General

I want to express my gratitude to my sisters at this rally, and all of your leadership in providing healing and community after this terrible tragedy. My name is Nadiah Mohajir and I am Executive Director of HEART, a national nonprofit organization working to promote reproductive justice and sexual violence  prevention in Muslim communities. We are devastated and enraged to hear about the horrifying murders of Asian American women, in massage parlors in Atlanta by a white supremacist earlier this week. Our team shares the grief of the families whose loved ones were taken so senselessly. We call for a culture of community care: check in on your Asian neighbors, friends, and family, and find ways to be in community. 

Muslim communities are the most  diverse religious minority in North America. South Asian, Southeast Asian and East Asian people are key members of our Muslim spaces. We are store owners and teachers, lawyers and entrepreneurs. We occupy the restaurant and hotel industries, the healthcare industry, the beauty and massage industries, and many others. 

As a predominantly South Asian Muslim woman of color led team, we know these attacks do not happen in a vacuum and are just one example of a longstanding history of anti-asian sentiment in this country. Rather, they are a function of systemic and structural violence stemming from a history of the fetishization and sexualization of Asian women, xenophobia, and white supremacy. Asian women who identify as Muslim also stand at the intersection of gendered islamophobia, the ways in which the state utilizes gendered forms of violence to oppress, monitor, punish, maim, and control Muslim bodies.  

Yet, in order to address this violence, we cannot use this as an opportunity to increase policing in our communities under the guise of protecting us from white supremacist violence – historically we know that increased policing has led to the surveillance of our communities through counter terrorism and policing programs like CVE, which further perpetuate gendered stereotyping of Muslims, Asians, and other marginalized communities. Rather, we call for a stop to this continuous cycle of Anti-asian racism by a call for meaningful accountability and investing in community-led solutions that center the well-being of Asian communities so that ultimately, they can thrive in the places that they live, work, and pray. 

Anti-asian racism and violence has disproportionately impacted Asian women especially during this pandemic. From economic injustice to increased violence in their homes and increased hate crimes, to separation of families at the border, we must work collectively to invest in the safety of Asian women and their well-being. We need solutions that improve meaningful health and mental health care access, offer culturally informed victim support and services, and center economic justice.

Make no mistake, these attacks will not stop.  As long as the fetishization and dehumanization of Asian women continues, our lives, labor, class, and immigration status will continue to be invisible. This country has a legacy of white supremacy. What will it take to recognize and finally address it? We call upon our  representatives to address anti-asian violence by dismantling white supremacy and misogyny and investing in our communities’ safety and well being  through community-led solutions.

analysis by HEART + Justice for Muslims Collective

Every couple of months, our communities erupt with new allegations of gender-based violence (GBV).   Many times, these allegations involve respected and revered community leaders – often male – who are accused of horrifying acts of physical, sexual, and/or spiritual abuse. This is followed by a cycle of events, with this violence occurring at every level of society: 

• Allegations of harm are revealed when a survivor(s) comes forward; others come forward to affirm the story, and share their own stories of harm, often at the hands of the same leader or institution (interpersonal +  institutional violence).
• Community uproar begins: excuses are made for the accused, followed by a statement of defense made by the accused. Survivors and their advocates are silenced and evidence is demanded (community violence). 
• The organization/community attempts a quick fix (ie removing the accused, hosting a training, etc) or, worse, does nothing and given there is no such a thing as being neutral in these situations, sides with the accused (institutional violence)
• A narrative is also created that the accused is the actual victim and is being targeted because of who they are or the power/money/fame they have.
• The culture of harm in the organization/community is not challenged and the quick fix does little to address the root causes of the violence. 
• The community continues to donate to and supports the organization, and provides platforms to the accused. (community + structural violence)
• Follow up with the impacted survivors is left to a small group of advocates, who are further vilified and accused of destroying communities and families. (structural + community violence)
• This individual incident also further harms survivors who are less likely to come forward due to the lack of community support and active hostility and victim-blaming of survivors.

