Violence is not love

In 1996, a group of Asian/Pacific Islander women came together to confront gender-based violence in their communities. As survivors themselves they knew that mainstream social service organizations lacked the linguistic and cultural knowledge needed to meet their diverse needs. They persevered, eventually launching the Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project, which remains the sole Pan Asian provider of trauma-informed and survivor centered services in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The team includes social workers, trainers, and a mental health professional and their collective language capacities include Japanese, Hindi, Thai, Mongolian and Mandarin. DVRP is an essential resource for women, and sometimes men, experiencing gender-based violence, including abuse by intimate partners, in-laws, and employers emboldened to exploit workers whose immigration status is precarious. In this episode of Power Station, I am joined by Krittika Ghosh, executive director of DVRP and a globally recognized champion of Asians, Pacific Islanders, and other marginalized people, including the LGBTQ community. Her experience as an immigrant and survivor fuels her inventive approach to culturally based healing, including sessions that explore what constitutes a heathy relationship and workshops in mindfulness. A conversation with Krittika is too valuable to miss.