By Danielle Kutchel
Anti-domestic violence activist and campaigner Tarang Chawla has been named the Young Community Achiever of the Year at the India Australia Business and Community Awards.
Mr Chawla received the award for his work on gender equality and the prevention of violence at a ceremony in Brisbane on Friday 11 October.
The category was hotly contested with 12 finalists for the award, and Mr Chawla said it was an honour to be nominated and humbling to be considered in the same category as the other finalists.
Mr Chawla is the founder of Not One More Niki, a campaign to end men’s violence. He also advocates for the rights of victims, survivors and their families.
Mr Chawla began actively campaigning against domestic violence following his sister Nikita’s murder at the hands of her ex-partner in 2015, aged just 23.
The siblings spent some of their childhood in Hampton Park and Mr Chawla said he has fond memories of the area.
“We know that sadly this region also has some of the highest instances of violence,” he said.
“However, the community remains actively committed to addressing the issue.”
Initially, Mr Chawla began campaigning as a way of coping with his own grief and sparing others from the same fate he, his family and Nikita suffered.
He said his work builds on that of generations and women and men before him who have campaigned for equality.
As the #NotOneMoreNiki campaign gains momentum on social media and offline, Mr Chawla is pragmatic about how it may change in future.
“It’s hard for me to say what’s next, but whatever I do I believe in doing it with honesty and heart. I know a lot of other campaigners who have done this work and it is not something you can do forever, because it takes its own toll. I will always care about this issue, but what that looks like in the future is difficult to know,” he said.
He has previously spoken about his own suicide attempt earlier this year and about the stigma surrounding mental health, especially in South Asian communities, and says mental health issues can be seen as a liability in some cultures.
“We have to be brave and honest about mental health within our communities, understand that it’s a part of being human and at some point we all go through it,” he said.
“We have lost far too many people to suicide, especially in the South Asian community, and our collective silence and fear is part of the reason for that.”
Likewise, he said the community needs to break down the stigma surrounding domestic violence and hopes the award will allow him to reach more people with his message.
“It’s important that we work as a whole of community to break down the taboo and stigma around the issue and actively support victims and perpetrators to change their behaviour before it’s too late.”