And the cycle continues, a few months later, sometimes with different players (other times with the same players) but the same textbook series of events. Hence we end up living in a cycle of impunity where survivors are consistently disposed of and excluded, and systems of power and privilege are preserved. This cycle is illustrated below, and shows the relationship between interpersonal violence, community violence, institutional violence, and structural violence.

As we consider this pattern, an important question to ask ourselves is: how are we, as individuals, as communities, and as institutions, contributing to this cycle of violence? At which point do we, as individuals, communities, and institutions, have the power to disrupt this cycle?  Many of us struggle with the discomfort of interrogating these questions because it inevitably brings a hard truth to the surface: that we all, in some way, are contributing to this cycle of gender-based violence. However, the first step to disrupting the cycle of violence at every level is to reckon with this very reality. 

Over the years, we have had no shortage of organizations, initiatives, and activists calling attention to this cycle, raising awareness on various types of gender-based violence (GBV), and calling for more accountability, justice, and a proactive commitment to prevention in our institutions. And yet, this cycle of violence occurs over and over again, and the ever present question rises to the surface: Why haven’t we seen a decrease in the prevalence of GBV despite all the good work happening? 

The answer to this question requires an understanding that gender-based violence exists on a spectrum. GBV in our organizations doesn’t begin with the horrifying act of violence you just heard about on the news or on facebook. Rather, it begins well before that. We identify this as spectrum of gender based harm in Muslim spaces. This spectrum of behaviors isn’t necessarily linear and exclusive – they can be overlapping, reinforce, and exist in the same plane together. 

We can identify behaviors, actions, and instances where these parts of the spectrum show up in our Muslim communities, organizations, and families. 

• It can be seen with the ever-present pay inequities coupled with toxic work environments, and an unhealthy work-life balance. 
• The gender and racial discrimination. 
• The tokenization of marginalized identities, while concentrating power in the hands of people with privileged identities. 
• The silencing (or firing) of staff that try to speak up when they feel they are being mistreated or challenge authority. 
• The silencing of former employees by asking them to sign NDAs when they leave. 
• The boards that are informed of inequities in their organization and choose not to do anything about it. 
• It begins with the reality that our communities continue to invest in organizations that perpetuate harm and under-resource those working to dismantle those systems. 

As such, it is critical to approach GBV using a comprehensive ecological approach that shifts the burden of focus of prevention efforts from the individual (ie bystander education, crisis intervention, general education) to the institutional and structural level: which more often than not, is where the source of money, power, and oppression lies.

This shift requires thinking about what institutional and structural accountability looks like:

• What policies (structural and institutional) need to be implemented to reduce the burden of reporting on survivors? 
• How does power need to be redistributed so that the most impacted are not tokenized, or worse, further marginalized, but truly uplifted, seen, and heard?
• How can boards and institutional leadership engage in accountability practices that actively work to reduce harm when and as it is happening instead of as an afterthought. This requires relationship building with staff and not just executive leadership.
• How do fundraising and philanthropy practices preserve certain systems of power? 
• How can institutions and leadership use their large platforms for public education campaigns that address some of the root causes of gender-based violence such as racism, white supremacy, toxic masculinity, and rape culture?

For far too long, our communities have been investing in structural violence. While we do not have the power to disrupt GBV at every level, or even change every institution, we can do our part in holding our institutions accountable. Accountability can take many forms. Consider the following:  

• Withholding donations, and other types of support, like inviting those accused of doing harm to give keynotes, sit on panels, etc  
• Asking for leadership change, and interrogating how leadership is identified and selected. By what criteria? By what ethical standards are they held to?
• Challenging organizations to think about their workplace cultures. This can include considering the racial and gender makeup of their leadership, staff, and board, and their practices around inclusion. Who is allowed into their spaces?  Who experiences a barrier to entry into their spaces? Who holds decision making power? Is power concentrated in the hands of a few, or distributed throughout the organization?  How are they working to build more equitable workplaces? 

