What started as a school project for Sukhi Mahadevan and Rithika Kanakamedala when they were sophomores in high school has become a larger effort to curb domestic violence in Virginia.
The pair wanted to do something to give back to their Loudoun County community, so they began arranging local fundraisers. But then, they came across Loudoun County’s women’s shelter and Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services. It draws people from nearby jurisdictions and those as far as Richmond, and some of them are looking for legal help or financial resources, Mahadevan said.
The circumstances inspired them to try and do more.
The revelation ultimately led to the launch of Her Voice, a nonprofit that aims to help teens prevent dating violence. Using events and a podcast, the group is evolving to spread potentially life-saving messages.
“We felt that obviously domestic violence and sexual assault are incredibly common problems within our age group that often go really under-looked or over-stigmatized within so many minority households,” Mahadevan told WTOP.
The group created “Her Voice, Her Story,” a nearly hourlong podcast during which survivors of domestic violence share their stories. It’s very focused, senior Ishita Sharma said. Nobody usually chimes in, except to ask a question.
“It’s kind of a place where we give a lot of people the opportunity to have a voice, when a lot of other people said no to them and didn’t want to hear their stories,” Sharma said.
Anyone interested in sharing their story on the podcast can fill out a form online.
For many people, Kanakamedala said, domestic violence is misunderstood. Some think it’s “just physical. But we want to tell people that it can come in any form. There’s a lot of different ways that you can see it develop. You want to find the red flags first.”
They attended basketball and football games, selling shirts as part of their fundraising efforts, and they hosted an event at a middle school last year. In partnership with a business, they also hosted a self-defense class with about 40 attendees, offering defense tips if facing a threat or if a family member is an abuser.
Student Ved Bhandare said he “didn’t fully understand the importance of domestic violence awareness and how prevalent it is in the local area. But with their project, I was impacted and I found out the importance.”
The group has meetings with its board of directors twice per month, and Kanakamedala said they’re hoping to get more of their peers involved through volunteering. They’re planning a gala, which will feature activities and guest speakers.
“It’s really important that kids our age don’t fall into the same kinds of patterns that a lot of adults might have faced when they were younger,” Sharma said.
Meanwhile, Mahadevan said, their work aims to create meaningful conversations: “It’s 2025, almost 2026, and these stigmas and preconceptions of DV and SA still exist.”
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