POV has accomplished so much in the last five decades. In celebration of our fifty years, we are taking a look back through the decades at our years of growth and innovation. 

In 1971, the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (LACAAW) was established by pioneering feminist activists after a woman was raped on Sunset Blvd. A group of six women, friends of the survivor, organize an anti-rape squad and a hotline. The response is enormous and overwhelming. Due to an increasing number of women disclosing on the hotline that they have been raped by their husbands and involved in battering situations, the hotline becomes more and more involved with the issues of battering. This is the first dual sexual assault and domestic violence hotline in the country. Throughout the 1970s as the hotline continued to grow, LACAAW also held its first self defense classes, and received more funding, including its first government grant. 

We are constantly expanding and adapting to meet the ever changing needs of the communities we serve and to participate in the necessary solutions. As much as there has been progress, there is still so much left to do… and we are not done. The question for all of us as a society is:
 

where do we go from here?

Where does POV go after 50 years? We can’t go anywhere without you. Your support will set the agenda for the next decades to come: an agenda of healing, violence prevention, social transformation, family resiliency, community building --- and more peace over violence.

GIVE TODAY and SUPPORT OUR TOMORROW

Celebrate with special edition 50th anniversary items!