Our faith has a strong tradition of upholding justice and protecting the most marginalized. It is imperative our institutions are organized  in such a way that models this tradition. We must ensure that leaders and organizations across Muslim communities aren’t further replicating the violence they are trying to address in their workplaces, toward their colleagues, and their families. It’s important that our leaders are in integrity and consistently practice what they preach. Movements have often failed, in part, due to the tolerance of patriarchy, misogyny, and violence by male leaders. What is destroying our communities is the lack of support for those who are marginalized and the upholding and preservation of structures, norms, and leadership that actively harm. Gender-based violence cannot be seen as a lesser issue of importance to address, but rather should be seen as integral to the fight for our collective rights and liberation. 

If  someone comes forward  with allegations of gender-based violence (GBV), one of the first  debates  that  erupts is whether  or not the survivor is lying.  However, we know that research indicates that the likelihood of allegations being false is very slim. The risks of  coming forward far outweigh any “benefits” they may get. Victims/survivors* are often risking their  families, their livelihood, their credibility, and their personhood in order to bring forth these allegations, seek safety, and restart their lives. As such, many still struggle to show their support for victims/survivors because of their discomfort for what it means for the accused: that they are automatically declared guilty, and will not get a fair accountability process.

Believing survivors is not denying the accused due process. Believing and supporting survivors, ensuring their safety, securing the necessary funds they may need, and ensuring they get connected to the resources  and services they need, is completely separate from the accountability process the accused may be asked to participate in (ie legal system, institutional accountability, community accountability, etc). Too often, our communities feel like they have to choose between two options: either believing survivors (that it happened) or believing the accused (that the allegations are false). 

While supporting survivors may overlap with the accountability process, it is also separate from each other, and not everyone has the necessary role or responsibility to participate in the accountability process. In fact, rest assured that most people *should not* be playing the role of investigating and determining whether or not the accused is guilty or whether the allegations are true. Those who may be involved in accountability processes can include: the survivor, the accused, law enforcement, lawyers, third party investigators, institutional leadership, restorative  justice practitioners, and other trained professionals. Engaging in an accountability process when you are not in the role of determining guilt, whether by interrogation of the survivor, or even simply public discourse, is actually more harmful to all parties, including, and especially, the survivor. 

However, everyone *can* and *should* know how to offer support to survivors in their moment of need and direct them to the resources and services they need. As such supporting survivors can look like:

• Crisis intervention: assisting survivors to safety plan, secure safe shelter + housing, food, and other social services necessary for their survival.
• Securing funding: often, survivors need access to financial resources to secure the necessary legal services, counseling, and restart their lives 
• Ensuring social + physical safety while the case is unfolding: when survivors speak up, or choose to leave an abusive situation, they often continue to experience threats, pressure, and intimidation, both from the person that is harming them as well as the community that is supporting the accused (family, supporters, etc). 
• Following their lead. Meet the survivor where they are at and follow the survivor’s lead when it comes to what they are asking for. GBV is when power and control is taken from the survivor, and so the most empowering thing you can do is to give it back to them. If they do not want to file a police report, respect that, no matter how much you think it is a good idea they should. If they need funds, help them find resources. If they are looking for institutional accountability, help them navigate what accountability processes are at the institution of question.  Perhaps they are just looking for someone to believe and affirm their experience. It is critical to let them be in the driver’s seat. Note that this applies to adult survivors. If the survivor is a minor, this is harder to do as there are mandated reporting requirements, and a separate process for that.
• Understanding the impact of trauma. Trauma can have multiple and lifelong impacts on the survivor, and their families who are supporting them. It can manifest in many ways including anger, sadness, depression, memory loss, etc. Understand that if you are seeing a case unfold, and you notice the survivor is “changing their story,”  backing out from a legal process,  “picking fights” with others, or simply not wanting any part in the case or process, it is likely a trauma response, not that they are lying. 
• Disrupting victim blaming. As conversations erupt on social media, in community spaces, and even at the dinner table, often the case is discussed and dissected, and often  “intellectualized” where people try to identify how it could have been prevented. This is often dangerous, and leads to much victim blaming. It is critical to disrupt the victim blaming, and end the conversation, if necessary. 

