Overview
Founded in 1985, Manavi (meaning 'primal woman' in Sanskrit) was the first organization in the U.S to specifically address the needs of South Asian women, who are victims of violence. Although started as a consciousness-raising group, Manavi's founders soon realized that South Asian women facing abuse were unable to seek help from local authorities and mainstream organizations for variety of reasons. These reasons could be attributed to cultural, lingual and immigration barriers, among others.
Sanskrit is a language of ancient India with a history going back about 3,500 years. It is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and the predominant language of most works of Hindu philosophy as well as some of the principal texts of Buddhism and Jainism. Sanskrit, in its variants and numerous dialects, was the lingua franca of ancient and medieval India. In the early 1st millennium CE, along with Buddhism and Hinduism, Sanskrit migrated to Southeast Asia, parts of East Asia and Central Asia, emerging as a language of high culture and of local ruling elites in these regions.
South Asia or Southern Asia, is a term used to represent the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan SAARC countries and, for some authorities, adjoining countries to the west and east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women and girls. Often considered a form of hate crime, this type of violence is gender-based, meaning that the acts of violence are committed against women and girls expressly because they are female. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women states, "violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women" and "violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men."
Since Manavi came to existence, many other South Asian organizations for women have been formed in the U.S along the lines of Manavi. Today, Manavi continues to be a pioneer by championing new strategies for advancing the South Asian women's movement in the U.S and by constantly adapting its service provision to the changing needs of South Asian women living in the U.S.
While providing direct service to South Asian women in need, Manavi is also a social change agent within the South Asian community. In addition, it is a cultural competency educator and diversity trainer in the mainstream movement to end violence against women in the U.S. In short, Manavi simultaneously addresses both the immediate needs of women facing abuse and the long-term vision of establishing peaceful communities free from gender-based violence.
Social change involves alteration of the social order of a society. It may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations.
Alternative media are media that differ from established or dominant types of media in terms of their content, production, or distribution. Alternative media take many forms including print, audio, video, Internet and street art. Some examples include the counter-culture zines of the 1960s, ethnic and indigenous media such as the First People's television network in Canada, and more recently online open publishing journalism sites such as Indymedia.
V-Day, February 14, is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls started by author, playwright and activist Eve Ensler. V-Day began on February 14, 1998 when the very first V-Day benefit performance of Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues" took place in NYC, raising over $250k for local anti-violence groups. V-Day was formed and became a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to raise funds and awareness to end violence against all women and girls. Through V-Day, activists stage royalty free, benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues "to fund local programs, support safe houses, rape crisis centers, and domestic violence shelters, change laws to protect women and girls, and educate local communities to raise awareness and change social attitudes toward violence against women" during the month February, with most of the benefit productions taking place on or about February 14. Ensler has been quoted as saying that it was women's reactions to the play that inspired her and her colleagues to launch V-Day. The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.
A women's shelter, also known as a women's refuge and battered women's shelter, is a place of temporary protection and support for women escaping domestic violence and intimate partner violence of all forms. The term is also frequently used to describe a location for the same purpose that is open to people of all genders at risk.
Women of color is a phrase used to describe female persons of color. The political term "women of color" surfaced in the violence against women movement. In the late seventies it unified all women experiencing multiple layers of marginalization with race or ethnicity as a common issue.
Equality Now is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 whose purpose is to, in its own words, work "for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls around the world". The group provides an international framework for spreading awareness of issues and providing support to local grassroots groups working to address issues of concern to it. The organization lists its primary concerns as being sexual violence, trafficking of women, female genital mutilation, and discrimination in law.
The Chicago Women's Liberation Union, also known as CWLU, was a feminist organization founded in 1969 at a conference in Palatine, Illinois.
