‘A cultural shift’: As more Somali women speak out about domestic abuse, need for services grows

A Twin Cities nonprofit serving Somali and Afghan women is expanding its services for victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

Isuroon launched a hotline for victims last summer and is developing plans for a $30 million, 87-unit family shelter it hopes to open in the next two years.

The nonprofit has served hundreds of domestic violence victims since it started 15 years ago, founder and CEO Fartun Weli said.

But she said calls have escalated in the past four years — in part because women are more willing to speak out.

“In the Somali community, we are facing a cultural shift,” Weli said, adding that, in the past, divorce and separation were rare. “Domestic abuse has always existed in our community, but the driving force in recent years is that more and more young women are speaking up.”

She said the pandemic also highlighted family issues with more people trapped at home. Besides the domestic abuse hotline, Isuroon also provides refugee assistance, doula care, youth mentoring, housing, and other essential services.

Isuroon is not the only local provider receiving more calls from immigrant women.

Shelley Cline, executive director of the St. Paul and Ramsey County Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (SPIP), said the organization is also handling more calls from new immigrants. In 2023, nearly 1 in 5 calls were from new immigrants or refugees.

SPIP has advocates who speak Spanish, Hmong, Karen, Somali and French, among other languages, helping clients navigate a stressful situation. More victims are also finding the courage to reach out, Cline said.

“Something that we noticed is that, once victims understand their rights and options, they make good decisions for themselves and their families,” she said.

Weli said during the 1990s and 2000s, many Somali refugees to the U.S. were women and children because men were subjected to extensive security screening due to the emerging militia groups and terrorist organizations in the country.

This led to many families being separated for a long time. When fathers rejoined their families years later, the children who grew up in the U.S., along with mothers who had been accustomed to an independent life, found it difficult to adapt to the father’s paternalistic mindset, she said.

Najma Elmi, Isuroon’s crisis resource coordinator, said she handles three to five calls a week from women seeking help.

“Overall, the goal is to help them get out of danger and get back on their feet,” she said.

Some of them need to find an apartment, and Isuroon covers the security deposit and the first month’s rent. Others need a lawyer to represent them in court and help with legal paperwork while others are searching for food, clothing and medical attention.

When clients face a language barrier, Isuroon connects them with language services as well. The majority of Isuroon’s clients are Somali women and their families, but the organization also serves Afghan women.

Fatoun Ali, founder and executive director of the Somali Youth and Family Development Center (SOMFAM), married when she was 20 and he was 35. “He was powerful and aggressive to the point it felt like he was suffocating me,” Ali said.

She said her now ex-husband did not want to get a proper job or provide adequate support for the family, resulting in constant problems in their marriage.

She said when she asked him to pay the rent, or for food and other necessities around the house, he would instantly get upset. He beat her, yelled and threatened to kill her, she said. She moved in with a friend temporarily while caring for a baby and pregnant with a second child, she said.

“I felt like our marriage was built on lies,” she said; her ex-husband had three children with someone else without informing her before their marriage. He was also unemployed for years even though he claimed to have a job and owed thousands in child support.

Ali got a job and rented an apartment, but once he learned that she had her own place, he moved in with her, and the abuse continued. For example, he would take a pair of scissors and cut a handful of her hair, show it to her, and say: “‘This time, it is your hair, but next time it would be your throat,’” she said.

When she asked to get a divorce, he severely beat her, leaving her unconscious. Relatives and community elders intervened, persuading him to give her a divorce.

Ali rebuilt her life, getting a job, renting an apartment and enrolling in school while caring for her children. Ali, who has remarried and is a mother of four, earned a bachelor’s degree in business and founded SOMFAM along with a real estate business, Hayat Properties.

At Isuroon, Elmi said they often see similar cases where a wife and children flee for safety from an abusive husband. Weli said Isuroon plans to open its new shelter, which will accommodate large families, within two years, with funding from the state and private donations.

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This story comes to you from Sahan Journal, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering Minnesota’s immigrants and communities of color. Sign up for a free newsletter to receive Sahan’s stories in your inbox.