Who we are
Shakti, by name and shared vision, shares a sisterhood with Shakti Women's Aid UK. Shakti means `strength’ and a form of female energy in several Asian languages.
It is this strength on which we have built our work on -- helping women reclaim their sense of empowerment and for them to seek support, heal, grow, and rebuild their lives after experiencing domestic violence and abuse.
Shakti Woman’s Refuge Trust, New Zealand, has its foundations in Shakti Asian Women’s Support Group Trust set up in 1995 by Farida Sultana and seven other dedicated women of diverse ethnic backgrounds. They came together with a mission to create a safe and culturally responsive support network for ethnic women in Aotearoa New Zealand who were experiencing oppression and domestic/family violence, enduring culturally sanctioned forms of abuse passed down through generations, and grappling with challenges that come with migration.
As the needs of the immigrant community grew, the Support Group also grew organically and became a national entity in 2003, Shakti Community Council Inc setting up 5 refuges (safehouses), and over 10 centres spanning North Island and South Island.
Our 24/7 crisis line 0800SHAKTI which began service in 1996 continues to respond nationally and through our centres in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
We are guided by a feminist, empowerment-based approach, focused on delivering culturally competent services to Asian, African, and Middle Eastern women and their children experiencing domestic violence.
Through our extensive experience and commitment to culturally responsive practices, Shakti has become a leading provider of culturally specialist violence intervention and prevention services for ethnic communities affected by domestic/family/sexual violence in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Besides direct response services, Shakti works proactively with government and policy makers to address culturally specific forms of abuse like forced/underage marriages, dowry abuse, honour-based violence and FGM. We also led the advocacy with Immigration New Zealand to create the Domestic Violence Category Provisions, helping migrant women who were abused and abandoned to find safety and have their rights protected. We advocate for human rights and challenge systems and cultural practices that harm or oppress women and children nationally and internationally.
We are committed to advocating for social change; to address all forms of oppression, including gender-based violence, sexual violence and family violence.
We remain grateful to all our Funders and Donors who have continued to support us over the decades.
Contact
If your life is in immediate danger please call 111.
OR call us on our 24/7 multi lingual crisis-line 0800SHAKTI (0800742584)
OR email: crisisline@shakti.org.nz
If not urgent, please use our contact list below and we will try our best to get back to you as soon as possible.
