Subtitle: Intimate Violence against South Asian Women in America
Editor: Shamita Das Dasgupta
Subject: Asian American Studies / Women's Studies
Paper ISBN 0-8135-3982-X
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-3981-1
Pages: 336 pages
Publication Date: March 2007

"If you can read just one book to understand domestic violence in this country, read Body Evidence. Das Dasgupta brings nineteen brilliant voices together to explicate the meanings of sexuality, class, ethnicity, gender and legal status in the struggle to end violence against women in intimate relationships."-Dr. Ellen Pence, Director of Praxis International

"This book offers powerful insights into the experiences of South Asian battered women in the U.S."-Natalie Sokoloff, professor of sociology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York

"The strength of this volume lies in its diversity of views. This book brings a new set of articles into the discourse on violence against women."-Margaret Abraham, author of Speaking the Unspeakable: Marital Violence among South Asian Immigrants in the United States

When South Asians immigrated to the United States in great numbers in the 1970s, they were passionately driven to achieve economic stability and socialize the next generation to retain the traditions of their home culture. During these years, the immigrant community went to great lengths to project an impeccable public image by denying the existence of social problems such as domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, mental illness, racism, and intergenerational conflict. It was not until recently that activist groups have worked to bring these issues out into the open.

In Body Evidence, more than twenty scholars and public health professionals uncover the unique challenges faced by victims of violence in intimate spaces . . . within families, communities and trusted relationships in South Asian American communities. Topics include cultural obsession with women's chastity and virginity; the continued silence surrounding intimate violence among women who identify themselves as lesbian, bisexual, or transgender; the consequences of refusing marriage proposals or failing to meet dowry demands; and, ultimately, the ways in which the United States courts often confuse and exacerbate the plights of these women.

Shamita Das Dasgupta is an adjunct assistant professor of clinical law at New York University's School of Law and cofounder of Manavi, Inc.