Peace Over Violence is 50

This year, Peace Over Violence is celebrating fifty years of working at the intersection of social service, social justice, and social change in the Los Angeles community and beyond. Formed in 1971, POV, then LACAAW, was the first dual sexual and domestic violence organization of its kind in Los Angeles and in the nation. Before the beginnings of the violence against women movement, there were no hotlines or shelters or rape crisis centers. The feminist movement brought attention to violence against women, which had been minimized and ignored. POV started to tackle these issues, and very specifically as a response to the way law enforcement treated survivors. We will be celebrating this milestone all year long! 

This month we acknowledge two nationally recognized awareness months: Black History Month and Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. We honor the ongoing struggle for racial justice in our communities, and will highlight Black voices, projects and programs. We will also be promoting awareness and education around teen dating violence, building healthy youth relationships and providing opportunities for engagement with our Prevention team.

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

POV is committed to building a world in which young people are active members in the movement to end violence. We have been working in the youth violence prevention movement for the last thirty years, and have become a nationally recognized leader in the field, producing award-winning curriculum and providing original youth violence prevention programming. Our program started while working in schools and educating youth on domestic violence, hoping to prevent students from growing up to be battered or batterers. Through this, we found out that these cycles of violence were already happening to students as adolescents. From there, we wrote a curriculum speaking directly to teens about teen dating violence, In Touch With Teens, and we continue to implement and adapt this curriculum today. Throughout the pandemic, POV’s prevention team has been working virtually with youth, providing necessary resources, education and opportunities for connection.

We know that dating violence is more common than people think, especially among teens and young adults. Teen dating violence is a pattern of behavior where one person uses intimidation, threats of or actual physical, emotional or sexual violence in order to maintain power and control over their partner. 

One in three teens in the United States will experience physical, sexual, or emotional abuse from someone they’re in a relationship with before they become adults, and nearly half (43%) of college women report experiencing violent or abusive dating behaviors.

When we teach youth about teen dating violence, we talk about what healthy and unhealthy relationships involve. We use the 7 Cs to illustrate the tenets of healthy relationships: communication, compromise, consideration, compatibility, conduct, commitment, and consent.

Stay tuned for more TDVAM information and updates all month!

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research reports that: More than 20 percent of Black women are raped during their lifetimes — a higher share than among women overall. Black women were two and a half times more likely to be murdered by men than their white counterparts. And, more than 9 in 10 black female victims knew their killers. Black women also experience significantly higher rates of psychological abuse — including humiliation, insults, name-calling and coercive control — than do women over all.

We know black women need safe spaces to gather, process, and heal, which is why we started Still I Rise. Still I Rise is a free support group for female-identifying Black survivors of sexual assault and/or domestic violence. Inspired by sister circles, this is a 13 session group centering on the Black experience and focuses on fostering resilience while providing a safe space for trauma processing. Each 90 minute session is informed by Black voices and Black culture, utilizing articles and videos from Black academics and experts. The last 3 meetings of each session include curriculum for participants to create their own sister circles.

The pandemic has disproportionately affected women of color. Still I Rise has continued virtually throughout the pandemic and is currently running. For more information on this group and the next virtual session starting in April, please contact Sky at [email protected]. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn worldwide attention to the systemic issue of intimate partner violence. Survivors, especially survivors of color, are disproportionately financially impacted by the pandemic. We know that the biggest obstacle to survivor safety is financial insecurity; their number one need is for money to help support and sustain themselves and their families. Last year, Peace Over Violence established the POV Emergency Relief Fund (PERF). Through this fund as well as support from the City and County of Los Angeles, we were able to give more than $100,000 in direct aid to survivors to help pay for groceries, rent, household necessities, and bills. In 2021, monies raised through PERF will continue to directly support survivors to address their most urgent and pressing needs.

POV Reads

In his nomination papers, the Norwegian MP Petter Eide said the movement had forced countries outside the US to grapple with racism within their own societies.

“I find that one of the key challenges we have seen in America, but also in Europe and Asia, is the kind of increasing conflict based on inequality,” Eide said. “Black Lives Matter has become a very important worldwide movement to fight racial injustice.

 

A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing

The Body Keeps the Score is the inspiring story of how a group of therapists and scientists— together with their courageous and memorable patients—has struggled to integrate recent advances in brain science, attachment research, and body awareness into treatments that can free trauma survivors from the tyranny of the past. These new paths to recovery activate the brain’s natural neuroplasticity to rewire disturbed functioning and rebuild step by step the ability to “know what you know and feel what you feel.” They also offer experiences that directly counteract the helplessness and invisibility associated with trauma, enabling both adults and children to reclaim ownership of their bodies and their lives.
 

We have moved! 
POV’s Move to a Brave Space, by Patti Giggans, Executive Director/CEO & Cathy Friedman, Associate Director Emeritus and Special Projects Manager

The first question is: Who moves in the midst of a pandemic?  

The easy answer is: We do! 

The next question is: Why? That undertaking sounds absolutely crazy! 

To understand the “why,” we must acknowledge the growth of the past decade in our wonderful space at 1015 Wilshire Boulevard. In those 10 years, our client population expanded significantly, as did the size of our staff. We were forced into sharing desks and phones, and staff (including CEO Patti) had to vacate their offices periodically to make room for private counseling sessions. And then there was the issue of meetings and training sessions… double bookings in the same room could, unfortunately, happen upon occasion. We had completely outgrown our space and, on top of that, available parking downtown had all but disappeared. The lease was ending and we had to accommodate our staff and volunteers and the demands for more services from the community...

POV's People: Where Are They Now? 
Throughout this year, we will be highlighting individuals or groups that have impacted our work over the last 50 years. 

Former Counselor SART/DART Advocate: May Braido

May joined POV in 2017 and worked as part of the DART/SART team; she answered hotline calls and responded to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Upon completion of her volunteer commitment, she became an EMT and paramedic answering 911 calls and is now in the process of becoming an LA City Firefighter/Paramedic.

“I will be forever thankful for what POV did for me and trust me: it has been very impactful on my decision to follow this career now and where it all started. It has been a rough year for us in the ambulance, transporting so many critical COVID patients. But we are fighting this thing with full force to save as many people as we can. Hopefully in the next few days I will be joining the vaccination process with LAFD & CORE and let’s hope that helps us keep people away from the dangers of this disease. 

Please know that I continue to carry the teachings from POV with me. I have advocated for so many victims that are now also my patients. Like during calls that I was able to pick up the clues of DV and SA and be able to have a heart-to-heart talk with the patient in the back of the ambulance and see them opening up to me... that’s powerful. And I have worked with wonderful social workers at hospitals that definitely support the ability to advocate for people. Helping people in finding shelter, food, resources... I have used the teachings so many times. I hope to keep watering the little seed you planted in me and continue to make it grow out there, reaching as many people as I can and doing good for our community.”

POV In the News 

Fox 11 News Story: AOC reveals she is a sex assault survivor
Patti Giggans interviewed by Laura Diaz 

Upcoming Events 

• February 11 GOOD NEWS: Teen Dance Empowerment Class
• February 16 Group for Female-Identified Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse
• February 17 & 24 GOOD NEWS: Teen-Led Presentations Tuesday nights in February
• February 25 Discussion: Injustice and its Relation to Sexual and Domestic Violence / Injusticia y su relación con la violencia doméstica. To join, contact [email protected].
• February 26 Group for Male-Identified Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

Save the Date: Denim Day 2021 is Wednesday, April 28th!