1. Domestic Violence in theDomestic Violence in the
South Asian American communitySouth Asian American community
This project is supported by Grant No. 2011-UW-AX-0014 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations
expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.
2. South Asian NetworkSouth Asian Network
• SAN is a non-profit, community-based organization
dedicated to advancing the health, empowerment and
solidarity of persons of South Asian origin living in
Southern California.
• Founded 1990
• Focus on Health, Civil Rights, & Violence Prevention
• Community outreach, education, organizing,
collaboration and policy advocacy
• Located in Artesia, CA, known as “Little India”
3. AWAZAWAZ -- Voices Against ViolenceVoices Against Violence
• SAN’s Anti-Violence Unit Founded in 2001
• Developed out of community need
• AWAZ, meaning “voice” in multiple South Asian
languages, works on issues of domestic violence,
sexual assault, child abuse, and human
trafficking
• Served over 1600 individuals – men, women,
and children
• Our survivors ages range from 2-75 years
4. Thinking BroadlyThinking Broadly……
• We see gender violence as a systemic issue, one rooted in causes that are
not based on an “individual” but societal concerns
• Use an awareness raising, arts-based programs that allows for community
consciousness and community healing, covers a range of topics like:
sexuality, gender roles, Bollywood perceptions, etc.
• In 2006, we conducted trainings with men on how Bollywood movies
shape gender role socialization
• In 2007, we did YKB, collecting community stories about “vaginas” and
concerns of sexuality
• In 2011, we conducted community workshops on the role of women in
Bollywood movies
• In 2012, SAN started working on various violence-prevention workshops
and parenting groups with religious and community centers to educate
youth and adults for make violence-free choices for themselves and others
5.
6. Lifetime spiral of gender violence
From the aborting of female fetuses to intimate homicide, girls and women may
encounter numerous oppressions during infancy, childhood, adolescence,
adulthood, and as elders. Some of these are confined to one stage in the lifecycle,
some continue into subsequent stages.
The Lifetime Spiral reveals patterns of victimization by enumerating the types of
violence, vulnerabilities, and harms women and girls face. It also implicitly shows
the presence of different abusers located over the life course. A grandmother may
withhold nutritious food for a baby girl, a brother may perpetrate incest, a priest
may molest a teen girl, a father may insist on a forced marriage, a college student
may date rape a classmate, a co-worker may engage in sexual harassment, a
husband may batter during pregnancy, a brother- or sister-in-law may stalk, an ex-
boyfriend may kill, a community may ostracize homosexuals, a family may silence
or shame.
In addition to physical, sexual, economic and emotional abuses; violence is about
living in a climate of fear, shame, coercive control, and devaluation. It is often
experienced in the context of additional oppressions based on race, ethnicity, age,
sexual orientation, gender identity, type of labor performed, level of education, class
position, disability, and immigration or refugee status. Raising awareness about the
historical nature of gender violence confronts victim-blaming, informs advocacy,
and empowers survivors.
9. Domestic Violence StatisticsDomestic Violence Statistics
A woman is
more likely to
be injured,
raped or killed
by a current or
former partner
than by any
other person.
10. Domestic Violence StatisticsDomestic Violence Statistics
• In the United States,
according to the Bureau of
Justice Statistics women are
about six times as likely as
men to experience intimate
partner violence
• In the US, a woman is
beaten every 18 minutes and
raped every 6 minutes. More
women are injured in
domestic violence incidents
than in car accidents, rapes,
and muggings put together
11. Domestic Violence StatisticsDomestic Violence Statistics
• Girls and women between
the ages of 16 and 24 have
the highest rates of
domestic
violence
• 1 in 3 teens experience
some kind of abuse in
their romantic
relationships, including
verbal and emotional
abuse
12. Domestic Violence StatisticsDomestic Violence Statistics
In a study in the Asian
American community,
41-60% of respondents
have reported
experiencing domestic
violence (physical
and/or sexual) during
their lifetime
13. Domestic Violence StatisticsDomestic Violence Statistics
A Raj and Silverman study
of South Asian women in
Boston found that 40.8% of
the participants reported
that they had been
physically and/or sexually
abused in some way by their
current male partners in
their lifetime; 36.9%
reported having been
victimized in the past year.
65% of the women reporting
physical abuse also reported
sexual abuse
14. Domestic Violence StatisticsDomestic Violence Statistics
A SAN and UCLA
study in 2004 found
that 58% of men and
48% of women in the
South Asian
community said they
personally know a
victim of domestic
violence
15. What role does AWAZ play?What role does AWAZ play?
• Offer full spectrum of services aimed at the safety and empowerment of
survivors of violence
• Provide services to survivors of violence across Southern California from
Lancaster to San Diego, From Fresno to San Bernardino, across states:
from New York to Texas to Oregon
• As well as internationally to transnational abandoned survivors
• Over 20 specific interventions as offered, including safety planning,
assistance in the area of immigration and family law, individual and
family therapy, support groups, interpretation, shelter placement, court
accompaniment, financial assistance, skill building, etc
• Since 2004, AWAZ has conducted regular support groups with survivors
using art, writing, and yoga as a tool for healing and promoting mental
and physical health
• Many survivors of violence have been able to return to school, find
gainful employment, learn how to drive, and be financially independent
16. Prevention throughPrevention through……
• Raising awareness about domestic violence through
a broad media campaign
• Collaboration with religious and community
leaders in conducting workshops and parenting
classes in religious and community spaces
• Offering pre-marital counseling to young women
• Conducting support groups and art workshops with
children and youth
17. ““Respect and Love are Key inRespect and Love are Key in
Any RelationshipAny Relationship””
- Survivor’s Support Group
AWAZ’s first
Public Service
Announcement
18. Together we can StopTogether we can Stop
Domestic ViolenceDomestic Violence
AWAZ’s second
Public Service
Announcement
