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them handle crisis intervention, advocacy and cultural specific counseling and legal clinics. They are a haven for battered South Asian women because they offer advocates who speak Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Gujarati and serve as inter- preters in court.
It is encouraging that several young Indian American men are supporting these organizations and turning up at fund-rais- ers. One wishes that one could say that this younger generation is so sensitive that that abuse does not exist in this group, but it would not be true. Domestic violence has been recorded — as in the mainstream — even among dating couples and newly marrieds.
Sri Renganathan of Sawera, an advocacy group based in Portland, Ore., says about one in ten women is abused, and that class and wealth are no guarantee of safety. She says, “That’s why our organizations exist — because families are not intact and women are being oppressed. There is def- initely a dark side. If only we could close shop and there was no need for organiza- tions like Sawera! We would like to make it redundant and have zero cases. But that’s not going to happen.” She finds that many of Sawera’s clients are educated, women from well-to-do families, many with their own businesses
and making over $100,000. Some of the abused women have been physicians and hi-tech professionals, and two of the bat- terers have ended up in jail. Yet another woman, a highly trained pro- fessional, had been abused at home due to her failure to bring in a dowry. In spite of the counseling and support, she still went back to her abuser. Renganathan puts it to 5,000 years of conditioning, a handed down perception of women’s roles. Many women blame themselves and think things will work out if only they try hard- er. They attempt to make a go of it for the sake of the children, and to stay within the bounds of society.
One thing one must admit about domestic abuse — it certainly is democratic and affects all women equally, whether they have a six-figure income or are struggling below the poverty level. As Lara Jayasankar, office manager of Apna Ghar, observes, “Just because you may be from good families does not mean you are pro- tected from being abused or becoming abusive; it only means that you can keep it hidden more effectively.”
Often domestic violence can be traced to alcohol abuse. There are many stories of shattered lives, especially among new immigrants, where alcohol has been the cause of family break-ups and children
being sent to foster care. Nav Nirmaan is a Queens-based organiza- tion dealing with alcohol and substance abuse in the South Asian community. It was founded in 1991 by Anand Walter Picardo who himself was a recovered alcoholic and realized the need for such an organization.
Nav Nirmaan caters to the new immigrant population, a sizable and growing figure — close to 20 percent — of the Indian population. The number of this population living below the poverty level is ten per- cent, and in California the figure for the South Asians living below the poverty level is 11 percent. According to Roy V. Tellis, director of Nav Nirmaan, this fig- ure is increasing nationally. Many of Nav Nirmaan’s clients are con- struction laborers, cab and limo drivers and workers in stores. About 80 percent of these clients have just done the South Asian equivalent of Standard V11, few have a high school education, and very, very few have a college degree. “I would certainly like to dispel this myth that the South Asian family is a perfect set-up,” says Tellis. “It’s important that we acknowledge our family and society set-up as it is back home and as it’s brought over here. It is common knowl- edge that in South Asia it is a patriarchal
Sikh Virsa Calgary
182.
Nov., 2011
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