- Ava Montgomery
OVW and NBWJI Building Compassion and Capacity to End Gender Based Violence
Domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and sexual assault (DV/IPV/SA) are among the most overrepresented but under discussed crises facing Black women in the U.S. Today, Black women make up only 8 percent of the population but account for 22 percent of homicides that result from DV/IPV, making it one of the leading causes of death for our sisters ages 15 to 35.
Together, the Office of Violence Against Women and NBWJI are building the capacity of Technical Assistance (TA) Providers who serve African American/African Diaspora communities to reduce domestic/intimate partner violence and sexual assault in those communities.
In May, we launched a website for providers and advocates who are working to prevent and reduce Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence/Sexual Assault in African American and African Diaspora communities. Among the first of its kind, the website includes a repository of national experts and speakers who work in communities of the African American/African Diaspora.
It also features organizational spotlights, webinars, events, and the latest news on advocacy work in the domestic violence and intimate partner violence arenas.
We host annual technical assistance trainings. In November 2016, the NBWJI convened national providers from across the country for a training to share lessons and best practices in preventing and reducing DV/IPV/SA. NBWJI staff members trained participants on topics ranging from leadership development to responding to commercial sexual exploitation.
The group reconvened this November to engage in trainings that supported their capacity to sustain culturally responsive efforts to reduce gender-based violence in Black communities. Workshops addressed reconciliation and healing, as well as transformative scenario planning on authentic leadership to address IPV, DV, and SA in African American communities.
NBWJI also hosts technical assistance webinars throughout the year. Our most recent webinar focused on “Identifying the Importance of Intersectional Framing When Providing Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Services”
When it comes to the African Diaspora population, we know that there are many ways in which a person can have many intersecting interests. Those intersections may indicate a need for services that address complex identity intersections. Intersectional theory relies on a framework that acknowledges multiple identities and how they correlate into a holistic sense of self.
This webinar featured Ms. Dereca Blackmon, Dean, Stanford University and Ms. Tonya Lovelace-Davis, Executive Director, Women of Color Network, Inc. for a discussion on understanding Intersectional Framing to better serve DV/SA survivors.
This webinar helped TA providers develop services that address the whole person and how they can heal from sexual assault.
As part of the OVW partnership, our webinars are intended for TA Providers and professionals in their networks that serve African American communities and communities that are part of the African Diaspora in the United States.
If you are a provider working to prevent and reduce Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence/Sexual Assault in Black communities, and would like more information on these and future webinars, please email Ava Montgomery at amontgomery@nbwji.com.