Celebrating Women, Breaking Silences, Speaking Out

Today is a remarkable day in the lives of women worldwide.  March 8, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.  It is a time of celebration, and reflection of the long way women have come and  how much we have accomplished.

As I reflect on the challenges and the accomplishments, the one thing I realize is that it is our commitment to work together that brought us this far. Like Audre Lorde once said, "Without community, there is no liberation."

In honor of our collective sense of community, I find that there is no better day than today to bring attention to a very important project initiated by four community organizations dedicated to ending violence against women:  PROJECT SPEAK OUT.

Project Speak Out is a concerted effort by four Asian American anti-violence community agencies to change individual and community attitudes and behaviors toward intimate partner violence/domestic violence in New York City’s Asian American community.

Secrecy and silence and traditional ways of thinking have reigned too long to enable and perpetuate violence.

The four agencies listed below will pool their knowledge and experience working with their constituencies to debunk the culture of silence and to unveil the secrecy of domestic violence.

Here are the four Project Speak Out Partner Agencies

New York Asian Women's Center 


Sakhi for South Asian Women

Korean American Family Services Center 


Garden of Hope

What will be done

Project Speak Out will challenge cultural prohibitions by 

1) increasing awareness of the problem of domestic violence and recalibrate social norms making violence more unacceptable

2) confronting the social conditions and community structures that contribute to violence 

3) building networks of community leaders that can continue the transformative work of eliminating violence against women.

Project Speak Out’s ultimate goal is to increase the awareness and change attitudes around domestic violence in the Asian American communities in Queens, one community member and group at a time.

How it will be done 

The 4 partners will organize a grass roots, person-to-person approach to community education and outreach. 

We will engage groups and individuals in a culturally specific manner with goals of educating, fostering attitudinal change about intimate partner violence and engaging them in a community-wide movement to stop domestic violence. 

We will recruit and train 200 volunteers to go into Asian neighborhoods and meet with the leadership and members of religious organizations; service clubs; community leaders; Asian ethnic affinity groups; Parent-Teacher Associations; and, legal, health, and human service organizations. Project Speak Out will hold 4 study groups and 2 rallies in specific ethnic communities. 

We will establish 4 action groups – particularly organizing an “Asian American Men Against Violence” group. Collectively the 4 partners will extensively engage 1,600 individuals/groups. 

You, me and all of us together form our community. This initiative is not possible without you. If you are interested in participating in Project Speak Out, being trained to go and speak in your own communities, please use this blog as your forum.

I am one of four others who will keep you informed about all Project Speak Out activities. Please feel free to reach out to all of us. 

Warmly,

Sethu Nair
Project Speak Out Team