Opening the doors of hope with ‘No More Tears’

Being a victim and a survivor of sexual abuse, domestic violence and rape in her teenage years, Somy Ali, Pakistani-American actress through her NGO No More Tears stands up for every discrete person who has gone through these buskin. We speak to the actress for our weekly edition of the community wise, who shares with us more insights about the cause.

Shikha Duggal

Somy Ali, Pakistani-American actress has grown to be comfortable with telling her fans just how she feels there and then. For example, if it is the issue of human trafficking and domestic violence: the 46-year old manifested to stand up for that every discrete person who has gone through these buskin. Well, how?

Helming a foundation in the name of ‘No more tears’, she’s here to stop domestic violence, human trafficking, rescue abused animals and end hate crimes with this NGO.She’s so deeply rooted with her organisation that for instance, she can’t stop thinking about what Aftab did to Shraddha and how much pain she must have endured. Her NGO has come across several such cases, where people met online and the women ended up being brutally beaten or murdered, she revealed!

In an exclusive conversation with us, when we put a question on why does she feel so enormously about such cases or what’s her aspiration like, she asserts, “We work hand in hand with the police departments, namely, the FBI and the Miami State Attorney’s Office! NMT is a second responder and in many instances I go with the police when they rescue victims of domestic violence or human trafficking.This means everything to me. It is my sole purpose in life and the satisfaction it brings is hard to express in words. Nothing makes me feel better than saving a child who is being sexually and physically assaulted.”

Somy is originally from Karachi and is also a survivor of sexual abuse, domestic violence and rape in her teenage years. She moved to the United States at the age of 12 with her younger brother and mother to establish a healthy, productive family life, free of abuse. The recent Shraddha Walkar case moved her soul personally.She couldn’t hold back her emotions and shared with us, “I do not understand how he can even bear to look at himself in the mirror, it’s disgusting to even think of blaming Shraddha which is happening in the country! Unfortunately, it happens daily and the majority of the people blaming the victims happen to be women, mostly. This is something I have experienced up, close and personal with too and it still shocks me how a woman can blame another woman who has been raped and then murdered brutally. Victim blaming is not new to our existence.

I once fired a female attorney who was supposed to defend a domestic violence victim under NMT’s care and she asked me how could the victim put up with the abuse! I was dumbfounded by her ignorant comment and when it was coming from an educated woman in the position of an attorney, I couldn’t tolerate her for a second. Again, education plays a pivotal role here as to why a victim of abuse just can’t get up and leave. There are countless reasons and people should use the internet to educate themselves.”

1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men, are victims of IPV.These are the current statistics, and she guarantees that they are far worse in South Asia and countries where women are treated like commodities. She urges this to be a wake up call, get involved when one senses someone is being abused, otherwise things will never change.

She disclosed something breaking, “I will always be grateful to Manisha Koirala for coming to my defense during one incident of abuse in Mumbai.” Nepalese actress Manisha was the only one who stood up for Somy Ali for that ill-famed incident with one of the current superstars of this country. The hint is enough.

The founder continued, “I deem what I do to be the very opposite, not a selfless act. It’s extremely selfish of me because it gives me a high like no other! Getting up daily and saving lives makes me feel extremely proud of myself and I am elated when a victim thrives and becomes successful in something my foundation paid for, be it obtaining a bachelor’s degree or becoming a nurse.There is nothing selfless here and there is no such thing as pure altruism because we do things that make us happy and feel good about ourselves. Additionally, it is far better than having a pity party about what I went through since the age of five. Dwelling in sorrow or feeling sorry for myself did not get me anywhere, but helping others helped me. This is my way of healing.”

All the cases are terrible, but the worst are the cases happened to children in her eyes. She lets out some more, “Recently, a three-year-old was raped and beaten to death by her uncle and I literally watched her die in the hospital. Then there was a case of the five-year-old boy whose father raped him and sold him repeated for another three years into human sex trafficking. Fortunately, he survived under our care. The kids cases are very personal to me because of my sexual abuse as a child. It’s hard for me to forget those cases and they always kill a small part of my soul bit by bit.”

At the age 16, Somy moved to India to pursue a career in the Hindi film industry where she worked in a total of ten films. She graduated with a degree in filmmaking, direction, screenwriting and editing. Her early projects included short films on abortion, domestic violence, and teenage suicide! After finishing her schooling, Somy established No More Tears, not-for-profit organization with the mission of rescuing victims of human trafficking and domestic violence. That was an account of an establishment of a valiant organization like this.