Darshan TV features news segment on 20 years of ASHA for Women

View Darshan TV’s Aastha Verma interview ASHA for Women Board Member Rati Bishnoi on our organization’s work in the Washington-metro area across the last 20 years. Click here to see the interview.

ASHA in the news: Darshan TV interview on Washington DeSi report

Watch SAALT Executive Director Deepa Iyer discuss research findings from Washington DeSi: South Asians in the Nation's Capital and highlight the work of local community organizations serving the D.C. area, including ASHA for Women. Click here to watch the interview.

Volunteer alert: ASHA for Women needs pro bono help

Asha for Women is compiling a list of attorneys who are licensed in DC, VA, and MD, and are willing to do pro bono work for our clients. One of the most common challenges faced by ASHA for Women's clients is to find timely legal advice as most of them cannot afford to hire attorneys. Most clients needs assistance with immigration, divorce, property and family law. If you are an attorney licensed in DC, Virginia, or Maryland, and are interested in providing your services pro bono to the organization, please contact the organization directly at 1-888-417-2742, or by sending an email to ronita.bhattacharya@gmail.com or coordinator@ashaforwomen.org.

ASHA in the news: Report calls for better access to services for domestic abuse victims

A new report on South Asians living in Washington, D.C. states that despite organizations like ASHA for Women "too many" domestic violence victims and survivors are still unable to access legal and social services because of a lack of awareness, immigration concerns, and linguistic and cultural barriers.

Washington DeSi: South Asians in the Nation's Capital, released this week by ASHA partners South Asian Americans Leading Together and Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, calls gender-based violence a "silent, but important concern" within the South Asian community, and notes that organizations like ASHA are reporting an increase in the women seeking our services.

"D.C. area domestic violence prevention and support organizations, such as Asian/Pacific Islanders Domestic Violence Resource Project (DVRP) and Asian Women's Self Help Association (ASHA [for Women]), point to an increase in South Asian women seeking their services. DVRP and ASHA are not only raising awareness in the Asian Pacific Islander community about the problems of domestic violence in metropolitan Washington, D.C., but are also providing access to culturally and linguistically responsive resources."

Despite our services and outreach services, D.C. government agencies and mainstream social service providers and shelters need to work more closely with Asian and South Asian organizations to expand the services and options available to domestic violence victims and survivors, the report recommends.

The report also states that District agencies enhance mental health services to South Asians, especially those that are "newly arrived immigrants and survivors of domestic violence and trauma." While organizations like ASHA partner Counselors Helping (South) Asian Indians or CHAI have been filling this void, South Asians often find it difficult to obtain necessary mental health information that is linguistically and culturally sensitive, the report adds.

If you or anyone you know needs to talk to someone about domestic abuse, please call ASHA for Women's 24-hour, toll-free helpline: 1-888-417-2742.

For media or organizational inquiries, please e-mail us at coordinator@ashaforwomen.org.