Thread by @EthnicMediaSvc

🕚AT 11am PST we will be hosting a discussion on the many forms that #DomesticViolence can take and recent policies that seek to address this ongoing challenge. Watch the livestream 👉ethnicmediaservices.org/media-briefing… @jennalane @nnedv @NSVRC

Welcome to today's briefing, Domestic Abuse Takes Many Forms. We'll be live tweeting today and of course you can watch the livestream here: ethnicmediaservices.org/media-briefing…

1 of every 2 people in California, including children, have been exposed to #domesticviolence, notes EMS director Sandy Close citing data from @BlueShieldFound

Learn more about how #domesticviolence impacts people across California letsenddv.org/home

Welcome to our first speaker, @jennalane, Communications Officer with @BlueShieldFound

I am not an expert, but I am part of the 57% of Californians closely affected by #domesticviolence, says Lane. More than half of us on today's call are affected by this issue.

October is #DomesticViolence awareness month. Lane says domestic violence is "truly everywhere... but we can solve the problem."

A snapshot of the Let's End DV website: letsenddv.org/home

research shows DV is a cycle and to break it requires healing and prevention. It is important to help people in crisis, but if we don't help victims and their families to heal domestic violence will keep happening.

Data also show that 70% of #domesticviolence perpetrators are also past victims of DV.

This way of thinking about DV, that we can end it through healing and prevention, is reflected in recommendations to the White House group now working on a national action plan to end gender based violence, expected before the end of this year, says Lane.

There tends to be a lack of data about #domesticviolence, notes Lane in response to questions about where California stands. "It is underreported," she says.

A question about communities that don't recognize DV as a problem. How to help victims who are often stigmatized? "You are so right... our approach is to build solutions from the communities themselves," says Lane.

A question on female genital mutilation and whether it is considered a form of #domesticviolence. From a cultural standpoint, we would support a community response, explains Lane.

A question on which groups show higher rates of DV. Lane says a lack of data makes it tough to answer this, though in some communities it is not defined as DV, and so a community may decide that a way to address it is to talk about healthy relationships, for example.

Our next speaker is Pallavi Dhawan, Director of Domestic Violence Policy, Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.

Dhawan's office was instrumental in passing a new coercive control law. "Coercive control is #domesticviolence," she says. CA's criminal code's definition of DV is very limited, she adds.

Learn more about #coercivecontrol here ethnicmediaservices.org/domestic-viole…

The person with less power in a relationship is more vulnerable to abuse, and typically that means women, and especially women of color and immigrant women, notes Dhawan.

Women of color and immigrant women are also more vulnerable to #coercivecontrol. There is also a reluctance to seek help among victims due to barriers, including cultural barriers, systemic racism, and fears of negative immigration consequences.

Abusers often exploit these barriers, says Dhawan. The underreporting Lane mentioned also speak to these barriers, she adds. But we know between 60-80% of DV survivors have experienced #coercivecontrol.

The reality is that DV is not limited to physical abuse. It can, as the name of this briefing suggests, take many, many forms, from emotions to financial, legal, etc.

Dhaman drafted legislation recently adopted by CA that expands the definition of DV to include coercive control, which include isolation, depravation of resources and monitoring a person's movement & behavior. These "reduce victims to a shadow" of their former selves.

More reporting on coercive control: ethnicmediaservices.org/domestic-viole…

Está disponible en español también: ethnicmediaservices.org/spanish-transl…

A question from @AraceliMartinez of @LaOpinionLA about resources available to victims, especially those who fear immigration consequences. "I felt very desperate," says Martinez, who shares her own experience with DV shortly after coming to the US.

Dhawan says the coercive control statute includes reference to victims who are being abused based on their immigration status. "Victims can get a restraining order" for protection from that behavior. But "the law can only do so much."

We have to supplement the law with resources that help elevate them and whatever they need... whether financial help, housing help, safety planning. This has a lot to do with naming the harm and lifting the stigma, says Dhawan.

How do state laws compare when it comes to DV? Every state has a different definition, says Dhawan. California has a penal code that controls criminal cases, and a family and civil court, and DV is not uniformly defined across these, even in the same state.

Every state has a different definition in their codes, Dhawan replies.