Rape crisis centers (RCCs) are community-based organizations affiliated with the anti-rape movement that work to help victims of rape, sexual abuse, and sexual violence. Central to a community’s rape response, RCCs provide a number of services, such as victim advocacy, crisis hotlines, community outreach, and education programs. As social movement organizations, they seek to change social beliefs and institutions, particularly in terms of how rape is understood by medical and legal entities and society at large. There is a great deal of diversity in terms of how RCCs are organized, which has implications for their ideological foundations, roles in their communities, and the services they offer.
The Polish American Association (PAA) is a non-profit human services agency that serves the diverse needs of the Chicago Polish immigrant community.
The history of feminism in Canada has been a gradual struggle aimed at establishing equal rights. The history of Canadian feminism, like modern Western feminism in other countries, has been divided by scholars into four "waves", each describing a period of intense activism and social change. The use of "waves" has been critiqued for its failure to include feminist activism of, for example, Aboriginal and Québécois women who organized for changes in their own communities as well as for larger social change.
Violence against women in Peru is defined as harassment or violence propagated against those who are born women. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most common form of gender-based violence that occurs though it can occur concurrently with sexual and emotional violence.
As sexual violence affects all parts of society, the responses that arise to combat it are comprehensive, taking place on the individual, administrative, legal, and social levels. These responses can be categorized as:
Violence Against Women is "the word or concept (that) has been used in a broad, inclusive manner to encompass verbal abuse, intimidation, physical harassment, homicide, sexual assault, and rape ." This form of violence is gender-biased. Violence occurs precisely because of their gender, specifically because the victims are women.
Refugee women face gender-specific challenges in navigating daily life at every stage of their migration experience. Common challenges for all refugee women, regardless of other demographic data, are access to healthcare and physical abuse and instances of discrimination, sexual violence, and human trafficking are the most common ones. But even if women don't become victims of such actions, they often face abuse and disregard for their specific needs and experiences, which leads to complex consequences including demoralization, stigmatization, and mental and physical health decay. The lack of access to appropriate resources from international humanitarian aid organizations is compounded by the prevailing gender assumptions around the world, though recent shifts in gender mainstreaming are aiming to combat these commonalities.
WHO has defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Identified by the 2012 World Development Report as one of two key human capital endowments, health can influence an individual's ability to reach his or her full potential in society. Yet while gender equality has made the most progress in areas such as education and labor force participation, health inequality between men and women continues to plague many societies today. While both males and females face health disparities, girls and women experience a majority of health disparities. This comes from the fact that many cultural ideologies and practices have structured society in a way whereby women are more vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment, making them more prone to illnesses and early death. Women are also restricted from receiving many opportunities, such as education and paid labor, that can help improve their accessibility to better health care resources.
Frontera Women's Foundation (FWF) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization operating in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Frontera Women's Foundation states its goal is "promoting positive social change for women and girls along the border" and focuses its campaign on community service and issues of women's rights at the family, community, and organizational level. The FWF supports grassroots organizations on the U.S. Mexico border. The region extends from Southern New Mexico, through El Paso County, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to Brownsville, Texas. The Frontera Women's Foundation supports these organizations by providing grants to groups that support women and girls struggling with issues such as low socio-economic status, gender bias, and ethnic bias.
Sakhi for South Asian Women is an anti-domestic violence organization that works with the South Asian community in the New York metropolitan area.
The Asian American movement was a sociopolitical movement in which the widespread grassroots effort of Asian Americans effected racial, social and political change in the U.S, reaching its peak in the late 1960s to mid-1970s. During this period Asian Americans promoted antiwar and anti-imperialist activism, directly opposing what was viewed as an unjust Vietnam war.
The American Asian Movement (AAM) differs from previous Asian American activism due to its emphasis on Pan-Asianism and its solidarity with U.S. and international Third World movements such as the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF).
The All Women's Action Society (AWAS) is a feminist non-profit organization based in Malaysia. The organization was established in 1985 following a workshop held by the Joint Action Group. The group works on a local and national level to empower women and bring about social policy change.