While there are many who may feel that they are being victim-centered in their approach, often, there are many mistakes that are made. What may not be helpful to victims/survivors:

• Violating privacy and confidentiality. Telling their story, and sharing details, speaking on their behalf, without their permission, even under the motivation of trying to help their cause, can actually cause more harm, retraumatization, and the spreading of rumors and misinformation.  Moreover,  this can also hinder a potential active legal case and/or investigation,
• Dictating what you think they should do. It is not helpful to tell a survivor what they should or should not do, especially if they did not ask for it.
• Asking them for evidence. Their testimony is their evidence. Moreover, if there is a legal case or another type of investigation, they will have to repeat their story and produce “evidence” as needed. Asking them as a (concerned) community member so that you can make an informed assessment is neither your role, nor is it helpful or supportive. Again, it can cause additional harm and retraumatization. Other times, it can compromise an ongoing investigation that may already be happening.
• Calling for an accountability process that is not survivor-led. While you may have many opinions about this person, it is complicated. Often, the accused is a loved one, a spouse, a parent, etc that may still be in relationship with the survivor. Additionally, the survivor may still be financially or otherwise dependent on the accused, may also still have love or respect for their accuser. While they may want the abuse to stop and ultimately be free of the situation, they may not want the accused to be painted as a monster. In short, calls for public accountability that are not survivor-led also can have immediate impacts on the survivors physical, social, emotional, and financial safety. Moreover, as noted above, survivor support and community accountability are two separate processes.

As gender-based violence continues to plague our communities, we must all work to understand what it means to center survivors and their needs. Survivor-led/victim-centered processes can  be frustrating, especially if you disagree with what the survivor/victim ultimately decides. However, these approaches are critical in order to give power and control back to the person that is the most impacted by the violence: the survivor/victim. While every case is unique and has its specific nuances, we have worked to create tools to make the  survivor/victim support process  easier.  From our RAHMA  principles to our avenues for support and our barriers to disclosure  video,  we hope you are able to find these tools useful to support the survivors in your life.  

Resources to learn more:

• Responding with RAHMA: A framework to respond to disclosures of violence 
• Create a safety plan
• Start by Believing Campaign 
• Barriers to Disclosure 
• Avenues of Support
• Trauma and the Brain

*There are different opinions on the use of the terms victim and survivor. Some individuals who have experienced [an incidence of GBV (such as sexual assault)] refer to themselves as victims because they were victimized by a violent offense. This term also stresses the fact that the assault was not their fault. Other individuals who have experienced [a sexual assault] however, embrace the term survivor because it highlights the strength required to survive sexual violence and reach out for help. The transition from victim to survivor is a personal, self-identified continuum. It is up to the individual to make their own decision. Typically, a person who was recently assaulted is referred to as a victim, while someone whose assault happened further in the past is referred to as a survivor. It’s important to acknowledge the reality that many people who experience violence don’t actually survive it.  – Fumbling Towards Repair: A Workbook for Community Accountability Facilitators, by Mariame Kaba & Shira Hassan

by: Kiran Waqar

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you may avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well-Acquainted with what you do.” Surah An-Nisa [4:135] 

HEART has been, remains, and will continue to be abolitionist. As an organization that works to center survivors, we know that these systems were not made for us. Time and time again we have seen how our community has been harmed by the prison industrial complex. But what does that mean for us as an organization? 

Abolition shows up our approaches to sexual violence

As an organization that firmly believes there is no quick fix to sexual violence, we know that change is necessary on an individual, systemic, and structural level. Inspired by our Islamic faith, activists, and scholars, we believe that abolition happens on multiple levels. Moving away from punitive “solutions,” we created, use, and teach a RAHMA-AMANA-ADALAH framework. As Muslim organization, part of the work for us is returning to our faith to rediscover alternatives to our current systems. 

