Sudarshan Bhuhi: empowering women from minoritised racial groups affected by domestic abuse
Sudarshan Bhuhi (CF 2016) from Redbridge in London is the founder of Aanchal Women's Aid, a domestic abuse charity, which has seen a rise in uptake of its services during the pandemic.
She will use her grant to launch a pilot project called Chai Chat, which will provide a digital support channel and education programme for 80 hard-to-reach women from minoritised racial groups affected by domestic abuse. Through weekly 90-minute online sessions, participants will be equipped and empowered with knowledge to take informed actions, including understanding their rights and where they can access help. The women will receive therapeutic support, guidance, information and connections to other specialist services, as well as an online self-care toolkit and access to an e-learning platform. Sudarshan will engage with faith establishments, GPs and health services, and launch a social media campaign to encourage women to sign up to Chai Chat. She hopes this early intervention model will lead to further prevention, and be replicated to reach more women across the UK.
Sudarshan's Fellowship to India in 2016 explored policing infrastructure against domestic abuse.