Sandhya Sharma
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sandhyamanc.bsky.social
Sandhya Sharma
@sandhyamanc.bsky.social
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Reposted by Sandhya Sharma
sbsisters.bsky.social
The inquest into Michelle's death is open.

Michelle died by suicide in 2021. Her family has raised concerns of coercive control from Michelle's ex-partner.

Noting these, MyLondon reports on Michelle's ex-partner's admission about the 'flood' of texts. 1/3

www.mylondon.news/news/south-l...
Mum who took her own life 'bombarded with texts and bullied into relationship'
Michelle Sparman's former partner Roger Stephens agreed he sent too many texts but insists his behaviour was borne out of the grief of losing his relationship and that he 'absolutely' loved her
www.mylondon.news
January 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Sandhya Sharma
sbsisters.bsky.social
Harshita’s life was tragically cut short by abuse.

Her murder underscores the scourge of VAWG and highlights statutory services’ repeated failures to safeguard Black, minoritised and migrant women.

Join us on Friday, 24th January to commemorate Harshita and to demand justice for her murder. 1/2
Join us for a vigil in memory of Harshita Brella to honour her life and demand justice for her murder. Friday, 24th January 2025. Location and time to be confirmed. Details to follow.
January 10, 2025 at 2:16 PM
sandhyamanc.bsky.social
Well done to HerStory and all those involved. An incredible organisation working tirelessly to support marginalised women in an ever increasingly hostile environment. Congratulations!
tanmw.bsky.social Tandrima Mazumdar Whitehead @tanmw.bsky.social · Dec 12
Thankyou to Salford CVS members at the AGM for this prize to our group HerStory. It means a lot to us. @salfordcvs.bsky.social
December 13, 2024 at 9:25 AM
Reposted by Sandhya Sharma
sbsisters.bsky.social
This #16DaysOfActivism, join us in our #FightForChange by calling on commissioners and Local Domestic Abuse Partnership Boards to use the Investing in Safety model to create an invest to save business case for funding ‘by and for’ services for victim-survivors with NRPF. 1/2
In April 2024, Southall Black Sisters (SBS), with Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS), Safety4Sisters, Ubuntu Women Shelter, and formerly, The Angelou Centre, all ‘by and for’ services located up and down the UK, launched Investing in Safety. Investing in Safety is a robust financial model that calculates the net savings generated by ‘by and for’ services to local public services per victim-survivor of violence against women and girls (VAWG) with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) over three years. Based on its cohort of 30 women, the research found that net savings totalling £18,024 are generated to local public services per woman over three years. When scaled up to a cohort of 40 women, £720,960 net savings are generated over three years. Applied nationally for all victim-survivors with NRPF, net savings are an estimated £127,015,128, accruing for each cohort over three years. The Cost Benefit Calculator can be downloaded and amended according to the level of local need to calculate the funding required for ‘by and for’ services for victim-survivors with NRPF and to create an invest to save business case. The Investing in Safety report details the methodology, findings and recommendations of the cost benefit analysis. Join us in calling on commissioners with VAWG responsibilities and Local Domestic Abuse Partnership Boards to: Use the Cost Benefit Calculator and the findings of the Investing in Safety report to create an invest to save business case for funding ‘by and for’ services for victim-survivors with NRPF, scaled to the level of local need.
December 10, 2024 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Sandhya Sharma
sbsisters.bsky.social
As Harshita Brella is laid to rest in New Delhi today, we stand with her family in honouring her life and grieving the lost possibilities of the years ahead.

Our commemoration -
Today, as Harshita Brella is laid to rest by her family in New Delhi, we join them in mourning her untimely loss and in celebrating the remarkable person her loved ones knew her to be. Through conversations with her family, we have learnt Harshita to be a kind and thoughtful soul with big dreams for the full and happy life she had hoped to lead. This is the life Harshita was unduly cheated out of by her husband, who subjected her to domestic abuse, and who is believed to have allegedly killed her before subsequently fleeing the UK. Harshita, a migrant woman with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) and recognised by statutory authorities as a victim of domestic abuse, tragically lost her life. Her case is a devastating reminder of the structural barriers to support, and the recurrent state failures faced by Black, minoritised and migrant victims, often with fatal consequences. We stand with Harshita’s family in this deeply painful time to mark the day in Harshita’s memory. We remember her not just as a victim of violence against women and girls, but as the vibrant individual her loved ones knew her to be. We remember her for the indelible mark she left on the countless lives she touched. We honour the life she lived, and grieve the lost possibilities of the years ahead. In the days to come, we will continue to support Harshita’s family as they strive for answers and pursue justice and truth. The burden of responsibility rests on statutory authorities in the UK, to ensure perpetrator and state accountability for Harshita’s loss and to prevent similarly calamitous outcomes for other Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors.
December 3, 2024 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Sandhya Sharma
sbsisters.bsky.social
The restrictive NRPF condition applies to over 2.58 million people in the UK. Its curtailment of migrants’ access to state benefits is weaponised by perpetrators to trap women in abusive relationships.

