In Loving Remembrance of Andrea Bharatt & Ashanti Riley: A Global Call to End Gender-Based Violence from a Diasporic Community
We are deeply troubled to learn about the horrific events that have taken the beautiful lives of 23-year-old Andrea Bharatt and 18-year-old Ashanti Riley in Trinidad. Though we are based in South Queens, our organization recognizes that gender-based violence (GBV) transcends across the diaspora. As grassroots activists in New York, we realize that gender-based violence is cross-cultural, cross-racial, and global.
We ask our communities, near and far, to reflect on these questions -- how can we engage in a cultural shift to eradicate GBV? How can we hold public officials and local leaders who reinforce dangerous stereotypes against women and jeopardize their safety, accountable? How can we increase education towards women’s rights and gender equity? How can we move away from a carceral system to create community-based interventions that contribute to collective liberation and end oppression? How do we ensure those individuals tasked with responding to gender-based violence in our communities are trauma-informed and equipped with the necessary tools to break the cycle of violence?
As we think about these questions, it is important that we continue to support survivors of gender-based violence and honor those who have been lost at the hands of violence. We must work together to increase public awareness of gender equity and end the insidious cycles of patriarchy and toxic masculinity that show up time and time again in our daily lives. We must also proactively invest in the prevention of gender-based violence by promoting healthy and equitable relationships, and demand that the international community collaborate and address repeated violations of women’s rights.
We remember and honor the lives of Andrea and Ashanti, taken from this world too soon. The lives of Black and Brown women and gender-expansive folks in this world should be protected, not preyed upon. We commit to the long haul. And we call for justice in their names.
