Grieving mom organizes walk to support women's shelter and highlight intimate partner violence

Windsor Morning8:06Reaching women trapped in unhealthy partnerships

A grieving Windsor, Ont., mother is organizinga walk next month to bring awareness to intimate partner violence (IPV).

Fartumo Kusow's daughter was found dead last year. After being reported missing May 26, 2023, Sahra Bulle's body was found in a field in early June. She was 36 years old.

Bulle's estranged husband, Brian Aaron Marbury of Michigan, remains in jail, awaiting trial for first-degree murder.

The Walk to End Silence is scheduled for Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Windsor.

Kusow says every dollar raised at the event will be directed to a transitional housing organizationfor Muslim women Nisa Homes, which has 12 beds.

The local shelter opened in 2017 for Muslim women suffering from domestic abuse, homelessness and poverty. Nisa Homes is part of a charity called the National Zakat Foundation.

"They help [the] most vulnerable in our community," Kusow said.

"As we all know, the shelters, whether it's housing, youth whether it's housing people leaving violence, the shelters are always over capacity, and those women living these situations often have children with them, so it's not only [a] one-person situation."

According to Kusow, the money willgoto homes trying to support women trying to get themselves out of dangerous situations.

"That shame and silence where perpetrators of violence thrive on, because women might put on makeup, might not tell anybody. It might just kind of feel like, 'What did I do wrong?' I think we need to, as a community, use our own steps to say we're not going to be silent anymore."

Kusow says her goal for the walk is to get as many people as possible having open discussions about domestic abuse.

"I'm hoping to have people in my own community to come with me so we can realize our own power, because for so long, I waited for somebody to do something, and after losing my daughter, I'm coming to terms with the idea that we should have the power within ourselves."

Whether you raise $5 or $500, it doesn't matter, says Kusow.

"Just come out with us and walk with us so we can support each other."