Musade

Last week we took a trip to an organization in San Ramon, called Musade. This organization is for woman who have experience domestic violence. This organization started through a clinic for women. They realized women were coming in for problems beyond health and related to domestic violence and (I don't know the exact details) began a program. But woman that come in for help are first met by another woman who has been through the program and survived domestic violence so they have someone who can tell them how it works and share that they made it through it. The women are referred to shelters to stay at and are helped with developing skills for micro-enterprising as well as making souvenirs which are sold in the store to support Musade. They are assisted in developing these skills because many have been stay at home moms and need to support themselves for the first time.

The organization also does many political events such as public marches to help women see that it is not ok to be abused and that they can get help. They also have support groups for the women and their adolescents who have experienced the abuse. Beyond this, they go to the schools to educate young children about violence so that they can be aware of the signs and so that they stop the stereotypes of women before they are too old. This is so that the males and females know it isn't ok to treat women poorly. They also mentioned that it is very common that women first visit because their husband brought them because he thinks they have a problem because she won't sleep with him. I must also mention, one of the great things about the program is that it is run by women, men may be partners but not hold director positions. They also promote many women who have been helped by the program to support women and help them succeed.