| Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s
Network How We’ve become
stronger in the past year |
March 27, 2008 |
- The local media continues to frequently seek the Network’s expertise and outspoken
voice on the issues surrounding violence against women. Throughout the past year, various staff and board
members have participated in a host of newspaper, television, and radio talk show interviews.
o Executive Director, Dawn Dalton, was a part of a panel discussion on domestic violence
on radio station WVON’s Wealth and Real Estate program on March 30, 2008. In honor of Women’s
History Month the producer of the Wealth and Real Estate program wanted put a focus on domestic violence for one hour of the
two-hour program and invited Ms. Dalton as an expert contributor.
o Executive Director, Dawn Dalton, was interviewed for Channel 2 news coverage on
a domestic violence story on March 24, 2008. She is quoted as saying “There has to be a change in
the social norm, and that involves everyone as naming this violence as wrong.” This interview can
be viewed at http://cbs2chicago.com/local/woman.burned.boyfriend.2.685748.html
o
Executive Director, Dawn Dalton, and
Board Member, Jennifer Greene were quoted in a front page story of the Chicago Tribune in an article on the challenges facing
victims of domestic violence that can lead to death. The article can be accessed at www.chicagotribune.com; article entitled The Law Didn’t Save Her from March 16, 2008. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-domestic-violence_bd16mar16,0,6195124.story
o
Executive Director, Dawn Dalton, and
Board Member, Rhonda Washington, were interviewed for a Violence Against Women forum held by the City Colleges of Chicago.
This forum is to being aired over the course of three weeks in March 2008 as the program Hope, Help, Healing: Ending Domestic
Violence. Streaming video and air times can be accessed at www.wycc.tv. http://townhall.wycc.org/
o
Policy Advocate, Angelica Jimenez,
was interviewed on NPR’s program Worldview. As a result of this interview, a meeting has been scheduled
with Senator Barack Obama’s Chicago office and Richard Durbin’s staff to supply more information about the problems
discussed with U-Visas and Violence Against Women Act. Webcast of the show can be found at www.wbez.org, under the Worldview program (episode date 3/5/2008). http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV.aspx?episode=19131, http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=20233
o
On Sunday, March 2, 2008, Helpline
Director, Gwyn Roland, was on WGN Radio’s program Pet Central with a staff person from the Anti-Cruelty Society
to discuss the cross-section of domestic violence and animal abuse.
o
Centralized Training Institute Director,
Ana Romero, was interviewed for Hoy, a Spanish newspaper, in regards to the Economic Empowerment Conference the Network held
in February 2008.
o Helpline Supervisor, Rosario Esquivel, will be interviewed on
the WOJO Spanish radio station to raise awareness on the Help Line.
§
On January 15, 2008, the Network and
the Chicago-Kent College of Law hosted a Cook County State’s Attorney’s Candidates Forum specifically addressing
issues surrounding violence against women. Our Policy Advocate and Executive Director planned and facilitated
the forum which was attended by all of the candidates running for the office. The public was invited to
attend the forum and submit questions to be asked in
order to try and gain an understanding of how the candidates saw themselves directing this office as it relates to domestic
violence, sexual assault and sex trafficking.
§
The Network co-hosted Advocacy
Night at the Color Purple with the Allstate Foundation, part of the Allstate Insurance Corporation. 200
guests were invited to a VIP reception before a Friday evening performance of the award-winning musical. Half
of the individuals invited were local public officials, State Senators and Representatives, Judges, and other notable governmental
figures. The other one hundred invitees were selected representatives from each Network member organization
in the domestic violence services community, which provided excellent networking and information sharing time among the two
groups during the reception.
§
In collaboration with the Illinois
Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Illinois Coalition for the Homeless, the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault
and the Office of the Attorney General, and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, the Network co-hosted a domestic
violence awareness month breakfast at the capital building in Springfield attended by Illinois legislators. State
Senators were given the opportunity to speak one-on-one with survivors and to hear first-hand what direct support survivors
of domestic and sexual abuse need.
§
The Network continues
to staff and operate the City of Chicago Domestic Violence Helpline which answered 21,103 calls for help and assistance from domestic violence survivors,
abusers, concerned friends and family members in FY’07. In FY’08, the Help
Line expanded to serve the entire state of Illinois and has been a resource to survivors throughout the state including the
24 counties that do not have a domestic violence office.
§ The Centralized Training Institute held (2) 40-hour trainings that
were ‘Spanish only.’ These Spanish language trainings were the only ones of their kind offered
in the state of Illinois. The trainings were supported by a CTI-designed-and-edited Spanish language training
manual, which is the only of its kind in the Midwestern region of the United States.
§
The Network has
created and installed the Domestic Violence Court Policy and Advocacy Project which entails (3) new initiatives directed
toward improving criminal justice system response to survivors of domestic violence in the Domestic Violence Court.
The initiatives are:
1.) Formation of a committee to develop recommendations for perpetrator gun confiscation in cases where
orders of protection are pending or have been issued and a campaign advocating for the adoption of such recommendations to
court officials, personnel, and law enforcement in Cook County. (Committee members include the State’s
Attorneys Office, numerous DV advocates, Judges, DV Court Clerks, Social Services, Probation Office Representatives, The Sheriff’s
and Chicago Police Departments);
2.) Implementation of specialized domestic violence training for
various DV court personnel; and
3.) Development of a standard curriculum and on-going trainings
for domestic violence court advocates.
