Twenty years ago, when she was 16 years old, Thordis Elva was raped by her then-boyfriend, Tom Stranger, who was 18 at the time. Thordis had been drinking rum before their Christmas dance in December of 1996 ― when she was too sick to stay out, Tom took her home, and proceeded to rape her. […]
Being unable to tell your story is a living death, and sometimes a literal one. If no one listens when you say your ex-husband is trying to kill you, if no one believes you when you say you are in pain, if no one hears you when you say help, if you don’t dare say […]
Shahid Sandhu’s sense of loss and anxiety from his loveless marriage knows no bounds. But his is more than a bad connection.From the time he left Pakistan to join his new wife overseas four years ago, she, her brothers and her parents have been controlling his every move. They force him to work round the clock, […]
When it comes to mental health, stigma and stereotyping still prevails – particularly when it comes to men’s mental health. Suicide remains the biggest killer of men aged under 45, with many unable to cope with or talk about how they feel. The traditional notion of masculinity is in large part to blame, coupled with […]
I was 16 when I was forced to marry a stranger and move from the United Arab Emirates to Canada. Over the next decade, I was isolated, humiliated and assaulted. The whole time, I was planning my escape In 1999, in Abu Dhabi, Samra was a brilliant 16-years-old student of grade 11, dreaming to […]
In 2014, 95 % of sexual violence and femicide cases were never investigated at all – and Maria Jose Alvarado’s mother says her daughter’s murder was only investigated because of her fame. On November 13, 2014, 19-year-old María José Alvarado and her 23-year-old sister, Sofia Trinidad, disappeared after a party at the home of Trinidad’s […]
Differentiating between consensual sex and sexual assault doesn’t seem like it should be rocket science, but the growth of awareness of “stealthing,” or the nonconsensual removal of a condom during sex, has launched another discussion on the subject. A new study explores the phenomenon of “stealthing” — giving a name to an act many people […]
Sexual harassment, criminal sentencing, and immigration have been hot button issues in the news of late. There are the allegations against Fox’s Roger Ailes, and questions over how the Trump administration will approach criminal justice. There are debates over federal funding for sanctuary cities, not to mention the problem of H1B visas after various […]
As a young girl in Kultali, India, Lata went further in school than most girls in her village. But at 16 years old, her education was cut short — she married a boy who sold her to a brothel two months after their wedding. She felt like she had no future. Fortunately, Lata escaped sex trafficking. […]
When news of an active shooter inside an elementary school broke on Monday morning, it triggered panic and alarm. For residents of San Bernardino, California, a community still reeling from the trauma of a terrorist attack that killed 14 people less than two years ago, it was as though a fresh wound had been ripped wide […]