ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the role art therapy can play in building a critical mass to create a movement for decolonizing the culture of gender violence using the "radical caring" methodology of Apna Ghar. The radical caring is focused on the individual client seeking help and the staff's ability to assist their growth as an autonomous individual, while also focusing on organizational structures that work towards collective gender justice. The notion of "radical care" means questioning the nature of gender violence from a lifetime spiral of abuse, patriarchal, and hegemonic structures that have been normalized. The chapter elaborates on how an intersectional analysis informed by notions of radical care informs services at Apna Ghar. In order to build a decentralized movement to end violence against women, many activists and academics has turned to intersectionality. By ensuring that the health and wellness studio was a drop-in space with food and child care, Apna Ghar aims to reduce obstacles often facing immigrant women.
