Abuse Never Becomes Us
UK
Supporting survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the Tamil Community
Pathways to Collective and Individual Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse
26th November 2022
Our first-ever research symposium which took place virtually was filled with rich discussions, information on key areas of childhood sexual abuse in the South Asian community from our amazing speakers and so much more!
Find recordings from the event below
Welcome & Introduction
Vanajah Srinivasan
ANBU UK Founder and Former Director
About ANBU UK
Shavena Vigneswaran Kumar
ANBU UK Deputy Director, ANBU UK Outreach Lead and Independent Sexual Violence Advisor
Outside of ANBU UK, Shavena is a youth worker coordinating the When We Speak youth activism programme at Toynbee Hall in East London and has experience with advocacy within Tamil community organisations.
ANBU UK Needs Assessment
Nibarna Kanathasan
ANBU UK Trustee, ANBU UK Therapeutic Lead
​Nibarna is a BACP-registered psychotherapist who works in the NHS with SARCs, which stands for sexual assault referral centres. She works from an integrative approach, drawing from various modalities, including transcultural and narrative approaches, to provide holistic therapies. At ANBU UK oversees the therapeutic components, including thinking about first practice and culturally-sensitive frameworks.
Giving voice to the lived experiences of female South Asian victims and survivors of childhood sexual abuse: a critical factor in shaping practice and policy.
Vanisha Jassal
ANBU UK Trustee
Director of Studies and Senior Lecturer in Advanced Child Protection Programmes at the University of Kent, where she has worked for almost 10 years. Teaching experienced Child Protection professionals from a range of statutory and third-sector organisations has enabled her to maintain a close link to the challenges arising in practice and developments in policy. She is currently studying for her PhD exploring Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) of Females from the British South Asian Communities and the Cultural Constructs of Shame and Honour.
British Asian men’s experiences of childhood sexual abuse.
Key findings from PhD research on how British South Asian male survivors of childhood sexual abuse make sense of their experiences.
Dr Hannah Begum
Research and Evaluation Officer at the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse
Prior to her current role, Hannah taught at multiple universities, delivering lectures and seminars across Criminology and Sociology. Programmes. Hannah’s research interests include child sexual abuse and exploitation, critical race theory, and the perspectives of marginalised communities who experience crime. Hannah is currently completing a project funded by G4S with a senior colleague at De Monfort University, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Drug and Alcohol Programmes in a Midlands-based Prison. She received a BA in Social Policy at the University of Birmingham and an MA and PhD in Criminology at Coventry and De Montfort University, respectively. Hannah’s findings from this presentation are in the process of being published in journal articles. She has presented her work at conferences and training workshops, most recently with Child Safeguarding Board for Leicester City Council.
Evaluation studies: community capacity building 4’s programme, challenge, change, consolidate and champion sexual violence issues within BME communities.
Ziakha Ahmed MBE
CEO of Apna Haq
Apna Haq is a survivor-led organisation that supports black and minority ethnic women and girls in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who are experiencing any form of violence. Ziakha has over thirty years of experience developing and overseeing violence against women support services at a local level while influencing strategy, policy and procedure at a regional, national and European level. She was awarded an MBE for services to women’s rights and community cohesion in 2016. She was involved in developing NICE’s , the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Committee, Domestic Violence UK standards in 2013. Ziakha is currently a board member of the National Women’s Aid and WeRise Muslim Women Empowerment Initiative. She is an advisory board member for the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse. She was elected to the board of the European Network Against Racism in 2018.