°Family Violence Prevention and Education
°Reproductive Health and Women's Rights
°Capacity Building Program for African Women
°Cross-cultural & Cultural Competency Training for Service Providers
°FC/FGC Information and Documentation Center



Sauti Yetu's Family Violence Project provides a safe space for women in immigrant African communities affected by domestic violence .

SYCAW offers culturally appropriate and gender specific counseling to individuals and groups of African women. We feel that this particular awareness of violence against women and sensitivity to culture are critical for understanding the needs of the women in our communities.

Services offered:

• Information and referrals for crisis intervention. We seek to empower women to make informed decisions and choose appropriate courses of action for particular concerns.

• Legal consultations on marriage, VAW and immigration issues. All consultations are free and conducted by lawyers who donate their time. We help women find free or low-cost legal representation.

• Information and referrals for jobs, training programs, resume-writing, English tutoring.

• Court-accompaniments and translation assistance. We provide court-accompaniments on a case-by-case basis depending on resources available. We are available to advocate on behalf of victims/survivors of violence who need assistance with the courts.

• Information and referrals for access to shelters and housing.

• Community outreach, awareness raising campaigns and advocacy
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The Reproductive Health and Women's Rights Programhas developed over the years in response to the demand for information, a cultural and gender sensitive approach to the issues affecting immigrant African women.

Sauti Yetu has responded to this by providing information and awareness seminars for women on reproductive heath, women%u2019s rights and the changing gender dynamics and its impact on women and girls lives. We provide information on where support in the mainstream can be accessed.

Services offered:

• Orientation to the US health care, social service and legal systems

• Referrals for services, counseling for women

• Advocacy and community organizing for African women's health and rights, specifically around the issue of Female Circumcision/Female Genital Cutting (FC/FGC)

• Help eligible women access public benefits and other social services. We offer information on eligibility of battered women for welfare and how to access such assistance.

• Help women access medical care, especially circumcised women
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The Objectives of the Capacity Building Program Include:

• Developing a leadership forum for African women in NYC and the USA
  
• Providing information, advice and support for immigrant African women
  
• Strengthening the community-organizing capacities of African Women in the USA
  
• Highlighting the contributions of African women to their communities
  
• Creating a body of knowledge through research and oral stories on the experiences of African immigrant women
  
• Producing a tri-annual newsletter giving information on the latest issues in NYC and USA
  
• Establishing an African Immigrant Women's Leadership center

The CBP organizes trainings and workshops through out the year tailored to the needs of African women and African community-based organizations in NYC and across the country. [back to top]

The overall goal of this training is to prepare service providers in cross-cultural and cultural competency skills to work with their African populations. Although this training is designed to enhance clinical and interpersonal skills, it places critical emphasis on providers examining and acknowledging their personal beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.

The objectives of these training seminars and workshops include:

• Increase providers' technical competence and comfort in caring for circumcised women.
  
• Increase providers' knowledge of African cultural customs and traditions, including religious practices and belief systems
  
• Explore providers' personal feelings, values, misconceptions and biases
  
• Broaden providers' knowledge about Africa and its diverse cultures and regions.
  *Our trainings offer continuing education credits [back to top]

The information and documentation center has evolved over the years in response to the demand for accurate, non-sensational information on FC/FGC and the need for a multi-faceted approach to address the practice. African immigrant and refugee women and communities affected by FC/FGC are minorities in western countries who face multiple intersecting issues and challenges.

The resource center gathers, analyzes and documents information on FC/FGC in western countries.