By james art Annual vigil draws attention to domestic violence
Purple-clad women from four Bay Area-based organizations came together on the evening of Oct. 23 to bring attention to domestic violence.
The vigil, which is an annual event, was jointly organized by Maitri, Narika, Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments — SAVE — and the North American Islamic Shelter for the Abused.
Several survivors, including political leaders, spoke of the difficulty of leaving abusive relationships and the lack of resources for those who had to escape.
One in three women has experienced intimate partner violence in her lifetime.
Safety nets
Last year in California, 103 lives were lost to domestic violence, noted Rama Dharmarajan, executive director of Maitri. She believes this number represents a massive under-reporting of intimate partner violence deaths.
California State Assemblyman Alex Lee, a Democrat who represents Fremont and parts of the South Bay in the state legislature, spoke about the need to create safety nets for women and children escaping violent situations.
But funding for organizations that support victims of violent crime fell dramatically this year by 44.7%, prompting many organizations to cut staff and services. Currently, support for crime survivor services comes primarily from a federal fund known as the Victims of Crime Act.
Funding decline
VOCA funds are collected from fines and penalties resulting from convictions in federal cases. But as the criminal justice landscape undergoes massive reform, VOCA funding has steadily declined.
In 2023, California received $153 million in VOCA funding. For 2024, the funds dropped to just $87 million.
More than 800,000 people in California are supported by VOCA dollars, including survivors of domestic violence, rape, human trafficking, elder abuse and child abuse. Funds support rape crisis centers, transitional housing, domestic violence shelters, legal aid, counseling and therapy, among other services.
Homelessness
VOCA funds make up 100% of state grants to organizations to provide domestic violence housing, transitional housing, child advocacy, victim and witness assistance, and support for underserved/underserved survivors. Domestic violence organizations this April asked for $200 million in cash to make up for a drop in VOCA funding. But that request was not met amid the state’s $40 billion deficit.
Women fleeing abusive homes often find themselves homeless. A study released last year by the UCSF Benioff Housing and Homeless Initiative found that 40 percent of participants reporting IPV in the six months before homelessness said violence was one of the reasons they left their last housing. 20% said it was the main reason.
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is also often the outcome for women who have been abused. 74 percent of women in prison report experiencing intimate partner violence, community leader Fahria Khan said at the Fremont vigil. “These women have endured years of physical and emotional abuse. They sadly lack legal resources and support. And we treat them like criminals.
Evidence of intimate partner violence is rarely admissible in court, Khan noted. Her remarks were borne out by a 2017 case in Silicon Valley. Neha Rastogi suffered a decade of physical abuse from her husband Abhishek Ghatani, a serial entrepreneur. Rastogi began secretly recording Ghatani’s abuse, but she was not allowed to present it in court. Gatani served only 13 days in prison.
Break the cycle
Fremont Deputy Mayor Desree Campbell noted that she was a survivor of domestic violence. “We didn’t have restraining orders back then. We didn’t have shelters,” she said, praising the fact that laws protecting survivors of abuse are on the rise.
Fremont City Councilwoman Teresa Keng shared that she also comes from a family of survivors of domestic violence, which affected both her mother and grandmother. “It’s very difficult to break the cycle of abuse. You grow up thinking, “this is the norm,” she said.
Women in Afghanistan
In one of the most harrowing moments of the evening, Naheed Arya, an artist from Afghanistan, spoke about the violence women and girls face in her home country. “Girls cannot go to school; women cannot work. We must cover ourselves with a burqa, like birds in a cage.
“We burn out when we experience violence. Because there is no law to protect us,” Aria said. “They blame us when we are hurt or raped. They tell us we moved in alone.”
Arya read a poem by Persian poet Saadi Shirazi.
Human beings are members of a whole
In the creation of an essence and a soul.
If one member is affected by pain
Other members will remain restless.
If you have no sympathy for human pain
A person’s name that you cannot save.
Other survivors then read the verse in Mandarin, Spanish and Hindi.