Minutes for Moms
Imagine you are an American woman, married to a foreigner with three very young children. You find, once you are in his country, he becomes a stranger; unpredictable, moody, controlling & increasingly violent.
The injuries he inflicts on you escalate from bruises to black eyes to broken bones. The children not only witness this terrifying abuse, they also become victims. He threatens to kill you if you tell anyone or try to leave.
Where would you go, anyway?
If you flee and go back home with the children, he can file international child kidnapping charges, and likely win custody.
Who can you turn to?
The Embassy can’t help. No domestic violence agency in your home state can help.
Gradually, life narrows done to the essentials of survival
Don't fight back.
Protect the children.
Crumple into a ball on the floor and try to stay alive.
Each year, an estimated 68,000 American citizens living overseas are victims of domestic violence. With no one else to turn to, American women depend on the Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center (AODVC). AODVC has the only national and international toll free crisis line accessible from 175 countries worldwide. Through the crisis line, American survivors of domestic violence living overseas are equipped with specialized safety planning, case management, danger to safety relocation, international legal referrals, counseling, and other basic needs.
Your donation will make the difference
Your donation will allow for an American woman and her children to make a call that may be their only chance to access resources and navigate the complicated jurisdictional, legal and social international landscapes, to be able to live their lives free of abuse.
- $ 10.00 will buy an abused American woman or child in crisis 4 minutes on the crisis line.
- $ 25.00 will pay for a trained domestic violence advocate to answer crisis calls for two hours.
- $ 150.00 will pay 1 hour of toll charges on the crisis line, the average amount of time for an intake call.
(Figures based on average crisis line toll charges of $1.00 to $4.00 per minute, dependent upon the country from which the survivor is calling.)
To donate, please click the Just Give icon
Please contact Brooke Galloway, Brookeg@866uswomen.org, for further information.