last August, a woman was gunned down outside my agency’s headquarters in New Jersey. She was shot 16 times through the back, in front of her two young children. Inevitably, it was established that she was a victim of domestic violence. At the time, she had attempted to do all the right things to leave her violent home for a place of safety – she had a restraining order against her abuser, was in the process of obtaining a divorce and even enrolled in nursing school to ensure financial independence. However, all this was ultimately not enough to save her life.

“I have to fast for fifteen hours and you don’t give me fifteen minutes to eat my suhoor! You don’t care. You’re lazy. Just get up a little earlier. And I swear you’d better do it quietly, because I don’t get to bed before midnight because of the late Tarawih prayers. You want to have a roof over your head? Then you’d better make sure I get up in time to make it to work at 8:00. I have to sleep after fajr a little bit just to function. You know that. How do you expect me to wake up after so little sleep if you are going to whisper so softly? If I’m late for work and get trouble from my boss, it will be because you couldn’t be bothered to wake me on time.”