Transcending Boundaries: Investigating Domestic Violence among South Asian Immigrant Women (Apna Ghar Project)
(3/1/2002 – 6/30/2005)
In 2002, the Sara Lee Foundation funded a collaborative project between Apna Ghar Inc. and Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) to investigate:
• Effective models of service and outreach that are used to address the needs of domestic violence survivors within the context of South Asian immigrant culture and circumstance;
• The current status of policies and laws impacting immigrant women who access social services; and
• The incidence and the trends of domestic violence in Metropolitan Chicago, particularly with respect to the South Asian population.
Apna Ghar Inc. takes its name from a Hindi-Urdu phrase meaning “Our Home”, and since January 1990 has served over 4800 domestic violence clients. The mission of the organization is to provide multi-lingual, multicultural services including shelter to South Asian women and their children seeking lives free from violence.
Research Brief: Divided in three parts:
- Research Brief (PDF)
- Insert 1 (PDF)
- Insert 2 (PDF)
Final Report:
Research Team
- Aparna Sen, Executive Director, Apna Ghar
- Bharati Dev, Apna Ghar
- A. Sharma, CURL
- C. George, CURL
- C. Sabina, CURL
- S. Plachta-Elliott, Graduate Fellow, Sociology
- R. Patel, Undergraduate Fellow
- T. Merwald, Undergraduate Fellow
- E. Nyden, Undergraduate Fellow
Project Advisory Board
- Carolyn Farrell BVM, Loyola Gannon Center
- Denice Markham, Life Span
- Deborah Putenney, Northwestern University
- Sherizaan Minwalla, Midwest Immigrant & Human Rights Center
- Angela Hernandez, Midwest Immigrant & Human Right Center
- Barbara Engel, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority; Board Member
- K. Sujata, Continuum of Care; CURL Advisory Board
- Michelle Fugate, Mayor’s Office on Domestic Violence
- Leslie Landis, Mayor’s Office on Domestic Violence
- Sunny Fischer, Driehaus Foundation
- Surinder Nand, VA Chicago health Care System; Apna Ghar Board
- Ann Russo, Women’s & Gender Studies Program, DePaul University
Community Partners
Domestic Violence