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SAHELI E-News
May 2006
Welcome to the May 2006 edition of the SAHELI
e-Newsletter!
In this issue:
(1) From the Family Advocate
(2) New Family Advocate!
(3) From the Community Educator
(4) Review – Tales of the Night Fairies
(5) A Very Successful SAHELI Walk!
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From the Family Advocate
During April 2006, SAHELI received 20 calls on the
helpline. Calls are usually from victims/survivors, existing clients,
family members or friends of victims, advocates from other agencies,
potential volunteers, and others who want more information about
SAHELI.
Of these calls 8 were from new clients and clients
who are receiving ongoing advocacy services and 5 were from new
clients who received one-time referral assistance.
Furthermore, SAHELI staff and advocates provided
15 face-to-face sessions for 5 clients in the month of April.
New Family Advocate!
Please give a big welcome to Julie Burdett, LBSW
as our new Family Advocate. She’s had experience working with
immigrants and refugees at Caritas and also worked as a caseworker
for CASA of Travis County. We welcome Julie, and believe she will
be a wonderful addition to the SAHELI team.
From the Community Educator
In April, SAHELI continued to educate the Austin
community in matters of domestic violence and sexual assault. We
were guest speakers in a University of Texas class, titled Asian
Americans and Mental Health, and discussed the complexities of domestic
violence in Asian communities. We also presented to a local church,
highlighting the role the church can play in the fight against domestic
violence. We co-sponsored a film screening with the South Asia Institute
at the University of Texas and boothed at ‘Take Back the Night’,
an event that reached over 200 people. Finally, we continued to
inform the business community of our services, speaking to the Austin
Asian American Chamber of Commerce about what we do at SAHELI.
Tales of the Night Fairies
On April 26th, the South Asia Institute at the University
of Texas and SAHELI co-sponsored the screening of Shohini Ghosh’s
Tales of the Night Fairies, a documentary that explores the power
of collective organizing and resistance while reflecting upon contemporary
debates around sexwork.
The documentary follows the struggles of the women
of DMSC (Durbar Women's Collaborative Committee), a collective of
about 60,000 sex workers in West Bengal, India who have come together
to fight for their legal and social rights. One of their demands
is that they should be recognized as laborers and allowed to form
a trade union.
This struggle reflects the divisive and contested
debate surrounding sex-work in contemporary times. The workers argue
against the widely held assumption that sex work is inherently violent
and that all the women in the industry are exclusively victims.
These groups assert that the violence sex workers encounter is a
result of the denial of legal rights and also the stigma that the
community carries surrounding this occupation.
The film was captivating, thought provoking, and
inspirational. It opens up a dialogue on the often taboo subject
of sex-work and provides intellectual stimulation regarding its
place in modern economic times.
A Very Successful SAHELI Walk!
Thousands of people showed up Saturday, April 22nd
at Waterloo Park in a demonstration of solidarity against domestic,
sexual and all other forms of violence.
This was another amazing year for SAHELI. With over
100 SAHELI walkers, we saw both old friends and new faces showing
their support for SAHELI at the Walk and thanks to your efforts
have raised nearly $18,000. Please encourage people you know to
continue to donate, if they haven't had a chance to yet. We would
love to hit the $20,000 mark.
Please check out the SAHELI website for updated
Walk information and images. We would also love to add your pictures
of our walkers and teams to the website, so if you have any images
you would like to share, please mail them to walk@saheli-austin.org.
Thank you everyone for participating in the 19th
Annual Walk for Safe Families and Safe Streets with SAHELI and SafePlace!
A final thank you to all our dedicated volunteers
who tabled on the day of the Walk or were members of the Walk Committee.
Each of you ensured that this walk was a huge success. Thank you
to the Sigma Phi Omega sorority for passing out daisies to all the
walkers. And thank you to: Sachin W., Sona S. Tracy T., Jyoti L.,
Swati A., Sonia L., Daisy F., Shannon M., Gilja K., Sveta P., Sabina
P., Suchint G., and Linda R., for all your time and dedication to
SAHELI.
See you at the Walk next year!
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