NNEDV's 18th Annual Domestic Violence Counts Congressional Briefing - Full Briefing
For the eighteenth consecutive year, on September 6, 2023, the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) conducted our Domestic Violence Counts Survey: a one-day, unduplicated count of adults and children seeking domestic violence services in the United States. This annual survey documents the number of people who sought services in a single 24-hour period, as well as the types of services requested, the number of service requests that went unmet due to a lack of resources, and the issues and barriers domestic violence programs face in providing services to victims.
Each year, our Domestic Violence Counts Report summarizes this data and is instrumental in raising awareness about domestic violence and the incredible work local domestic violence programs do every day, providing lifesaving services to survivors and their families. Year after year, state, territorial, and local advocates, national experts, journalists and reporters, and policymakers rely on the report to understand the realities faced by advocates and survivors.
We're so grateful to the panelists who spoke at our bipartisan Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill to release the results of the report:
💙 Savanna (SOAR, https://www.soarinri.org/) for sharing your story of surviving domestic violence and the services at local programs that helped you get there. Each and every day, nearly 2,000 programs across the country help tens of thousands of survivors like Savanna, but many are forced to turn away additional survivors because they simply don't have the funding and resources they desperately need.
💙 Krittika Ghosh (Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project, https://www.dvrp.org/) for emphasizing the importance of centering marginalized groups in our work, including survivors of color, immigrant survivors, LGBTQ+ survivors, survivors whose first language is not English, and others who experience barriers in seeking safety.
💙 Hema Sarang-Sieminski (Jane Doe Inc., https://www.janedoe.org/) for explaining the work of the 50+ local domestic violence programs in Massachusetts—made possible through sustained federal funding like the Victims of Crime Act (#VOCA), which is currently facing catastrophic cuts.
And to our honorary Congressional co-hosts, Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), and Ann Wagner (R-MO). We are thankful to work with you to ensure domestic violence programs have the resources they need so they never again have to turn away a single victim in need.
Read the full report ➡️ http://www.nnedv.org/dvcounts
#DVCounts
(Videographer: LaDawn Manuel, https://ladawnmanuel.net/)