What is the moment of awakening for a women caught in domestic violence?
The moment that self-empowerment begins.

This powerful idea was brought forth in a documentary titled ‘Life without Fear’ sponsored by Saheli, the women's support group based in Boston. The screening was part of a project initiated by Monica Shah, a 4th year student of Tufts University. As part of her thesis, her aim was to raise awareness of these issues and seek feedback from the community

Must the victim of domestic abuse remain one for life? This documentary probes that very question and portrays the life of one such women and her way out . The film follows the healing of a gutsy women Sonya, who makes her journey from the life of fear into one that is devoid of it. The 22 minute documentary made by Sakhi, a women's group in New York city portrays the stereotypical image of what a women sets herself to be in terms of her appearance, her relationship with the family and ultimately her partner.

Living in fear, Sonya exists in a dark and lonely world. She is caught between physical abuse, words that hurt, and her own lack of self worth This cycle of domestic abuse continues, until the safety net that she longs for comes in the form of a brochure of a women’s group given to her by a friend. Seeking help, Sonya reads the information that promises a hope that a peaceful, normal life is even possible. The documentary sparked off an animated and thought provoking discussion on the issues involved and the efforts of organizations like Saheli to deal with them.

Many of the Saheli members offered their insightful impressions on the topic. Since all of them had dealt with various cases in the course of their work they had valuable comments to offer. Anita Raj, an active Saheli member in her research study of more than 360 cases of domestic violence shared the view that the immigration status of these women played a vital role in the heightened vulnerability with these women. She also reiterated the fact that men who are the cause of this perpetration need to be educated about these issues. According to a recent research study, the incidence of intimate partner violence against South Asian Women in Greater Boston is as high as 40.8%(A.Raj)2002. Almost 90% of these South Asian Women surveyed reported abuse within the past year. Only 11% of women reporting domestic violence indicated used counseling for the abuse and less than 3% ever got a restraining order.

Gouri Banerjee, raised the issue of the root cause of these relationships. In her experience she said most of these men were involved in abusive childhood and many of the victims sough help only after they reached a breaking point in their relationship. Usha Vakil pondered over the parts of the documentary that showed the friend of the victim reaching out for help in the very end after admiring the way, the former had handled her relationship.

Rita Shah, who is presently mentoring Monica detailed a few cases that had come into Saheli’s recent work and Saheli’s response to them. She expressed the hope that people present would offer to volunteer their time and effort for the cause. Monica Shah, a 4th year student at Tufts, sought ideas from the community to raise awareness of the issue as part of her project on domestic violence. Saheli sponsored her project and Monica initiated the documentary to elicit responses from her audiences.

Some questions raised by those present were: How do you spread awareness of outreach programs to women who are affected? How does one define abuse? The role of men is domestic violence cases? What can be done after women reports on abuse? How vital is the issue of immigration is such cases? How do you resolve it? What can women and men who care for this issue reach out to the others?.

Saheli's mission is to empower women to lead fulfilling lives by providing friendship, support, and guidance through resources and volunteer opportunities.The group holds ESL classes in Lowell, citizenship classes and offers other outreach work related to women’s causes.

For more info log on to www.saheliboston.org

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