VAWnet News Blog

Join a national network of service providers, advocates, grassroots organizations, and leaders from coast to coast for the first national conference addressing the housing needs of domestic violence/sexual assault survivors, communities of color, and marginalized populations!

"It causes invisible scars with potential lifetime impact,” said Arlene Vassell, Vice President of Programs, Prevention & Social Change for NRCDV. “We are thrilled to join NO MORE in bringing visibility to this survivor experience, one that is so common, yet so often discounted. We want to validate this experience and bring it out of the shadows.”

As temperatures plunge across most of the country, exposure to extreme weather and vulnerability to illness and lack of food stability increase. It is therefore particularly important to focus in on how we can assist survivors to connect and maintain essential utility services through the cold winter months – and throughout the year.

Violence against women and girls is among the most widespread, and devastating human rights violations in the world, but much of it is often unreported due to impunity, shame and gender inequality, the UN highlighted ahead of Monday’s International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women to stamp out abuse of women and girls.

"Every hashtag is a person who sat down in front of their computer, contemplating, should I say it? What would happen? What would people say? What if nobody likes my comment? Every bit of the Me Too movement was built on the backs of survivors."

“One of our goals was not only to honor the victims of this horrendous violence but to make this violence visible. It was so clear to us at that time that people weren’t seeing what was happening all around us.”