Tharsiga Elankeeran can list many reasons why someone in the Tamil community might not speak up about experiencing sexual abuse as a child.

Tamil culture is very focused on family, she explained on CBC's Metro Morning. "Oftentimes...[abuse] happens within the home and oftentimes it's someone you know."

"If you speak up, [you feel] you're going to ruin the family name, you're going to bring shame upon the family, no one is going to marry you."

Elankeeran and longtime friend Jenny Starke, both survivors of sexual abuse themselves, decided to start Abuse Never Becomes Us (ANBU) to help start the conversation and connect people with much-needed support.

Though sexual abuse is a global problem, Elankeeran and Starke chose to focus on their own community because, according to Elankeeran, "we believe in [it]. We have come so far given the history of the community."

Among Tamils, Elankeeran said a language barrier also comes into play when discussing the issue.

"I haven't met anyone who really knows the language to talk about childhood sexual abuse, to talk about body parts and [name] the body parts that are often violated," she said.

ANBA aims to fill in those gaps with education and awareness-raising.

The organization provides peer-to-peer support, runs programs for survivors, and recently created a video to shine a light on the issue.