Sakhi for South Asian Women

Sakhi for South Asian Women
Founded 1989
Origins New York, New York
Area served
New York City, United States
Website http://www.sakhi.org

Sakhi for South Asian Women, a 501(c)(3) non-profit community-based organization, is an innovative gender justice agency begun in June 1989. Sakhi for South Asian Women exists to end violence against women. We unite survivors, communities, and institutions to eradicate domestic violence and sexual assault as we work together to create strong and healthy communities. Sakhi uses an integrated approach that combines support and empowerment through service delivery, community engagement, media advocacy, and policy initiatives. In almost 30 years, Sakhi has supported thousands of survivors of violence through non-residential services delivery, mobilized community change toward abuse, and enhanced institutions to better serve survivors and the South Asian community. Sakhi is recognized as a local, regional, and national leader in its field. Sakhi currently has ten full-time staff members as well as a vibrant board and volunteer pool. For more information on Sakhi, please visit our website at www.sakhi.org.

History

The organization was founded in 1989 by a group of five South Asian women - Anannya Bhattacharjee, Mallika Dutt, Tula Goenka, Geetanjali Misra, and Romita Shetty - from diverse professional fields such as banking, film, law, and public health. Sakhi, which means “woman friend,” was created to enable women to address domestic violence within the South Asian community.[1]

Originally focusing only on domestic violence, the organization has expanded to include a variety of services for women including their most recent Youth Empowerment Program. Today, Sakhi’s staff of 10 women and their large network of volunteers help thousands of women each year.

Mission and Organization

The stated mission of Sakhi for South Asian Women is to end domestic violence against women by uniting survivors, communities, and institutions. Sakhi uses an integrated approach that combines support and empowerment through service delivery, community engagement, media advocacy, and policy initiatives.

Sakhi serves South Asian women who trace their backgrounds to countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, and the South Asian Diaspora (including the West Indies and Africa). These women come from diverse backgrounds including age range, religion, ethnic origin, economic and educational background, language spoken, and immigration status. Since its inception in 1989, Sakhi has served as a safe conduit to provide South Asian women with ongoing emotional support, culturally-sensitive and language-specific assistance in order to face the violence in their lives. Sakhi has also been at the forefront of the effort to end domestic violence through community engagement, education, and outreach as well as broad policy and institutional change.

Sakhi concentrates its work with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in the New York metropolitan region with a particular focus on the five boroughs of NYC, as well as New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester, and Rockland County. With a South Asian population of over 315,000, the NYC metropolitan area has the largest number and highest density of South Asians of any city in the country. However, the organization often received requests for assistance in other parts of New York, other states, and other nations.

Programs

Sakhi’s main programs include their Sexual Assault Services, Domestic Violence Services, Economic Empowerment Program, Women's Health Initiative, Immigration and Civic Integration, Community Engagement and Outreach, and Youth Empowerment Program. These services help thousands of clients each year.

Sakhi structures its programming through four main program components:

In the Domestic Violence Program, Sakhi provides:

Through the Economic Empowerment Program, Sakhi offers:

Sakhi’s Women’s Health Initiative works to:

In the area of Community Engagement & Media Advocacy, Sakhi undertakes:

Sakhi’s additional services include:

Notable Achievements

Sakhi fields 2,000 calls on their helpline each year. The organization has distributed over $100,000 in scholarships to help women achieve their professional and academic goals. On average, Sakhi clients experience a 300% increase in annual income after 2 years of working with the Economic Empowerment Program.

In 2016, Sakhi’s Direct Services Program achieved the following:

And, the Economic Empowerment Program achieved the following:

Board of directors

Meeta Anand Chair

Deepika Mandrekar Vice Chair

Nandini Mongia Treasurer

Rashmi Luthra

Manisha Mehrotra

Deepti Mittal

Shilpa Mullan

Chandni Prasad

Kulsoom Saeed

Lakshmi Rao Sankar

Krupa Sharma

See also

AshaKiran, A Ray of Hope ASAFSF, Arizona South Asians for Safe Families Maitri Narika Sahara South Asian Network Sneha SAHARA of South Florida Raksha Apna Ghar Hamdard Center ASHA – Asian (Women’s) Self-Help Association Counselors Helping Asian Indians (CHAI) SAHELI Mai Family Services Manavi Islamic Center of Long Island, Domestic Harmony Project SAATHI of Rochester KIRAN ASHA – Ray of Hope South Asian Women’s Empowerment & Resources Alliance (SAWERA) Asians Against Domestic Abuse Chetna Daya Asian Family Support Services of Austin API Chaya

References

  1. ↑ "Sakhi for South Asian Women website". Sakhi for South Asian Women website. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2013-12-22.

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