A question on challenges victims face securing restraining orders and are perpetrators required to seek counseling. Dhawan says in #California, upon conviction for DV perpetrators must complete 52 weeks of counseling.

We are not doing enough in prevention, she adds, noting more needs to be done before convictions happen.

As to restraining orders, victims need to renew orders, and states are often left to handle the issue as their is no national efforts to systematize responses.

Our next speaker is Erica Olsen, Director of the Safety Net program with @nnedv. The National Network to End Domestic Violence represents nearly 2000 organizations nationwide.

Olsen will speak on the role of technology in DV. "Many abusers misuse tech as a tactic to further abuse and harm," she says. "It is incredibly common." It includes harassment by repeating texts and calls, monitoring devices...

Hijacking accounts and disseminating compromising images... there are constantly new tactics, says Olsen. Tech can also be a very powerful tool for survivors. "Every survivor has the right to use tech in a safe and meaningful way."

Tech can improve access to services and decrease isolation, says Olsens. In Jan 2021 Olsen's org released a report that surveyed over 1000 advocates and legal pros. The most common type of abuse in the report were harassment, limiting access to tech and surveillance.

There were increases in all of these during the #Covid pandemic.

Learn more about the role of technology in #DomesticViolence nnedv.org/content/techno…

Olsen also points to this @pewresearch study from 2021 on online harassment. pewresearch.org/internet/2021/…

Again, women of color and immigrant women are more prone to experience this form of harassment, says Olsen. "It is so important that we recognize the range of impacts" of this type of DV, she notes.

The White House has launched a task force to address online abuse and harassment. whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…

The reaffirmation of the Violence Against Women Act also included definitions of online abuse, says Olsen. whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…

Important resource for more information on tech safety: techsafety.org

Our final speaker is Deborah Tucker, President of the Board of Directors, @NSVRC and a key player in passage of the Violence Against Women Act.

"I've been around for a long time," says Tucker. From local to state, national and international. "I am prepared to go intergalactic... I'm up for it."

Many people get the message the using violence works. "How do we change that?"

When Tucker helped draft the Violence Against Women Act, @JoeBiden was still just a senator. Since that point we have created a framework and every few years we come back to work with Congress to improve the Act's structure.

Some day we have to tip it so we are spending less time responding and more time stopping it from ever happening. "I am such an optimist that I know we will get there."

Tucker says a study in Texas of those in prison for serious violent crimes, and 80% grew up in families where #DomesticViolence existed.

When I deal with congresspeople in Texas, I remind them of this fact, says Tucker. "If we want to stop the worst violence... we have to stop domestic and sexual violence. It's all interconnected."

National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) is a 24/7 resource for emergency assistance, connecting thousands to local support and safety.

Some day we will look with pride and say this whole package of national legislation has the framework that welcomes all communities to work toward ending domestic and sexual violence.

We are always learning and we welcome your inquiries. "Reporters who stump us are a great service because it helps us realize the next thing we need to work on," says Tucker.

Why does the Violence Against Women Act need to be continually reauthorized? It's very common, says Tucker. "I was very annoyed at first... why can't we say forever and all time." Yet while this is common in DC, partisan delays have created new challenges.

"We are in a time of relative dysfunction where Congress does not understand their job is not to be 2 parties fighting... but to be working for the betterment of people across the US. Get it together Congress!"

As a final question, our moderation @sunita37 wants to know what drew our speaking to this field. DV intersected with so much of the social service work I was doing, says Olsen.

I didn't pursue a career in DV, says Dhawan, but I fell into it. She notes she saw DV in her home growing up, though she did not know at the time to name it that. As an attorney, Dhawan witnessed much violence, and turned to policy work to find solutions.

I see tremendous work, and that hope inspires me to do this work, she adds.

@jennalane says her interest in health equity keep her tied to this work. "It is unfair that so many of my neighbors do not have the same ability to find help," she notes.

Tucker says she was stalked as a student at the U of Austin. "None of us had experience with this... I began going to the Austin PD to ask, what they would do to keep us safe." As soon as police turned away, the assault occurred.

I feel very lucky because I have met many strong people who grew up with DV and have made a huge contribution, says Tucker.

Thanks to all our speakers and to the media who joined our call. Visit ethnicmediaservices.org for coverage of this and previous events.

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