ARP Support for Survivors Program supports culturally-specific, community-based projects supporting survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault from Asian and Pacific Islander Communities in the United States and the Pacific.
Sahiyo U.S. will be joining over 40 organizations, both nationally and locally, in an effort to provide culturally-specific, community-based support for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities across the U.S. and Pacific. The $13.2 million dollar initiative from the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) under the 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) will be will be the first time API-GBV will be distributing two years of funding to culturally specific organizations that serve sexual assault and domestic violence survivors in AAPI communities; this includes survivors of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), marking huge progress that this harmful practice is being recognized as a form of sexual assault.
Under the ARP Support for Survivors Program, subgrants will be distributed through the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Capacity Building Fund to assist organizations like Sahiyo U.S. to provide services for survivors of gender-based violence in Asian/Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI), and Middle Eastern (ME) communities in the United States and U.S. territories.
“Sahiyo U.S. is honored to be included as one of the 40+ organizations awarded this grant. For too long the issue of female genital cutting has been viewed as a cultural issue, this grant helps to affirm that FGM/C is a form of gender-based violence and is a form of sexual assault that impacts individuals from AAPI communities as well. For years, Sahiyo has heard stories from FGM/C survivors from these communities and we have sought to support them in sharing their experiences and connecting with one another to collectively heal, and band together to prevent the next generation from undergoing this form of harm.”
~ Mariya Taher, Sahiyo Co-Founder & U.S. Executive Director
The ARP Support for Survivors Program will address the emergent needs of survivors, and the programs that serve them, resulting from the COVID-19 public health emergency. The work will also promote strategic partnership development and collaboration in responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency on survivors of gender-based violence.
“API-GBV is honored and proud to welcome organizations like Sahiyo U.S. who are at the forefront of sexual assault and dometic violence work amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential to have this kind of funding distributed to communities with organizations deeply rooted in their environmental and cultural awareness and expertise in supporting survivors. The AAPI community is often left out of the public narrative on sexual assault and domestic violence and through this important work we will have the opportunity to support organizations who directly support survivors in our communities.”
~ Monica Khant, Executive Director of API-GBV
Sahiyo U.S. was selected by a committee of peer reviewers with extensive experience in the domestic violence and sexual assault fields, and working in AANHPI and ME communities in the U.S. Funding provided under the ARP Support for Survivors grant will advance our survivor and community-based Activists Retreat program. The expanded program will help to further strengthen relationships and networks among survivors and impacted community members who need a supportive structure, but who are often geographically distant from one another. The program will also allow for best practices and tools to be shared not only during the workshops, but throughout the year. As a result, FGM/C survivors and impacted community members are able to enhance their own well-being and enhance skills to more effectively raise awareness in their respective communities about the need to end this harmful form of sexual assault.
Sahiyo U.S. is among 15 organizations serving AANHPI communities and 14 organizations serving ME communities, including projects focused on prevention, culturally specific services for Queer and Trans survivors, virtual services and data security, culturally rooted practices in healing and resiliency, and engaging men and youth. For a complete list of grantees, visit this link.