Silent Night, Unholy Night

Listen, youre like a ball. When I kick you against the wall, youll just bounceback to me, Saras husband, Mohammed barks at her. Mohammed is anImam or religious leader in Saudi Arabia. One night he returns home, kicksSara out of their matrimonial bed, and announces he has married a secondwife, Hiba, a 16 year old child-bride. When Sara has the audacity to react,he manipulates her into thinking she is somehow at fault. Sara is a devotedmother of four boys, and yet, she is compelled to flee Saudi Arabia and leaveher children behind. She can no longer tolerate the physical and emotionalabuse to which she has been subjected throughout her marriage. Sara is notalone. Silent Night, Unholy Night - Refugee Stories deals with women fromall over the world, including Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, SaudiArabia and Albania. These women were compelled to flee their countriesof origin due to gender-based persecution. They are refugees who suffereddomestic violence, sexual assault, rape, abduction, coerced marriage andhuman trafficking. There is no state or police protection for abused womenin many countries. Violence against women is regarded as a private familymatter, and the police will not intervene to protect these victims. Often thesociety in which they live and their own families do not support them. Rawand riveting, their stories scream out to be heard.