By 1980, I realised that these groups weren't really focusing on the issue of domestic violence. And so, in 1985, she, along with five other Asian women, all feminists, started Manavi. The organisation now has 20 to 25 people working together. Begun as an education oriented group, Manavi was started mainly in order to raise feminist consciousness. But a call from an lllinois woman, who needed help changed the focus to more practical and pragmatic issues.
Domestic violence cuts across all levels of education and class.
Working, educated and affluent women come to Manavi, as do others who aren't educated and are perhaps, dependent on their husbands. One of the worst cases that Manavi dealt with was of a professional woman, who had been abused for 29 years. She earned enormous amounts, but didn't have a penny to her name. But we at Manavi don't tell women what to do. Often, women find it against their culture to leave their husbands.