Abolition shows up in our advocacy 

In our recent trauma-informed voter guide, we included decarceration as one of our values, along with anti-capitalism, social justice, intersectionality, and Islamic liberation theology. In centering these values, we also acknowledge the scholarship and work of marginalized folks, and particularly Black, Indigenous, brown, Muslim, queer, and trans women and femmes. We know that we cannot be free in a world of prisons and police, and shape our advocacy from this perspective. 

Abolition shows up in our cross-issue & transnational solidarity 

We understand how our struggles are linked. Knowing that even borders are colonial constructs, we know our wisdoms are not limited to the United States. We stand in solidarity with resistance movements worldwide. Being abolitionist in the United States means being abolitionist transnationally, from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Nigeria to the Israel Defense Force (IDF) in Palestine. At HEART, we work to create space for these conversations alongside our partners. 

Check out our report from the first ever international convening on Gendered Islamophobia. Sponsored in partnership with Vigilant Love and Justice for Muslims Collective, we examined the ways carceral violence and gendered Islamophobia shows up transnationally, from mosques in Palestine, to schools in the United Kingdom, to prisons in New York. 

Abolition shows up in our self & community care

Part of abolition is thinking about how white supremacy and carceral violence shows up in our personal and interpersonal relationships. At HEART, we are constantly striving to resist white supremacy in our structure and everyday actions. Part of how we do this is by centering self care and challenging the non-profit industrial complex.

For us, self care is inextricably linked to community care. As an organization, we have released various tools including a Community Care Toolkit, a Self Care Manual, and a Zakat fund. 
Abolition happens on every level. At HEART, we’ve spent time to thinking about how anti-Blackness, Islamophobia, and other forms of violence impacts Muslim communities. We know that change happens on every level, from examining our beauty standards and relationships, to disrupting harmful mosque behavior, to re-envisioning our systems and structures. In our efforts to be trauma-informed, we work to co-create the worlds we want to live in.

Nadiah Mohajir is a lifelong Chicagoan, Pakistani-American-Muslim, mother of three, public health professional, reproductive justice activist, and anti-sexual assault advocate.

She is the Co-founder and Executive Director for HEART Women & Girls. For the last ten years, she has led the organization to provide sexual health education and sexual violence awareness programming and advocacy to thousands of individuals, organizations, and campuses across the country. She is introducing the class Islam and Sexuality with The Rosy App.

When I was in third grade, my best friend – who was in fifth grade – came running home after school, pulling me into my room, shutting the door, and exclaiming out of breath, “you will NOT believe what I learned today.” And, then, complete with diagrams of x’s and y’s, my friend told me all about her sex education class. I listened intently, not interrupting her a single time. When she was finally done, she looked up and said, “So? What do you think? Can you believe it?”

Very calmly, I looked right back at her, and very confidently said, “Well, that’s nice. But, I just want you to know, Muslims don’t do that. So I really don’t know what you just learned.” And she looked right back at me, with the same confidence, and said “They do. I asked my teacher.” And that, friends, is how I came to know about the birds and the bees.

My mother was proactive enough to send me to sex education classes at every grade they offered them. Yet, I paid attention only to pass the exams. After all, I was a Muslim and that stuff didn’t apply to me – I would wait until I was married and so would my future spouse.

Yet, what I didn’t know is that I would quickly become a confidant and resource for all my friends, who were beginning to navigate dating, relationships, and sex. They shared with me many of their experiences, their stories, their joys and their heartbreaks, knowing that I would always be there to listen, and never betray their confidence. Yet, as an adult with more experience in life, I now realize what an important role I played for them, yet never once asked them some of the most crucial questions as they told me about their experiences: “are you being safe? Do you feel safe?” I didn’t cross that territory for so many reasons. First, it was taboo. Asking those questions meant admitting that dating and sex were happening, and well, you know, we were Muslim. Second, asking those questions were irrelevant, because again, we were Muslim. Sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy and dating violence? Not Muslim problems. And finally, perhaps part of me didn’t want to know any more than they offered me, for fear of having information that may take us into territory I only considered for “adults” much earlier than I was ready for.

