Executive Summary

Sakhi for South Asian Survivors (Sakhi) is America’s second-oldest South Asian gender-justice organization and the first to break the silence around gender-based violence in New York City’s large and fast-growing South Asian and Indo-Caribbean diaspora. Sakhi is committed to serving survivors through a combination of efforts including—but not limited to—culturally competent direct services such as a helpline, counseling, advocacy, housing assistance, economic empowerment, food justice, elder abuse intervention, and youth programs that honor the collective and inherent power of all survivors of violence.

In 1989, several trailblazing South Asian women founded Sakhi (which means “woman friend” in many South Asian languages). Our team speaks over eight languages; represents diverse countries, religions, ethnicities; and includes survivors. We are one of only a few organizations addressing gender-based violence in NYC’s South Asian and Indo-Caribbean diaspora and no local peer organization offers our breadth of holistic services.

Gender-based violence occurs in our community at disturbing rates. Fearing backlash, many underreport and struggle to find appropriate help. We partner with survivors, for years, to regain control of their lives. Sakhi’s anti-violence program provides crisis intervention and safety planning, with an eye on long-term aspirations. Our economic empowerment program helps survivors create resumes, apply to jobs, and pursue education. Our mental health program promotes psychoeducation so clients can care for themselves. Our housing program pairs financial literacy with rental assistance to prepare survivors for independence.

We work directly with survivors while pursuing systemic change. By amplifying the voices of survivors in our community, we have helped win policy changes addressing economic abuse, language access in courts, anti-Asian bias, forced marriage, and more.

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