Buy general admission tickets from an NMT representative for the May 11 game and half the money goes to NMT! Tickets are just $10! A fun, family night watching some good soccer.

NOTE: NMT only gets to keep money from the tickets we sell, not those sold online or at the door. Message me if you want some! Click the button below and select Somy Ali from the Department to Contact.

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A Hollywood mother burned her teenage daughter with a hot knife to punish her for talking to a boy she met online, an act that defied her parents’ wishes for her to marry a cousin, according to authorities.

The 17-year-old showed detectives three burn marks on her arms, saying they were placed there in act of “honor violence” by her mother for betraying the family’s culture and religion, according to a police report.

The mother, Sahar Thabit, 35, born in Yemen, was arrested Friday and is facing three counts of child abuse after the family learned about the Internet friendship, police said.

Victim advocates say that “honor violence,” in which a woman is victimized for having shamed or violated cultural or religious norms, particularly those of Middle Eastern countries, is gaining attention in the United States as more Middle Eastern families move here and young women immerse themselves in Western culture.

School officials were alerted to the burns by the teenager’s classmate, who told them the parents became enraged because the girl, who the Sun Sentinel is not naming, was supposed to have been in an arranged marriage with a cousin.

Hollywood Police said the girl was burned in the first or second week of January. A school vice principal contacted police on Jan. 13. The school’s name was redacted from the police report.

The teen told detectives that her mother put a knife on a stove and heated the metal. She then placed the knife on the girl’s arms, police said. She was burned twice on her left forearm and once on her upper right arm, police said. The girl told authorities both her parents knew of the incident.

The girl’s father, who was not identified, initially told police that the girl accidentally burned herself on the stove, according to the report. When a detective noted there were three similar burns, the father reportedly asked to speak to a lawyer.

Police did not interview the mother because she speaks only Arabic, Detective Chris Christianson wrote in his report. A man who answered the phone at the family’s West Hollywood house Monday said only that “everything is fine” and declined to comment further without a lawyer.

The girl’s friend told police that the teen had tried to commit suicide over the incident. The teen is reportedly now living with family friends, but details were not immediately available.

Somy Ali, who runs South Florida-based No More Tears, said she met with the teenager about a month ago in hopes of helping her. Her group helps immigrants brought to the United States through arranged marriages and often are victims of domestic or honor violence.

Read the rest of the article at Sun Sentinel.

Voice of America Urdu Weekly Radio Program hosted by Yasmin Jamil interviews Somy Ali, founder and president of No More Tears. Listen to the interview here.

All proceeds from this event will support No More Tears, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization devoted to providing individualized assistance to victims of domestic violence in the U.S.

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Please email Shannon Brown with questions or for additional event details at shannonkristin@yahoo.com.

These prestigious awards honor the work of Broward County’s non-profit organizations and leaders for their dedication and impact on the community.

The PNC Bank Non-Profit Academy Awards ceremony, presented by 2-1-1 Broward, will take place on Friday, February 22, 2013 at The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

Lammy Askar: Children’s Advocacy Manager for Women in Distress Born and raised in Palm Beach County and graduated with a BA in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Miami. She has been employed with Women in Distress since 2007 and serves as the Children’s Advocacy Manager. Askar oversees all things domestic violence prevention and intervention to the youth of the tri-county area. She is frequently out in the community advocating and educating people on the effects of domestic and dating violence. As a survivor herself, she understands how important it is to break the cycle of violence and know that it’s ok to talk about it. Askar also currently sits as the President of the Child and Youth Caucus, a statewide coalition of activists concerned about children and youth affected by domestic violence, teen dating violence and sexual assault, for the Florida Coalition against Domestic Violence.

Somy Ali: Founder and President of No More Tears Organization- As the founder of the nonprofit No More Tears, which assists survivors of domestic violence. Ali spent her early years between Pakistan, India, and the US, earning acclaim as a Bollywood actress and model before settling in the US to attend college. She has contributed more than $200,000 of her own money to the Florida-based organization, and works personally with each of the survivors it assists.

Half the Sky Movement, was inspired by a popular book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women World Wide, written by the husband-wife team of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The book argues that the oppression of women worldwide is the moral challenge of the present era, much like slavery was in the past.

To read Half the Sky Movement’s news coverage on No More Tears, visit their sight: Half the Sky Movement