Jude left her family home in Iowa and traveled overseas with her Jordanian fiance who she had met in university. Jude thought they were going for two months to visit his family. During the trip Jude found out she was pregnant. That is when her fiance locked her in the house and the beatings began. Desperate, Jude's parents called us. It took months to get Jude out and back home. He is trying to find Jude and she is scared. We need to get Jude to a safe place where she can have her baby in peace.
Many young American women meet foreign men while attending university. Often they go overseas on a trip with them thinking it is just a visit to meet his family, only to find they are locked in a house or apartment and beaten if they try to escape. Getting help is very difficult and dangerous. Jude befriended one of the family's house maids who took pity on her. We worked with Jude's family and the maid to finally get Jude out. Pregnant and in fear of her life, we need to get Jude to safety.
We have arranged for Jude to live in a safe place where she can have her baby without fear of being found and beaten by her now ex-fiance. Jude will need about $250 a month for three months for basic needs for herself and her baby. After that we will place Jude in a longer term housing situation. Jude plans to go back to college and finish her degree while raising her baby as a single mother.
The project serves 500 women per year empowering them to find alternatives to a life of violence so their children grow up in violence free homes with their self-esteem in tact with the hope of stopping the cycle of violence in future generations. Jude was able to get out before her baby was born so hopefully her baby will never know violence. She is a strong young woman.
