By Vidya Pradhan

It is an immigrant’s tale as old as time. Rukhsana( not her real name) was brought to the US from her native South Asian country on a fiancée visa. Once she was married, her in-laws found many excuses not to proceed with her green card application. This ensured that the lonely and helpless girl would submit to other, typical, patterns of abuse – emotional, verbal and physical – without recourse. With her spirit all but extinguished, Rukhsana made a last ditch attempt to escape. While being taken out of the state, she evaded her captors and asked a stranger for help. She was  taken to the police station, where she had her first piece of luck since coming to the land of the free, a meeting with a Narika representative. Continue reading →