Nordic countries are often praised for how high they rank in gender equality. In the World Economic Forum's 2015 Gender Gap Index, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden are the top four countries with the smallest gaps between the sexes in education, health, economic opportunity, and political representation. Despite these rankings, the Nordic countries have an unusually disproportionate amount of domestic violence against women. Enrique Gracia of the University of Valencia an

By: Luis Gay A viral campaign is subtly helping domestic abuse victims with the help of a simple black dot. The Black Dot Campaign encourages victims to draw a black dot on their hand as a nonverbal signal for help. Their mission is for friends, family, doctors, and many more to recognize that a person needs help but cannot ask for it. This initiative was started by a domestic violence survivor who was been through physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Because of her experie

By: Janice Tjeng Edited by: Juliana Zhu, Esq. Elisabeth is a survivor of family-controlled child sex trafficking and abuse, which began when she was 2. After years of familial sexual abuse, her father sold her to pimps to earn more money. She eventually left home at 18. The birth of her twins motivated her to seek help and she spent the last 6 years recovering from childhood trauma and earned her master’s degree in social work (MSW). Currently, Elisabeth writes about her reco

By: E. Diane Champe, Founder/President of the E Diane Champe Institute Managing Assistant: Tram Pham Child abuse (physical, mental, emotional, and/or sexual) and neglect encompasses lifelong consequences for men and women (survivors). Survivors don’t realize until much later in life that the methods they developed and used to cope as children were carried forward into their adult lives. When children are abused, they begin to question themselves and their world because it des