This week VAWA-funded services at a Kentucky agency prove critical for an immigrant survivor:

Fatima was born in Turkey and moved to Russia as a child.  Upon graduating high school, she found a job but soon married a man who was a family friend.  Within the first month of her marriage, her husband began physically abusing her.  She received no support from her family and was forced to stay in the marriage. 

Six months later, Fatima moved to the United States with her husband and his extended family, and over the next two years her situation worsened. The abuse escalated, and was inflicted by both her husband and his mother.  Fatima was not allowed to leave the apartment community in which they lived, even for medical care.  The severe physical abuse continued through two pregnancies, and she was denied pre-natal attention. Though she was allowed to deliver her daughters in a hospital, she did so without any family or friends present, and was never allowed to take her children for well-baby care.  As Fatima did not speak English, she became increasingly isolated.  She did, however, make one very important friend in her apartment complex.

After a particularly difficult incident, Fatima knew she had to do something to protect both herself and her children, and she made a plan to escape.  One evening, after her daughters were asleep, she made the decision to jump from her apartment’s second floor balcony.  Her friend met her and took her to a police station.  Fatima’s decision to flee was made more difficult by the knowledge that she would have to temporarily leave her children – at three years and 14 months they couldn’t jump from the balcony with her.  Her plan was to return with law enforcement the following day and rescue them.

The police officers brought Fatima to The Center for Women and Families in Louisville, Kentucky, where she met with an advocate and entered the emergency shelter.  The police officers also accompanied her back to the apartment complex and helped her take her children to safety.  Although Fatima encountered many challenges after leaving her husband, she had a safe place to live and advocates who provided her with support.  One of the most trying challenges came from Child Protective Services; they threatened to take her children from her because she had left them in a dangerous situation.  Her advocate at The Center arranged for a pro bono attorney who helped her fight the action; it took six court appearances before she was awarded full custody of her children. 

The Center helped Fatima receive medical treatment for herself and her children.  Because the children had never seen a doctor, the younger daughter’s disability had never been diagnosed. Victimized by the violence her mother suffered during pregnancy, she was born prematurely and suffers from Failure to Thrive.  Now at 14 months of age, she weighs only twelve pounds.  At last, she is getting the treatment she needs and Fatima is working with her advocate to apply for the disability benefits that will help her care for her child.

Fatima has lived at The Center for eight months.  During this time, she has moved from emergency shelter into transitional housing, and has engaged in counseling, therapy, and case management.  She is enrolled in English as a Second Language classes, and is training for employment. Because of the services provided by The Center, Fatima is now living safely and independently with her daughters.

While The Center exists to provide just this kind of care and support, Center staff are certain that none of it would have been possible without in-person and phone interpretation services.  All of Fatima’s appointments with therapists, court and CPS workers, physicians, and government agency workers required interpretation.  Her growing ability to communicate in English is often poignant – she describes her life by saying, “My heart is sore” – and she still needs some interpretation services but she is well on her way to self-sufficiency and a life that is her own.