Karen Lipsett-Kidd, designer of the Rakhi bracelet.

Until August 10, locals can support the City of Surrey’s work against domestic violence by wearing a purple handmade bracelet ($5) for sale at various Metro Vancouver locations. Called the Rakhi Project, the initiative has run since 2011, and men are encouraged to show solidarity to the cause.

Rakhi is a traditional ceremony, in India, in which a sister ties a rahki (thread/bracelet) on her brother’s wrist – once a year – as a symbol of love and respect. Adopting the meaning behind the occasion, City Councillor Barinder Rasode spearheaded the project for the Surrey Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (SCADA). All funds from bracelet sales go to SCADA.

“We came up with the idea of including men in the conversation around domestic abuse. And any man who ties a purple bracelet around his wrist, vows to stand with his sisters against domestic abuse,” she adds.

In 2010,5,000 bracelets were made in China and used for the 2011 campaign. In 2013, the Sambhali Trust – a non-profit charitable organization that empowers women and girls in India – made another 5000 for the 2013 and 2014 campaigns.

Making of the bracelets

The cotton macramé bracelets designed by local artist Karen Lipsett-Kidd are made by women in India through the Sambhali Trust.

Things were different in the project’s first year: due to time constraints, the City had them mass-produced in China. But since the beginning, Lipsett-Kidd, who co-owns Crystalworks Gallery in Vancouver, saw an additional opportunity.

“I said, ‘Wow, wouldn’t it be great if women could benefit from making this piece?’” says Lipsett-Kidd.

It was a Crystalworks Gallery client who suggested the Sambhali Trust, and put Lipsett-Kidd in touch with a founder of the organization. Based in Jodhpur, the non-profit works with women in the Dalit community (the lowest standing in India’s traditional caste system: members experience abuse on multiple levels).

“[Working with Sambhali Trust] was an amazing experience because first of all, they had never done any macramé before; and second of all, every aspect of this bracelet was produced and made by the Trust,” says Lipsett-Kidd. “They found the string, dyed this string purple…[and] they found the beads there.”

Lipsett-Kid says 100 women were employed specifically to make the Rahki Project bracelets. Five thousand bracelets were made over a couple months, which the City of Surrey purchased outright with the previous year’s Rakhi sales proceeds.

“Just this idea that so many women benefitted from something that would then go forward to possibly benefit more women and families; and raising awareness around domestic abuse and violence – to me, it just seemed like an incredible circle of benefit,” says Lipsett-Kid.

Being part of the solution

According to Surrey RCMP, around 4,000 domestic abuse-related files were opened last year; but that figure paints a limited picture. The City aims to educate and include more individuals in the dialogue.

“The fact that we’ve had such serious, horrid examples of domestic abuse…and also on a day-to-day basis of all the women who live in silence, I think it was important to raise awareness,” says Rasode.

With more awareness and more vendors selling the bracelets by the year, says Rasode, support for the project has increased. But the project has met with some criticism. A Vancouver Observer blogger condemned the City in 2012 for associating domestic abuse with Indian culture: “By saying that it is a problem with people of Indian, or broader South Asian heritage, you are saying it doesn’t exist in other communities.”

Vancouver Observer posted Rasode’s response, where she’s quoted: “It’s very unfortunate when you read of page headlines, of very tragic cases, where people would actually ask, ‘Why is domestic violence so prevalent in South Asian culture? Why is it that the South Asian culture doesn’t value equality toward women?’ I said, actually that’s the opposite. South Asian culture has a tradition where we do show real value toward women (through rakhi).”

Proceeds from bracelet sales go towards implementing the awareness program each year, and also to Surrey’s Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (SCADA) – which brings together community organizations who specialize in addressing and reducing domestic abuse.

Bracelets will be sold at select Surrey locations. For more information: http://www.surrey.ca/community/13203.aspx