Join us in our #FightForChange this #16DaysOfActivism by calling on the govt to abolish NRPF.
No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) is a restrictive condition that applies to most migrants in the UK, curtailing their access to state benefits. Over 2.58 million people in the UK are subject to this condition, the continued existence of which is emblematic of the UK’s hostile environment towards migrants. Migrant victim-survivors with NRPF are known to be three-times more likely to be subjected to gender-based abuse than the general population of women. Insecure immigration status is routinely weaponised by perpetrators to trap women in abusive relationships. This weaponisation is part of a ‘dual perpetration’ in which the state participates through the imposition of NRPF. As a result, migrant victim-survivors with NRPF face a stark choice upon exiting abuse - that of returning to their abuser or of facing destitution and/or deportation. The combined model of the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC) and Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse (VDA) assists migrant victim-survivors on spousal/partner visas in breaking this cycle by entitling them to status and support. However, by excluding all other cohorts of migrant victim-survivors, the state perpetuates a tiered system in which women are often unable to even enter a refuge due to their inability to pay rent and living costs and in which they have limited routes to safety. There is thus an urgent need for the NRPF condition to be abolished, a policy recommendation recently affirmed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls in her preliminary report following a visit to the UK. With the abolition of NRPF, the government must end the hostile environment with a view to set forth a positive, evidence-based view of immigration and invest in immigrant communities. Join us in calling on the government to: Abolish NRPF and end the hostile environment with a view to set forth a positive, evidence-based view of immigration and to invest in immigrant communities.
November 29, 2024 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Sandhya Sharma
sbsisters.bsky.social
We mourn the tragic loss of Harshita Brella’s life. Our hearts are with her family during this painful time.

This case raises serious questions about statutory agencies' continued failure to safeguard migrant victim-survivors.

Our call to action 👇
southallblacksisters.org.uk/news/stateme...
We are devastated by the tragic loss of Harshita Brella’s life. Her murder, allegedly committed by her husband Pankaj Lamba who was known to have subjected her to domestic abuse, highlights a troubling pattern of state failure to address violence against women and girls (VAWG) with the seriousness it merits. This failure is further reflected in the limitations of mechanisms like Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs), which can inadvertently embolden perpetrators and put victim-survivors at further risk of harm if not supported by rigorous risk assessments and tailored safety plans. Harshita, tragically, had been under the protection of a DVPO – one that ultimately failed to protect her. Black, minoritised and migrant victims like Harshita are disproportionately affected by state inaction on VAWG due to the lack of structural safeguards in law and policy, compounded by pervasive institutional racism. Based on our frontline experience, we know that Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors face heightened disbelief from statutory agencies, eroding their trust in the state system and discouraging them from seeking assistance. Even when they do report abuse as Harshita did, their engagement is often cut short by statutory agencies’ inadequate understanding of their unique experiences of abuse and failure to provide culturally appropriate support. Provision of unsafe and unsuitable accommodation that neglects Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors’ specialised needs can make them vulnerable to further harm. For Harshita, this neglect proved fatal. These failures are rooted in an intersection of systemic inequalities: race, immigration status, and socio-economic disadvantage. Migrant women with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), in particular, are left with a stark choice between entrapment in domestic abuse, destitution and/or deportation. Without urgent reform – such as lifting NRPF restrictions, mandating cultural competency training for statutory agencies, and embedding intersectional approaches into VAWG responses – the system will continue to fail the most vulnerable. Harshita’s case underscores the need for immediate action to ensure that victim-survivors are met with belief, support and tailored interventions, rather than systemic indifference. Only then can we begin to break the cycles of abuse and exploitation that disproportionately harm Black, minoritised and migrant women and girls. With the inquest into Harshita’s death opened yesterday, our hearts and thoughts are with her family during this deeply painful time. We will closely follow this case, hoping the perpetrator is swiftly found and brought to justice. Harshita’s tragic loss serves as a stark reminder of the lives that could have been saved through timely and effective state intervention. In her memory, and that of countless other victims, we will continue to campaign for a coordinated, whole-system response to VAWG. This includes ensuring specialist, community-based by and for services are properly resourced to provide the tailored, wraparound support that Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors urgently need. Ending systemic discrimination requires dismantling policies rooted in the hostile environment, which perpetuate harm and exclusion. Now more than ever, we call for urgent policy reform to prevent further tragedies and to uphold the rights and dignity of Black, minoritised and migrant women.
November 21, 2024 at 12:54 PM