SAWO Ideology & Structure

Last week, we covered the beginnings of the South Asian Women's Movement (SAWO) movement in the US. This week, we shall explore the driving ideology and structure of these organizations, and next week, we shall explore their goals and operational strategies.

Abraham, who has conducted extensive research on DV in the SA community, used a variety of methods to explore SAWO ideology and structure (interviews, surveys, participant observation, secondary sources, etc.) but based her article mainly on data gathered from six SAWOs (one of which was Maitri!). Among the questions she was interested in answering about SAWOs were – Why were these organizations created? How do they differ from other mainstream organizations? What roles do they play in shifting domestic violence from a private problem to a public social issue?

She found that SAWOs have 3 different kinds of guiding ideologies and structures. Many agencies were guided by a value-oriented ideology, or a core set of values; for instance, some agencies (including Maitri) were driven by feminist ideals. Their unit of emphasis was the individual woman, and their goal was to empower women and enable them to lead self-reliant lives. This involved challenging the culture of male dominance and pushing for social change. The organizational structure of such SAWOs tended to be non-hierarchical and volunteer-staffed, and they generally did not seek state-funding, in order not to compromise their values. They were, nevertheless, well-connected to other community agencies that shared common goals.

Some other agencies had a diffused ideology, in which the goal was to protect women and children (by way of, for example, ensuring economic equality or legal protection for women). Here, the unit of emphasis was the family, and as such, they drew on elements of both feminist and family violence ideology (which we discussed last week). These agencies tended to be more structured, involving paid employees and boards, and often relied on state funding sources.

Finally, some agencies had no particular ideology (unspecified) – their goal was simply to help people in need, without necessarily adhering to any set of explicitly identified values. Their structure, staffing, and funding varied depending on the people in charge of the organization, and the services they provided, at a given time.

Abraham found that although the agencies differed somewhat in ideology, they all shared an underlying commitment to helping South Asian women, especially those who were victims of DV. Although many of the SAWOs had strong connections with other community-based organizations, they differed from mainstream organizations in their emphasis on cultural factors and understanding of immigration issues.

Note: The data reported in this study was gathered between 1990 and 1993, so please keep in mind that these organizations may have undergone a significant degree of change (Maitri certainly has), and that many more SAWOs have come up since then.

[For more information, see: Abraham, M. (1995). Ethnicity, Gender, and Marital Violence: South Asian Women’s Organizations in the United States. Gender & Society, 9(4), 450-468].