our story
Who We Are
by their side is a youth-led, community-rooted initiative working to prevent intimate partner violence within the Indo-Caribbean community.
Our work began with a simple belief: young people deserve opportunities to learn about healthy relationships, identity, boundaries, autonomy, and violence before harm occurs. In our communities, conversations about intimate partner violence are often only introduced after someone has already experienced it. These conversations can be made even more difficult by stigma, shame, silence, and deeply rooted expectations surrounding gender and relationships.
We believe prevention can look different.
What Makes Us Unique
by their side brings difficult conversations into the spaces where young people already live, learn, gather, and build community. Through culturally grounded programming, community conversations, creative learning, and research, we create opportunities for Indo-Caribbean youth to ask difficult questions, challenge harmful norms, learn from one another, and imagine healthier ways of relating to themselves and those around them.
Young people are not simply participants in our work. They are knowledge holders, leaders, and collaborators. Our programming is shaped alongside youth rather than prescribed to them, allowing their experiences, questions, and priorities to guide what we explore together.
Ultimately, our work is about more than preventing violence. It is about strengthening the relationships, confidence, knowledge, and sense of belonging that allow young people and their communities to thrive.
by their side - building communities free from violence
We are building spaces where conversations that have historically been difficult to have can finally happen — and where the next generation of young women and gender-diverse youth have the tools and support to challenge harm and build healthier communities.
