Celebrating International Charity Day: Saahas for Cause

Celebrating International Charity Day: Saahas for Cause

Every year on September 5th, the world comes together to celebrate International Charity Day, a day dedicated to promoting and recognizing the importance of charitable endeavors across the globe.

Saahas for Cause: Courage for Cause, Building Bridges to Higher Quality of Life

Saahas for Cause was founded in 2019 by a group of South Asians who understood the challenges faced by immigrants as they embarked on a new life in a foreign land. The word “Saahas” itself means “courage” in many South Asian languages, and this organization embodies that courage. It serves as a representative of all immigrants who have summoned the strength to navigate uncharted waters and overcome myriad challenges in pursuit of a better life.

Our Services: A Holistic Approach

Saahas for Cause offers a wide range of services aimed at improving the lives of immigrants and their communities. These services are delivered through various channels:

  1. Wellness Forums: These forums provide a safe space for individuals to discuss mental health, well-being, and other issues affecting their lives.
  2. Educational Meetups: Saahas organizes educational events to empower individuals with knowledge and skills necessary for their integration into their new communities.
  3. Support Groups: Support groups offer a sense of belonging and understanding, allowing people to share their experiences and receive guidance from others who have faced similar challenges.
  4. Outreach: Saahas actively reaches out to those in need, ensuring that no one is left behind.
  5. Individual Sessions: Personalized support is provided through one-on-one sessions, addressing specific needs and concerns.

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Our Services Cover a Broad Spectrum

Saahas for Cause’s commitment to making a positive impact extends to various aspects of immigrant life, including:

  • Prevention, Education, and Early Intervention: By offering educational resources and early intervention programs, Saahas works to prevent and mitigate common challenges faced by immigrants.
  • Mental Health Therapy: Mental health is a critical aspect of well-being, and Saahas offers therapy and counseling services to those who may be struggling.
  • Case Management Counseling: This service ensures that immigrants have access to the support and resources needed to navigate complex bureaucratic systems.
  • Supportive Services for Victims: Saahas extends a helping hand to victims of domestic violence, elder abuse, and child abuse, offering support and a path to healing.
  • Referral for Legal Services: Navigating legal systems in a new country can be daunting, but Saahas assists immigrants by connecting them with legal services.
  • Citizenship Assistance: Saahas helps immigrants on their journey toward becoming citizens of their adopted countries.
  • Public Benefits: Access to public benefits can significantly impact an immigrant’s quality of life, and Saahas guides individuals through the application process.

Our Four Main Initiatives

Saahas for Cause has structured its efforts into four main initiatives, each dedicated to addressing specific needs within the immigrant community:

  1. Community Education and Research: By promoting education and conducting research, Saahas aims to empower immigrants with knowledge and insights to navigate their new environments successfully.
  2. Older Adult Wellness: This initiative focuses on the well-being of older immigrants, offering them the support and resources they need to lead fulfilling lives.
  3. Women’s Wellness: Saahas recognizes the unique challenges faced by immigrant women and provides tailored programs to address their specific needs.
  4. Youth Empowerment: Young immigrants are the future, and Saahas invests in their growth and development through mentorship and empowerment programs.

On this International Charity Day, we celebrate the work of Saahas for Cause, an organization that embodies the spirit of charity, community, and unity. Our dedication to improving the lives of immigrants and fostering a sense of belonging is a shining example of the positive impact that charitable organizations can have on individuals and communities around the world. If you’d like to support Saahas for Cause or learn more about our initiatives, please visit Our Initiatives and consider contributing to our noble causes.

Together, we can make a difference and empower immigrants to build better lives in their new homes.

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Blog Sexual Assault- An Overview

Sexual Assault- An Overview

Sexual Assault an Overview

“Every 73 seconds, an American gets sexually assaulted.” –RAINN1

Sexual violence is a pandemic. Advocates and coalitions have been talking about it for centuries, and survivors are finally able to speak out and receive an acknowledgment. In recent years, more people are participating in conversations about rape culture, consent, and recognizing victim-blaming.

Recent events have highlighted the prevalence of decades of gender-based violence that has existed in society for so long, in the form of national conversations, by way of movements like #MeToo that focused on claims of sexual misconduct by powerful figures;2 a contentious U.S. Supreme Court nomination that was based on an allegation of sexual misconduct;3 a President that dismissed attacks on survivors’ stories and allegations of sexual misconduct claimed by over more than a dozen women against him during his presidency;4 and Department of Education policies that curtailed down options for survivors on campus, were among many overdue conversations that were buried under the shadow of victim-blaming and dismissiveness and needed to come out in the public limelight, to start a dialogue.

These alarming sexual violence statistics and changing conversations make it our collective responsibility to ensure that we understand what sexual violence is because we might know someone who has been impacted by sexual violence in their lifetime, and we need to be well equipped to provide support for the generational trauma suffered from sexual violence.

