Commentary

An international day to honor women who have survived, as well as endured

by Rosa Garcia-Peltoniemi

Today is International Women's Day, which the world began observing about a century ago. In many parts of the world, workplace discrimination has become an artifact of the past. Women have risen to leadership positions that just decades ago seemed out of reach.

Yet widespread violence against women endures. From Liberia and the Congo to Burma and Bhutan, pervasive and severe violence against women is the norm.

Some of the survivors live in our community. At our healing centers in St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Center for Victims of Torture provides treatment to victims of state-sponsored torture. We treat many women who have survived torture and escaped their perpetrators, but still struggle with the effects.

I work with an interpreter named Timka. From Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Timka herself is a refugee. Many of her friends and family members were devastated by the war. As she translates from Bosnian and Serbo-Croatian to English, Timka has watched many survivors fill with pride that they can begin to accomplish tasks, even small ones, on their own. When a client is comfortable making jokes again, it makes her feel good: "There are still people inside of these people. There's still a lot of joy."

Many female survivors who we treat come from countries with male-dominated government and social structures -- places where women's rights are tightly restricted.

Yet these women are strong-willed and courageous. They have overcome multiple obstacles, each of which could seem insurmountable on its own.

One of my clients owned a small business in her home country in Africa. After suffering persecution and torture for her political beliefs, she fled to the United States and applied for asylum. She arrived with nothing, yet somehow managed to earn a living. And she sent money back to her home country so that her children could attend school.

My clients are coping with the after-effects of torture and the consequences of war. With treatment, though, they begin to heal.

They may be at risk of being sent back to their home countries while they wait for their asylum status. They miss their loved ones. Back in their home countries, children and entire families also wait, many times under difficult and dangerous conditions.

I have heard stories of families nervously waiting by the phone and then rejoicing when good news arrives -- their mother, wife, daughter or aunt has won asylum in this country, or has graduated from school, or has found a job.

Some women build movements and run organizations. Today, though, I honor the resilient women from around the world whose lives were interrupted by severe trauma, and have gone on to build meaningful lives here in Minnesota.

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Rosa E. Garcia-Peltoniemi, Ph.D., L.P., has been senior consulting clinician at the Center for Victims of Torture since 1987.