Responding to Violence, Restoring Justice

"At a promising moment in the history of the feminist anti-violence movement, a number of activist organizations are carving new means to prevent violence out of broad visions of justice. This project offers profiles of some of these organizations, providing insight into their histories, visions, and organizing methods as well as information on past and present projects, interviews with organizers, and links to outside resources. For context, it also provides an overview of the history of the feminist anti-violence movement and some well-documented criticisms: namely, that it has focused on the role of gender to the detriment of other relevant factors, such as race and class, and that this has contributed to a harmful dependence on policing and incarceration. Operating with these criticisms in mind, the groups profiled here point to a broader paradigm shift occurring in anti-violence work that is revitalizing the movement. Community-based organizations not only provide culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate services, but are also working to build a more inclusive and rounded movement; in recent years, a number of grassroots organizing projects have sprung up that recognize the harms of policing and incarceration and seek to build alternatives based in community and social transformation – to prevent violence and promote justice." As a contribution to this ongoing effort, Sakhi for South Asian Women convened two meetings in 2011 and 2012, with feminist anti-violence activists. Led by Sakhi’s Executive Director at the time, Tiloma Jayasinghe, both meetings were co-sponsored with the Barnard Center for Research on Women. As an Activist Fellow at the Barnard Center for Research on Women, Tiloma Jayasinghe worked with BCRW and Research Assistant Erin Ward to document the anti-violence movements to which the Sakhi convenings make a contribution. This website includes video of the Preventing Violence, Promoting Justice Summit and brief interviews conducted by Tourmaline Gossett with community organizers about their innovative work. The website is inspired by the efforts of these community-based activists and their organizations.