My role as a confidant and resource didn’t change. In fact, I found myself serving that role in a professional capacity as well. As I began to study and work in public health on sexual health and women’s health issues, people began sharing with me their stories. I learned of the young fifth grader who missed three weeks of school, because she thought she was dying when in reality she just got her period and didn’t know who to talk to. I learned of young women who struggled to leave abusive and unhealthy relationships, out of fear of exposing their own mistakes to their families and communities. I learned of others suffering in silence because of their unfortunate interactions with sexual violence, and a community that didn’t believe them when they spoke up. I learned of new wives and old, struggling with issues of intimacy and some even struggling to consummate their marriages. I also heard from adult women at some of the country’s most elite universities who admitted that they didn’t know how to identify female anatomy because they never attended sex education classes.

Despite the fact that these women and girls come from all socioeconomic, racial, ethnic and geographic backgrounds, they all had one thing in common: they all didn’t have a space to come together, learn about their bodies, be a resource for each other, in a way that was culturally-sensitive to their worldview, free of blame and shame, and empowering. As public health professionals, we knew of what could happen when people don’t have empowered access to health information. As Muslims, we also knew that the shame and stigma associated with these issues did not have a historical root in the faith tradition, but rather, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged women and girls to ask questions about their bodies, without feeling shame. 

We founded HEART to create this much needed space, and we have been doing so – both virtually and in person – for the last ten years and could not be more excited for this collaboration.

The Rosy Class on Islam and sexuality will offer insight and reflections about the work HEART is doing to help Muslims reclaim their narratives and take control of their sexual and reproductive health to not just empower themselves, but also the others who still struggle in silence.

Congratulations to all of us for surviving another round of election mobilization and engagement. To the organizers, GOTV warriors, campaign strategists and poll workers, we hope you are able to celebrate your hard work and take a moment to breathe. There may still be work to do to hold the line until inauguration, and so to sustain our role in the movement, we rest and reflect so we can be refueled to fight some more. 

To those who have survived sexual violence, misogyny, and Gendered Islamophobia: we are especially sending you love as you navigate the complexity of what it means for those who have caused harm to achieve victory and power. Our vote in this election may not have been an endorsement of candidates, but rather the selection of our next focus  for accountability and organizing.

We are on Day 2 of counting the ballots for this election and our communities are experiencing ALL THE FEELS. Let’s break down as to what is happening: 

• We do not know the final election results. Votes are still being counted and it may take another day to have a clearer picture of who won certain races. 
  • What you can do: Breathe. Remember that we cannot control time but we can control how we care for ourselves.
• We know that Biden is leading in the electoral vote race.
  • What you can do: Sit back and wait for the ballots to be tallied. Consider unplugging, reading a book, or making an old fashioned phone call to a friend – don’t worry, you will know when it is finalized who the winner is. 
• We know that Trump has openly declared he will be filing a case with the Supreme Court to reject votes being counted after midnight of election day. We must hold the line and demand all votes be counted and fight any attempt to challenge the basics of democracy. 
  • What you can do: Call your state’s secretary of state and advocate for every single vote to be counted. 
• We know that several progressive candidates won their local races. Candidates who are Muslim, Black, non-binary, queer, trans and people of color – – and we are so excited to see what policy changes they push forward. 
  • What you can do: Check out who won in your state and congratulate those you were rooting for. Send a message of gratitude to those who lost. And follow up with whoever won about the policy priorities you are hoping they will support. 

