When women and girls facing honor violence reach out to us for help, many express feelings of isolation. With cases that are often easy to misinterpret as cases of domestic violence or are simply dismissed, they feel that the AHA Foundation is a safe place they can turn because their unique situation will be understood. They know that they will be supported by a strong network of advocates, social service providers, and friends like you.

At the AHA Foundation, we recently received one such gesture of support in the form of a $25,000 anonymous donation. With the help of this contribution, we are halfway to reaching our spring fundraising goal. To show our thanks and appreciation, we have designated this contribution as a challenge to our supporters to raise an additional $25,000 for the AHA Foundation Spring Challenge campaign.

When you support the AHA Foundation, you stand in solidarity with women who are trapped and abused reminding them that they are indeed not alone.

Here are just a few examples of what your support can accomplish:

$25 can provide a victim with connections to appropriate professional services.

$100 can provide an initial counseling session for a victim or survivor.

$750 can provide an on-site training for law enforcement or social service professionals on how to identify and respond to honor violence and forced marriage.

$3,500 can help relocate a victim of honor violence and provide her with safe housing for three months.

$3,900 can bring a girl home to the US after being taken overseas for a forced marriage.

If we meet this challenge, the extreme generosity of a stranger will lead to $50,000 in funding for the AHA Foundation’s life-saving programs, allowing any gift you make to have twice the impact. That means:

• More counseling sessions for women trapped in an abusive marriage they never wanted.
• More police officers trained so that when a girl comes to them and says she’s afraid her father is going to kill her, they know to take her seriously and work to keep her safe from harm.
• More women and girls with increased tools to choose their own futures.

Each time a woman or girl seeks help in leaving a situation of honor violence it takes incredible courage. That’s why the AHA Foundation’s work in responding to women and girls in crisis, and in training other professionals on how to appropriately respond, is so desperately important. Your support, in all of its forms, makes this work possible.