From VICTIMS to SURVIVORS to AGENTS OF CHANGE
We believe that all survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are entitled to high quality psychological care. Our mission is to ensure that everyone who survives trauma, regardless of circumstance, has access to that care.
The Common Threads Project model, rooted in neuroscientific and socio-cultural understanding of trauma, revives an ancient practice found in diverse contexts: women come together to sew their stories onto cloth, to disclose the unspeakable atrocities they have experienced, and to support one another. Common Threads Project integrates this tradition with best practices from trauma-informed therapy, bodywork, and psycho-education.
We partner with local organizations across the globe and provide training in the Common Threads model to local therapists, who then, in partnership with Common Threads, deliver this vital intervention to survivors of SGBV.
Stitching the Unspeakable
Across the globe, one in three women will experience physical or sexual abuse in her lifetime. The mental and emotional consequences of sexual and gender-based violence are devastating not only to the survivors, but to their families and communities as well. Common Threads Project provides women & girls with opportunities for innovative & effective healing. Watch this film to learn more about our work.
Witness the Stories
Have you seen our virtual exhibition? It brings together 22 story cloths made by women from Bosnia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador and Nepal as part of a recovery program designed for survivors of sexual violence, trauma, and displacement in conflict-affected areas. The exhibit invites us to bear witness; to be a part of the healing process of the survivors by hearing their stories, acknowledging their pain, and affirming their hopes.
Projects
Ecuador
The pilot project of Common Threads was launched in 2012 in Lago Agrio, Ecuador.
nepal
To serve women who fled to Nepal as refugees from Pakistan, Iraq and Bhutan, we launched Common Threads Nepal in 2014.
DC, Maryland, Virginia
In 2024, we partnered with three agencies in the DC, Maryland, Virginia region.
Nigeria
In 2024, we partnered with Neem Foundation to bring Common Threads Project’s trauma healing approach to survivors in Nigeria.
NEW YORK
Supporting groups of refugee women, survivors of gender-based violence, and members of marginalized communities in partnership with the Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture and City College’s Psychological Center.
SEATTLE
Supporting refugees who have escaped war, poverty, political violence, and human rights abuses.