Religious leaders Condemn Domestic Violence

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WASHINGTON, D.C., April 29, 2004: A group of religious leaders representing all faiths, including Hinduism, gathered last weekend in New York to condemn domestic violence and to discuss how to raise community awareness and how to be of greater help to the victims. The event, arranged by young Pakistani lawyer Sonia Mansoor, was hosted by the Community Liaison Project (CLP) at Sanctuary for Families’ Centre for Battered Women’s Legal Services. The CLP is a project made up of multilingual lawyers and legal advocates dedicated to serving immigrant victims of domestic violence with cultural sensitivity and providing technical assistance to community-based organizations in immigrant communities. Imam Samer Al Raey, representing the Islamic Cultural Centre, in an impassioned address to the gathering said domestic violence was a violation of the precepts of the Quran.



The meeting was also addressed by Hiram Monsseratte, New York City Council member from District 21, the Reverends Francis Huntae Kim and Hee Sun Lee, representing the Korean Christian community; Connie Pankratz, a representative from the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, and a representative of the Vedanta Society, New York’s oldest Hindu organization, who read a message from Swami Tathagatananda. Anindita Bhaumik of the Sanctuary for Families said in her address, “I urge you to partner with us in eradicating domestic violence from our societies.”