Children of all backgrounds, everywhere, can be vulnerable to physical and emotional harm unless they are equipped with the confidence, skills and language to protect themselves, and unless they have a protective and proactive community of adults to support them. This program will equip parents with the language and tools to navigate conversations on bodily integrity and protection with their children.
HEART Women and Girls (www.heartwomenandgirls.org), a national 501 (c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2010, has been working within Muslim communities (majority South Asian) to improve the skills and knowledge of community members about abuse prevention. The bulk of this work has been focused on parents, given that they are the key educators for children. Given that parents are often not equipped with what they need to have these conversations, HEART has noticed the following trends:
● Abuse and violence statistics within Muslim communities are close to national
averages by the Center for Disease Control (CDC): 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be abused by the age of 18.
● Muslims, in general, create shame/taboo for these topics when in reality, the
acquisition of this knowledge supports one’s spiritual journey.
● Spiritual, emotional, and physical abuse within homes and including those in positions of
power is a reality within our communities and most parents do not have the
language skills or knowledge to understand this.
HEART is collaborating with child protection advocate Kulsoom Khan and Virginia-based inclusive community center, MakeSpace, to close this gap by providing culturally responsive education about abuse prevention to parents within the Muslim community.
Kulsoom Khan currently leads Global Fund for Children's grantmaking, capacity strengthening, integrated programming, and stakeholder engagement across Asia. She co-founded Vision's Child Right initiative in Pakistan and helped launch Ashoka's work in Pakistan. Kulsoom is passionate about providing parents and children with the skills and support to prevent abuse while shifting social and cultural norms that shame the survivors.
MakeSpace is as an inclusive and theologically relevant hub for the Washington Metropolitan area Muslim community, with a strong focus on youth and young professionals. MakeSpace aims to help members grow spiritually, intellectually and professionally while also helping the community develop an American Muslim identity rooted in the values of balance and compassion through educational programs, civic engagement initiatives, community service projects and social bonding activities.
We hope that by giving parents the tools to protect their children, we can empower children to protect themselves.
