MARGARET ABRAHAM: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ADVOCACY, COMMUNITY SERVICE, AND ACTION RESEARCH

Margaret has been involved in research and activism in the field of domestic violence in the South Asian immigrant community for more than twenty years.

“Though my entrée into the field of domestic violence in 1989 was primarily as a researcher whose main goal was to contribute to the discourse on domestic violence, over the past 25 years I view myself as sociologist engaged in “action research” - committed to bridging the gap between scholarship and activism.”

At a walk against domestic violence with the Domestic Harmony Foundation in New York.

Margaret was a co-recipient of The Sydney S. Spivack Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy Community Action Grant for the project Seen and Sheltered: Effective Responses to NIMBYISM, 2007-2008.

She has been appointed on journal editorial boards and has been an advisory board member and consultant on national projects related to issues on violence against women. She served on the Board of Directors of Sakhi for South Asian Women, the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA) and Westbury Friends School in Long Island, New York. She has been honored for her action research by Sakhi for South Asian Women, Indus Women Leaders, the Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center, and the Office of the Executive, Nassau County, State of New York. Her work is profiled and quoted in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, India Abroad, Malayalam Pathram, India Today, Indiathink.com, and Rip Rap.

Board, Community Service, Action Research Positions

Editorial Board Member

  • Editorial Advisory Board Member, Global Social Challenges Journal, 2020-present

  • Editorial Board Member, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity Book Series, 2018-present

  • International Editorial Board Member, Sociological Studies, 2017-present

  • Editorial Board Member, Journal of Sociology, 2013-2016

  • Editorial Board Member, Gender & Society, 2011-2014

  • Editorial Board Member, Sociological Perspectives, 2007-2011

  • Editorial Board Member, Journal Violence Against Women, 2005-2008

  • Editorial Board Member, Current Sociology Monograph Series (ISA & Sage), 2007-2010

  • ASA Rose Series in Sociology, Advisory Board Member, 2009-2012

Board Member

  • Advisory Board Member, Economic and Social Research CouncilGrant for 1.76 million funded research project: Urban Transformation and Gendered Violence in India and South Africa. PI, Dr. Manali Desai

  • Emeritus Board Sakhi for South Asian Women, 2019-Present

  • Advisory Board Member, Domestic Harmony Foundation, 2014-Present

  • Committee Co-Chair, Sakhi for South Asian Women, 20th Anniversary Gala. New York City, New York, 2009

  • Board of Trustees Member, Westbury Friends School, 2006-2009

  • Advisory Board Member, Violence Against Women’s Act Measuring Effectiveness Initiative, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, 2002-2004

  • Board Member, Sakhi for South Asian Women, New York, 2000-2002

  • Board Member, Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA), New York, NY, 1999-2001

  • National Advisory Board Member, National Evaluation of Arrest Policies Program Under the Violence Against Women Act, conducted by the Institute for Law and Justice, VA, 1999-2001

  • Board Member, Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA), New York, NY, 1999-2001 

  • National Advisory Board Member, National Evaluation of Arrest Policies Program Under the Violence Against Women Act conducted by the Institute for Law and Justice, VA, 1999-2001

Fundraising

Committee Co-Chair, Sakhi for South Asian Women, 20th Anniversary Gala (over $150,000 raised). New York City, New York, 2009

Consultant

  • NIJ-sponsored project, "Serving Limited English Proficient (LEP) Battered Women: A National Survey of the Courts' Capacity to Provide Protection Orders". National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, VA, 2004-2006

  • National Evaluation of the Grants to Combat Violent Crimes Against Women on Campuses Program, Institute For Law and Justice, Alexandria, VA, 2001-2002  

  • Lawyers and Legal Aid – South Asian domestic violence cases, 1996-2002

  • Social Intervention Group Project, Columbia University, 1996-1998 

Grant Applications Peer Reviewer

  • Office of Violence Against Women, Legal Assistance for Victims Grants Program, 2004

  • Violence Against Women Office, Grants to Reduce Violence Against Women on Campus Program, 2001-2002

  • CUNY grant proposal, 2005-2006

  • Violence Against Women Office, Grants to Combat Violent Crimes Against Women on Campuses, 1999

External Dissertation Evaluator

  • External International Dissertation Examiner: External Thesis Examiner (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia), 2019-2021