New Visions: Alliance to End Violence in Asian/Asian American Communities

Who We Are
New Visions is a grassroots organization whose mission is to inspire and support sustainable community action for ending violence against women in Asian communities of southeast Michigan. Affiliated with the University of Michigan School of Social Work, we are a partnership of local Asian communities and domestic violence-related agencies dedicated to one vision: "Asian women are safe, and Asian communities are free of violence." In our role as a catalyst and advocate, rather than a service provider, New Visions' goals are:

  • To challenge community attitudes and norms that contribute to domestic violence
  • To develop socioculturally effective strategies to end domestic violence
  • To partner with local domestic violence and related organizations to strengthen their ability to meet the complex needs of Asian women and families

Recognizing the enormous diversity among Asian communities, New Visions initially focused on two large communities, Korean and South Asian (people originating from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). However, in August 2005, New Visions expanded its efforts to include other ethnic groups within the Asian communities and restructured into project-focused Community Action Teams (CATs). Thus, currently, New Visions consists of a Coordinators Group and three Community Action Teams (Arts and Activism, Outreach and Engagement, Youth Arts & Activism, and Organizational Accountability).

New Visions has been supported by the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence through award no. US/CCU522485 from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Matsushita International Foundation, as well as the University of Michigan's Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG), a provost mini-grant on interpersonal violence, and the School of Social Work.