According to a survey from Statistics Canada, half of women in the country have been subjected to at least one incident of physical or sexual violence by the time they turn 16. Many critics note that most support services offered to help victims don’t accommodate for the unique cultural situations many minorities are in/face.
OMNI Television sat down with Maya, a young Arab woman, to learn more about her experience with assault. She shared the challenges that came with coming forward, including the social stigmas in Middle Eastern culture and isolation that comes with being a victim of sexual assault. Coming from a traditional background, Maya said she expected to struggle with finding support within her community. She said the most heartbreaking thing to learn was that the situation for victims in North America isn’t so different. Maya said she is still fighting for justice in her case and working to curate a list of support services to fill a glaring lack of in-language resources for victims who don’t speak English.
