Wafa House Inc.

Description

Wafa House is a domestic violence organization started by Dorria Fahmy and Nawal Kahf. They realized the serious need for such an establishment among the Muslim community. The most difficult issues at hand were the language barriers and insensitivity to their religious needs. Most of the victims were not able to articulate or express themselves in English. These victims were looking for shelters where they would be able to practice their daily religious routines, such as praying five times a day, etc. This requires a person to wash up or take a mini shower prior to praying. Also, the Muslim victim requires special dietary needs of Halal meats, slaughtered in a particular way. Dorria Fahmy was a volunteer for the Passaic County Women's Center in Paterson and a Domestic Violence Response Team (DVRT) member for her local police precinct. She joined forces with Sr. Nawal Kahf, a domestic violence counselor, and began to lobby and advocate for the needs of the abused women in the Muslim community.