While shelters for Muslim women are rare, specialized shelters are not a new concept.

"You can't be everything to everybody as a program. No matter how hard we try," said Karen Tautfest, director of shelter and advocacy service programs at the YWCA in Tacoma.

Tautfest compared Sisters of Sunnah to the shelter opened by the Korean Women's Association in Tacoma. "It's fabulous that this kind of culturally specific resource is now available," she said.

The Korean Women's Association opened its domestic violence shelter in 2004. The $1.2 million facility is "always full," said Lua Pritchard, executive director of the Korean Women's Association. The shelter has served women from 14 countries, including Muslim women, since it opened.

"We have been serving domestic violence for years and (had) no place to hide the victims safely. So the victims always go back to abusers," Pritchard said. "It is crucial to have cultural- and language-sensitive services."

The YWCA has individual rooms for women and sets aside some money in the budget each year for those with special dietary needs, such as allergies, hilal or kosher foods, Tautfest said. The organization is also "happy to meet someone's needs if they ask," but she said no shelter can understand every cultural nuance, and abused or homeless women are less likely to ask for special considerations.

"The more resources we have for folks, the better," she said. The YWCA, which is not affiliated with a religious group, does not ask the women who stay there what religion they are, she said. Tautfest couldn't recall any Muslim women there in recent memory.

At the Tacoma Rescue Mission, director Marlene Hamilton said she was aware of at least two Muslim women who stayed at the shelter in the last year and she recalls at least one leaving because the shelter lacked proper accommodations.

"Some mainstream shelters are accommodating, and others are not," said Salma Abugideiri, who is on the leadership team of Faith Trust Institute, a national organization headquartered in Seattle that works to eliminate sexual and physical abuse in faith groups. She also has a private practice in Virginia where she has counseled many Muslims dealing with abuse.

Abugideiri said that, in many Muslim cultures, women are responsible for making the marriage work, so they feel personally responsible if they are abused. "Islam … completely prohibits violence, but a lot of women don't realize that. So coming up in their own cultural norm, there's a lot of stigma."

Since many Muslims in the U.S. are immigrants, she said, abusers often use the fear of deportation against their victims.

And if a caseworker doesn't understand Islam, there can be miscommunication. At worse, Abugideiri said caseworkers might assume that violence is simply a part of the religion.

"There's a lot of negative misconceptions about Islam – that it's a religion of violence. That plays into how advocates may respond to women," she said. "God does not want anyone to be abused."

Niki Sullivan: 253-597-8658

The Peaceful Families Project (PFP) (www.peacefulfamilies.org) is a national organization that facilitates domestic violence awareness workshops for Muslim leaders and communities, provides cultural sensitivity trainings for providers and professionals, and develops resources regarding abuse in Muslim communities.  This *low-frequency* list provides periodic updates of new resources, programs, and news.