One of the biggest culprits for silencing these conversations is the cultural conceptualization of gender violence. For decades Cultures are responsible for invoking traditional beliefs that normalize violence and compromise pathways to access support and justice. The culture of gender violence perpetuates harmful practices which are underpinned by social norms and people silently adhere to it to become a part of that societal group. Being silent is embedded in many cultures as a sign of respect and acceptance in that societal group but we fail to see that by being silent, we contribute more to regressive norms. However, these voices are no longer silenced, even with no support and a lot of cultural stigmas, these conversations are now becoming a revolution to seek justice. Experts on sexual violence from South Asian Countries discuss that these conversations have become the forefront of national conversations which could be seen by the growing protest movements across the region.6 This uproar has finally been prompted due to the failure of government handling of high-profile sexual violence cases, due to the existence of gender inequality which is embedded in the society due to roles of different structures created in the cultures.

In the U.S, “Of Asian and Pacific Islander women, 23% experienced some form of contact sexual violence, 10% experienced completed or attempted rape, and 21% had non-contact unwanted sexual experiences1 during their lifetime.”

–API Gender Based Violence7

These increased numbers of sexual violence across the globe are the very reason to enhance prevention and intervention programs and spread awareness.

Prevention efforts have always been a part of this movement, which led to the recognition of “April” being the “Sexual Assault Awareness Month”. The grassroots movement highlights the very need to have education, conversation, allyship, and awareness about Sexual Violence. “In the year 2000, National Sexual Violence Resource Center and the Resource Sharing Project polled sexual violence coalitions and asked organizations about their preferred color, symbol, and month for sexual assault awareness activities. The results showed that those in the movement preferred a teal ribbon as a symbol for sexual assault awareness, and SAAM as we know it was born and was first recognized in 2001.”8

It has become our collective responsibility to converse with our families and communities about sexuality, consent, and healthy relationships. We must seek accountability, challenge the attitude of victim-blaming and reject these biases that have been an overcast on the pre-existing trauma inflicted over decades by the culture of the power structure because today we say #NOMORE Sexual Violence.

Endnotes

  1. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2018 (2019)
  2. Stephanie Zacharek, Eliana Dockterman, and Haley Sweetland Edwards, “The Silence Breakers,” Time, (December 6, 2017), available at http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/;
  3. Jocelyn Frye, “Advancing #MeToo in a Post-Kavanaugh Confirmation World,” Center for American Progress, (October 26, 2018), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2018/10/26/460047/advancing-metoo-post-kavanaugh-confirmation-world/
  4. Sunny Frothingham and Shilpa Phadke, “100 Days, 100 Ways the Trump Administration Is Harming Women and Families” (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2017), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2017/04/25/430969/100-days-100-ways-trump-administration-harming-women-families/.
  5. Erik Ortiz & Tyler Kingkade, Betsy DeVos releases final changes to campus sexual assault policies (May 6, 2020), available at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/betsy-devos-releases-final-changes-campus-sexual-assault-policies-n1094491
  6. South Asia: Justice, Services Can Curb Sexual Violence, (December 17, 2020), available at https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/17/south-asia-justice-services-can-curb-sexual-violence
  7. Factsheet: Sexual Violence in Asian and Pacific Islander Communities (April 2018)
  8. SAAM History, available at https://www.nsvrc.org/saam/history
Author: Payal Sinha (LL.M)
Blog, Domestic Violence in South Asian Community

Domestic Violence in South Asian Community

Every Child has a Dream

South Asian community is often collectively referred as Asians, due to which it has lost its typical attributes, which makes it different from other Asian countries. The southern region of Asia comprising of 8 countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, are geographically termed as South Asia. While violence and abuse do not demonstrate distinctly in the South Asian community, but there are a number of components and characteristics of South Asian culture that fuels the Domestic Violence.

Domestic Violence is a violence or any form of abuse, which is committed by a spouse or an intimate partner and which also sometimes involves non-cohabiting family members in a domestic setting. The common challenges that distinguish South Asian victims from any other domestic violence victims are: Immigration-related crisis, the stigma of divorce, taboo of talking against the spouse, patriarchy, joint family households, concept of honor and reputation, and support of dowry system in the society.

The voice of a South Asian victim is often lost under the pressure of balancing family values and maintaining a reputation in the community. These complex values and challenges often leave the victim vulnerable to crisis like fear of marriage failure, losing children, finding legal assistance, financial support, arranging translator, and many more.

Although domestic violence is a taboo in South Asian culture, but it prevails widely in the community. Domestic violence in this community is more than just physical abuse. It is physical, emotional, financial, and sexual. Often gender-based violence is suppressed in this community, and the lives of South Asian women are shadowed by the cultural burdens of shame. It is commonly seen in the South Asian culture that domestic violence is encouraged by the in-laws to practice power and control over the married daughter in law.

Domestic violence is an issue that impacts every South Asian in the community, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, caste, or immigration status. It is time to build a safer space and create a healthy environment to talk and address the issue. This public health crisis needs immediate action and support from various entities within the community.