Support "snowballing" for South Asian domestic abuse victims in Peterborough
A Peterborough Women's Aid trustee's being nominated for a UN award for her work helping the community
A Peterborough Women's Aid trustee hopes being nominated for a UN award will help shine a light on the problems facing South Asian domestic abuse victims.
Dr Drashana Sridha's been leading The Dahlia Project, focused on supporting victims from the South Asian community in the city.
She says being nominated for a UN Women UK award is "great" and "a bit unexpected", but the hard work continues:
'Peterborough is a hotspot, especially for South Asian women going through domestic abuse. That's why the project was launched. There's probably a lot more than 70 women too.'
The Dahlia Project was launched by Peterborough Women's Aid (PWA), with funding from the Home Office, in July.
It's already helped over 70 women.
Dr Sridha added that there's a "stigma" among women in the community around 'speaking out', but more are starting to ask for help.
'There's also the fear of when you report it. Are you going to be supported? Are you going to be looked at in a different way? There's layers, there's other fears.'
'Support is snowballing - people talk within the community, their friends tell other friends and this is how things happen. Sometimes we have to signpost people to other services, but at least people are reaching out. They feel they can approach somebody and that's a good start.'