We shared 10 ballot measures in our voter guide and tracked where they landed:

• Colorado Proposition 115. Ban Late-Term Abortions – Did not Pass YAY
• Kentucky Marsy’s Law Crime Victims Rights Amendment – Did Pass NAY
• Louisiana No Right to Abortion in Constitution Amendment – Did Pass NAY
• Michigan Search Warrant for Electronic Data Amendment – Did Pass YAY
• Washington Sex Education in Public Schools Measure – Did Pass YAY
• Washington Authorize Fund Investment of Family Medical Leave and Long-Term Care Accounts Amendment – Did Not Pass NAY
• prop 16 California – Did Not Pass NAY
• Utah Gender-Neutral Constitutional Language Amendment – Did Pass YAY
• Nebraska Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Amendment  – Did Pass YAY
• Oregon Drug Addiction Treatment Initiative – Did Pass YAY
• Nevada Question 2, Marriage Regardless of Gender Amendment (2020) – Did Pass YAY

The Quran is the Divine word of God and was revealed to a people who were actively being oppressed and experiencing violence, racism, classism, and sexism. The Quran provided clear instructions on how to navigate injustice, especially from people in positions of power. As Muslims living under one of the most harmful White supremacist governments, we can draw inspiration from our faith to to demand change, hold those who who do harm accountable, and dismantle the systems that continue to oppress. 

Voting is one part of a much larger strategy to work towards liberation for all. We are not disillusioned to think we will win with just a change in administration or a few ballot measures passing; these are simply pathways to the larger systemic battles we are fighting. And so, today, we celebrate. And we remember our larger vision for liberation. Tomorrow, we organize and  fight again.

Resources:

https://holdthelineguide.com/

Playlists:

Virtual Community Event:

https://vigilantlove.networkforgood.com/events/24314-courage-against-the-machine

We are proud to share with you our incredible accomplishments for 2018. We have had a year of tremendous growth, increased visibility, lessons learned, and exciting future directions. Join us as we reflect on the top ten accomplishments from this year:

One: After seven years of being primarily volunteer run, we now have four paid staff and twenty-two trainers. 

Two: We wrapped up our first-ever, year-long anti-sexual assault advocacy training program for student leaders at five campuses across the country. By the end of this program, we trained twenty-five student leaders to continue programming on their campus and had 134 students participate in our two hour sexual violence 101 foundational workshop.

Three: We expanded our board to include some of the country’s most talented, accomplished, and creative women and developed a three-year strategic plan that will help us deepen our programming by emphasizing racial equity, inclusivity, healing justice, and female Islamic scholarship.

Four: We expanded our programming to lead or co-lead more than 82 different events, including leading 28 workshops, 16 professional development trainings, 4 healing spaces, co-presenting at 4 webinars, presenting at 12 national conferences, and launching two capacity building projects with key Muslim leaders.

Five: We expanded our virtual resource center by twelve publications and four videos.

Six: We expanded our research programming arm by bringing on Alia Azmat as our Manager of Research Projects. Exciting research results from our evaluation project will be coming in 2019! Our partnered program with ACCESS in Michigan, led by our intern Maliha Ahmed, also produced compelling evaluation results, which were shared at the 2018 Annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA); research paper to follow in 2019!

Seven: Each of our team members received awards for their work! Executive Director Nadiah Mohajir received the 2018 Chicago Foundation for Women Impact Award and 2018 El Hibri Foundation Community Builder Award. Her acceptance speech is here. Director of Sexuality Education and Training Sameera Qureshi was selected to receive the 2018 Emerging Activist award from the National Women’s Health Network. The acceptance speech is here. Our Programs and Outreach Manager in Los Angeles, Sahar Pirzada, was highlighted in the 2018 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month gallery hosted by the city of Los Angeles. You can read her spotlight here.

Eight: We continued our work building within the movement through our participation in the NoVo Foundation’s Move to End Violence Program, leading South Asian Circles, and partnering with the Justice for Muslims Collective and Muslim Advocacy Network against Domestic Violence (MANADV). Moreover, we were invited to convene twenty-five religious leaders and activists from the gender-based violence field to build a shared understanding of preventing violence in Muslim communities.

Nine: Our work was highlighted in national media platforms such as Teen Vogue, NPR Weekend Edition, Fusion TV.

Ten: We launched our first-ever pop up shop, featuring merchandise with our messaging.

It’s been an exciting and productive year for us! We are looking forward to continuing this great work as we begin 2019 with a renewed sense of hope and direction.