The organization I chose to research and attend was Manavi. Manavi was the first organization in the United States to specifically address the unmet needs of South Asian women affected by violence. Their objective is to reach out these women and be a resource for them during their time of crisis. Manvi was first founded in 1985 with their main mission being ending all violence against women. This organization first began as an awareness campaign on issues concerning South Asian women. Today, Manavi continues to centralize women’s needs and interests in all its organizational decisions and service provisions. Manavi continues to advance the women in the South Asian community by adapting and developing new strategies and service provisions to changing the needs of our women. Manavi offers services such as support groups, outreach programs, sexual assault support services, counseling, legal advocacy, training and education, and Ashiana.
This event was made possible by a bunch of different companies who came together to raise awareness for such a cause. There was a very important person at the event, the mayor of Hoboken. He touched upon the topic of sexual harassment amongst women and how it is not just a topic in South Asian culture but also is possible elsewhere. Furthermore, Mayor Bhalla mentioned that there should be more awareness about this topic, if there is little to none how can we as a whole stop this act.
The event started out by everyone signing in before they walked into cocktail hour. That is where I was helping out. Just making sure everyone had received their tickets and making sure that I have checked them off on the list of people that were meant to attend the event. Going into a cocktail hour, people were grabbing drinks and appetizers before opening the main doors where the main event would be taking place. There was also a silent auction that started during cocktail hour. People had donated high end paintings, bags, jewelry, and even posters for people to bid on. As the doors opened everyone started walking inside and taking their seats as the event would soon start. We were then introduced to the Manavi team and board members. They were explaining the need to raise awareness for women that aren't able to afford certain luxuries and get stand up for themselves when being put down in life. Women that are abused and hurt have to come forward and they explained that there would be support for people to open up and tell their story. There are people that care and are looking to help out. The President of the association was saying that there are support groups and hotlines to reach out to whenever a lady is in need. Ladies often think that there is nobody there and they may feel trapped; like they have nowhere to go. Moving to the next speech, it was about a lady who told her story. She was in a good and pretty well off family and os was the man she was marrying. He treated her so well when they first got married. Later on in the marriage, he soon began to treat her like a servant. She once tried defending herself and he pushed her down the stairs. She then had reached out for help and came to America. She was in a women shelter that helped people just like her and was in her situation. She met so many different ladies from all around the world that had similar situations to her. She said it was nice to have a support system and that it was easier to cope with the situation she had gone through. There was a dancer who was fierce and showed through her dancing that women empowerment was important. She showed through expression that women are strong and to not take them for granted. Then there was an acapella group from Rutgers that had come and sang about power. There were a couple of judges and lawyers that had spoken about laws and how women are getting stronger and stronger. After all of the speeches, dinner was being served and the deejay then began to play the dance music so the event would not be all about talking. There were sheets being passed around to see if anyone was moved by any of the speeches to donate more than they already have. As well as an auction that was being told out loud. Spa tickets, skydiving, paintings, and much more were being bid on. The event then ended and the silent auction was finished and given to the people that won their prizes.
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