SAKSHI means "Witness". Over the years, Sakshi has sought to be an active witness to the violence that plagues women and children. A role that has initiated our intervention with systems that either promote or sustain the inequality that erupts from such violence. Our effort has been to foster a sense of self for individuals who seek Sakshi's support as well as work with different systems at the level of organizations, institutions and policy to effect larger social change.

Our Genesis
Sakshi emerged from a process of relentless questioning which started several years ago, when core founders began to confront the silence that shrouds sexual violence. Sexual Violence is an integral part of most women's daily life, yet it continues to be the most silent and ignored form of assault. While mainstream attitudes continue to place greater value on female chastity than on any sense of security and freedom, women are denied any expression of protest, let alone outrage.

Sakshi embarked on a journey to help meet this need, to create an environment for fearless expression of rights and freedom which incorporate the experience of woman. We wanted to know, to witness, to exchange experiences and document pervasive forms of violence against women. Our journey took us into rural and urban areas of Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. We reached out to students, lawyers, judges, police, NGO's, and individual women. We recognized the intricate links of violence its origin and impact on women's health, their rights and their lives. In October 1992, Sakshi formalized as a Violence Intervention Centre. Our effort has been to create processes that help develop ways to preempt and possibly prevent violence against women. That experiential journey has helped us evolve creative methods of intervention through specific tools/ strategies:

Training and Education
Research and Documentation
Capacity building
Outreach

Our Vision
To recognize and eliminate the inequality that results from Violence Against Women (VAW).
To mainstream a feminist understanding of VAW.


Our Mission
Encourage attitudinal shifts at the institutional, organizational and individual level through an understanding of substantive equality in VAW issues.
Research and document processes of intervention.
Arrive at lateral linkages with decision markers including health, education, and NGO advocates as well as policy makers and the Judiciary to arrive at a holistic response to VAW.

Our Values

In our journey towards a better understanding of violence and of our own processes, Sakshi has developed a value-based approach to better define its vision. Such values include:
Empathy
Inclusiveness
A social context understanding of difference.


Our Work

Presently Sakshi's intervention process is exemplified in four key inter-related projects, research, documentation and organizational capacity building are ongoing Sakshi activities.

Sakshi
B-67 First Floor
South Extention - I
New Delhi - 110049
Tel: 91-4623295
Telefax: 91-4643946
Email: s.sakshi@mailcity.com