Falling Walls Initiative

Falling Walls Initiative was born out of national research project led by Darakshan Raja for Safe Nation Collaborative on documenting the institutional barriers crime victims who are Muslim face in seeking victim services post 9/11. The report was officially launched at the 2013 Muslim Advocacy Network Against Domestic Violence meeting. After the national meeting, a group of local Muslim women who worked as organizers in the DC-metro across social justice issues met to discuss the ways in which violence against women was being perpetrated at the hands of state institutions and within the community. There was a consensus that more work needed to be done to raise awareness, improve policy, legislation, and direct services. The second gap Muslim women discussed was linking the work between civil rights advocacy to gender-based violence. Finally, there was a consensus that the work to address violence against women cannot be done without addressing War on Terror policies that target the entire community.  As a result, Falling Walls Initiative was born. Since it’s inception, Falling Walls Initiative has organized vigils, rallies, letters, petitions, and actions in the DC-metro area. Second, Falling Walls Initiative has focused heavily on raising awareness among practitioners, researchers, victim services providers, and community members on violence against women. Third, Falling Walls Initiative has provided referrals to friends and family members of survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.