I grew up with a young, single, immigrant mother who left my dad the first time he hit her. She had two daughters and around $10 to her name. Now she is a U.S. citizen, a homeowner and a proud mother of two college graduates. If that isn’t a story of survival, than I don’t know what is. Every female family member, every female teacher as well as every female victim I encountered working at the Domestic Abuse Services in Greenwich, CT, has added important pieces to my vision of nontraditional gender roles and serving others with my work. Empowering women, while also educating our youth (especially boys), is crucial to preventing and eventually eliminating violence against woman and gender inequality.
Read about Yajaira’s work as a Half the Sky Movement College Ambassador on MetroFocus. When she graduates from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in May 2013, she will work at Domestic Abuse Services in Greenwich, CT, as a Community Educator/Bilingual Advocate.
