adhunika blog

From Our Archive: The following article is written by our regural participant Sabrin Chowdhury.

“The day my boyfriend started degrading me,
I held back my tears and remained silent.
The day my boyfriend started brutally abusing me,
I held back my tears and remained silent.
But the day my boyfriend looked at me and stated matter of factly ˜I’m sorry I hurt you but it’s your fault. You must always do something to instigate me,”
I let the tears flow from the depths of my soul and knew I could no longer remain silent.”
~ Survivor

Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behavior which keeps one partner in a position of power over the other partner through the use of fear, intimidation, and control. But in reality it is so much more and a much larger problem then we realize.

Studies show that up to 3 million women are physically abused annually by intimate partners in the United States. However, the numbers seem worse for the South Asian community in the U.S, where approximately 41% of women are physically and/or sexually abused in some way by their current male partners in their lifetime. Unfortunately, the real percentage may be higher as many South Asian women are less likely to categorize various interactions as domestic violence, or are afraid or prevented from reporting such incidents. (more…)

Our recent discussions on Thoughts on Divorce at the blog brought out many poignant issues, and one of them was substance abuse among the younger generation. We wanted to highlight the work of Solace“ an initiative by a parent whose children were diagnosed with substance abuse, now another parent who has joined the network to dedicate her time for parents of children with drug problems.

While you read and learn about the network and these amazing parents to support the recovering patients, I would request you to tell the readers what have worked or working when your life partner, friends, family is dealing with the abuse, or if you are a recovering patient we would like to know what have worked for you. You can be anonymous when you share your experience.

Solace: A Network for Parents

Nothing is more traumatic for parents than to see their children slowly slipping away due to drugs. They feel helpless and see no way to help their children recover. Drug users and addicts are shunned by our society as outcasts. This is a social problem, says Lubna Marium, a well-known dancer, now a grandmother of one. Drug users are not criminals. Everyone needs to talk about this problem, whereby addicts can thrive within a support system and eventually recover. (more…)

This post is dedicated to Ms. Syeda Z. Noor - a daughter, a sister, a wife, a loving mother of three, a grandmother, and a role model for many in her community. She was the Principal of a Girl’s College in Dhaka, who retired in 2000, diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2003, and passed away in December 2005. For last couple years the Pink Ribbon has taken a shape of her whom I wish I met. ~ Shahnaz

During the month of October in US, it is hard not to notice the ˜Pink Ribbon” which symbolizes Breast Cancer every where we look. The campaign against breast cancer doesn’t stop only in advertising, the information about the disease and prevention is easily accessible at the hospitals, clinics and of course on the internet.

According to the American Cancer Society, over 215,000 women in USA are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. A person over the age of 50 accounts for 75% of breast cancer cases, the cancer is treatable and there is over a 96% five-year survival rate when breast cancer is caught before it spreads to other parts of the body.

(more…)