An ex-Bollywood star rescues immigrant women from abusive relationships

[Kadie]

An ex-Bollywood star rescues immigrant women from abusive relationships

BY JULIE LANDRY LAVIOLETTE
Special to The Miami Herald

One afternoon, a neighbor knocked on Somy Ali's door. Bleeding from a head wound, the terrified woman said she had been beaten by her husband. Ali called 911.

That phone call would be a turning point for Ali, a former Bollywood actress and model more accustomed to London shopping sprees and headlines about her engagement to the Brad Pitt of India than humanitarian work.

Today, her four-bedroom Plantation home is the headquarters of No More Tears, a nonprofit Ali founded in 2006 to help immigrant women in South Florida escape domestic abuse.

The women (46 so far) hail from distant lands -- India, Russia, Guyana -- and nearby countries including Cuba and the Bahamas. They come from many faiths, and often arrive in South Florida via arranged marriages. They're cleaning women. Homemakers. Teachers.

Ali, 34, finds them apartments and rounds up donated furnishings. She lines up jobs or training, registers their kids in school and baby-sits when needed. All the while, she inches the women toward independence.

``It is like they are being held captive. They don't have a say,'' she says. ``It's ridiculous that this is happening in the United States. We have to learn about it and do something about it.''

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/14/1773783/the-role-of-a-lifetime-an-ex-bollywood.html#ixzz0yxLDUlq0



In this photo taken Monday, Aug. 30, 2010, Somy Ali is shown with one of her T-shirts at her home in Plantation, Fla. In 2006 Ali started a not-for-profit organization called No More Tears Inc. to help domestic violence victims. Ali funds her organization in part by giving 10 percent of the revenue from her clothing company called So-Me Designs.
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)


In this photo taken Monday, Aug. 30, 2010, a T-shirt made by Somy Ali is seen at her home in Plantation, Fla. In 2006 Ali started a not-for-profit organization called No More Tears Inc. to help domestic violence victims. Ali funds her organization in part by giving 10 percent of the revenue from her clothing company called So-Me Designs.
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)


In this photo taken Monday, Aug. 30, 2010, Somy Ali is shown at her home in Plantation, Fla. In 2006 Ali started a not-for-profit organization called No More Tears Inc. to help domestic violence victims. Ali funds her organization in part by giving 10 percent of the revenue from her clothing company called So-Me Designs.
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

http://www.so-medesigns.com/peace/

http://www.nmtproject.org/index.php

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