American Muslim

"Breaking the Silence: Ending Domestic Violence

in the South Asian and Muslim Communities"

6 - 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 10th @ Columbia University, New York

[Knox Hall, Room 509, 606 West 122nd Street, between Broadway and Claremont Avenue]

Sponsored by the South Asian Institute, Columbia University

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/sai/index.html

A talk by Shyam K. Sriram (Muslim Men Against Domestic Violence)

One of the major features of domestic violence (DV) prevention work is the notion of community accountability. What is surprising is how often communities – defined as religious institutions, social organizations, politicians, etc. – are silent about domestic abuse and thus are complicit in the violence.

According to Men Stopping Violence, a DV advocacy organization, the solution to accountability lies in a dualist model: for the community to hold men accountable for their actions; and to hold the community itself responsible for its response to domestic violence.

The talk will highlight the work of Muslim Men Against Domestic Violence, an Atlanta-based organization that seeks to create awareness of and provide solutions for domestic violence in the Muslim and South Asian communities, including a look at how they engage men in domestic violence prevention through counseling, therapy and education. The talk will be followed by discussion on domestic violence and its very real consequences in immigrant communities – South Asian, Arab, African, European, Latino and others.

[Shyam K. Sriram is the coordinator for Muslim Men Against Domestic Violence, which is part of the Baitul Salaam Network and a political science instructor at __________. He is a graduate of the Men Stopping Violence internship program and is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in domestic violence prevention from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Sriram was the 2009 recipient of the Annual Ramesh and Vijaya Bakshi Community Change Award for domestic violence activism in the South Asian community from Raksha, an Atlanta-based South Asian domestic violence advocacy organization. A political scientist by training, he is involved in a number of initiatives and projects dealing with the education of men on violence and controlling behaviors in South Asian and Muslim communities.]