National Interfaith Anti-Bullying Summit...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

November 15, 2017

Contact: Saimah Shareef, communications@amhp.us, (224) 202-4324

Event Website: amhp.us/summit

Faith Leaders Organize National Interfaith Anti-Bullying Summit

Washington, DC - A rise in incidents of faith-based bullying across the last year are deeply concerning to all minority faiths, and indeed all students who need to navigate their religion in school. Discrimination that targets young people based on their faith requires a multi-pronged approach, and those best practices for stopping and reversing this trend will be on display at the National Interfaith Anti-Bullying Summit on December 2nd and 3rd, 2017 at George Washington University in Washington, DC. A unique coalition of faith leaders, educators, activists, and health professionals explain their impetus for organizing the Summit below:

Dr. Rukhsana M. Chaudhry, Chair, National Interfaith Anti-bullying Summit

American Muslim Health Professionals (AMHP) Director of Mental Health Programming:

"When one’s faith or religious background is utilized to target another individual aggressively or intimidate, it gets to the core of those young students’ beliefs about about their sense of competence in our society. AMHP has coordinated this summit to join our communities together and address this issue directly not just for Muslim youth but for youth of all faith backgrounds as we believe this is the most adequate path towards finding solutions to this public health issue. "

Murali Balaji, Ph.D., Director of Education and Curriculum Reform, Hindu American Foundation

“We as marginalized communities face increased threats in the classroom. Hindu American students have become targeted for their faith, and the classroom learning environments continue to be unsafe for many Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and other religious and racial minorities. The National Interfaith Anti-Bullying Summit presents a unique opportunity to address these challenges head on as a coalition, and to find sustainable solutions to bullying and bias.”

Hana Mangat, President of Sikh Kid 2 Kid:

“With beautiful uncut hair and brightly colored turbans, Sikhs can be spotted from a mile away. Though these articles of faith are meant to be sources of empowerment, they are common targets for bullying. Sikh students deserve the right to learn while being unapologetically themselves. For this reason, a National Interfaith Bullying Prevention initiative is essential to improve school climate.”

Ishaq Pathan, ING Youth Manager

“The bullying of Muslim students is a pervasive and serious problem, the rates for which is outpacing bullying of other student populations by 4 to 1. Islamic Networks Group (ING) works to counter religious or ethnic based bullying by empowering teen Muslims to stand up for themselves and others through peer-to-peer education, engagement and dialogue, the dual foundations of our ING Youth program.”

Ameena Jandali, ING Content Director

“The upcoming Anti-Bullying Summit is a groundbreaking initiative which ING is proud to be part of to address religious or ethnic based bullying from an interfaith perspective which brings communities of faith together to work for a brighter future for all of America’s youth.”

ABOUT AMHP: AMHP is a national nonprofit organization focused on professional development and empowerment of health professionals seeking to leverage their diverse skills and expertise to advance public health, social justice and civic engagement within their communities. Since the organization’s founding in 2004, AMHP has been at the forefront of public health and policy issues— most recently, in convening an interfaith steering committee to host this Summit, in mobilizing AMHP members to participate in vigils and healthcare advocacy campaigns and in creating resources for disabled Muslims.

The Summit will take place from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on December 2nd and 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM on December 3rd at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Further details including a full agenda and registration is available here: amhp.us/summit. Journalists interested in attending should contact us for complimentary passes

Contact: Saimah Shareef, communications@amhp.us, (224) 202-4324