WHat People are saying
Sharon Turner
Movement Leader
“We can no longer address domestic violence in the same binary way we have for the last 20-30 years. It simply does not represent the multiple dimensions and realities of families. It is by taking the step to speak with those who cause harm that we move closer towards transformative justice for all our communities. If not us, who will take this on?”
Kristen Fiester
Program Director, Mountain Crisis Services
“I believe that the only way we can stop the cycle of violence is by assisting the whole family when it is safe to do so. By assisting only the survivor, we are missing a key person- the one that has done the harm; the one that needs education and support. In many cases, the person that has done harm has been harmed themselves. Our organization tries to do this through our Batterer's Intervention program.
I feel like supporting the whole family can work if the community is on board. The key point here is if the family wants the help and is willing to change then it could happen and there is hope.”
May Rico
Executive Director, Haven Women's Center of Stanislaus
“We work with survivors to heal the effects of abuse. We work with systems to change the societal attitudes that cause abuse to happen to begin with. But for people who choose to use violence? As a society, we throw them away or ignore what they did. We don’t know how to respond other than with one of those two extremes. Healing is not found in extremes. We have to find another way. We have to find a way that centers the experience of the survivor in safety and empowerment while providing a path for the person who abused that includes accountability and redemption should they choose to walk it.”
Tina Rodriguez
Program Manager, Community Action Partnership of Madera County
“Everyone in the movement to end domestic violence agrees on the common goal of prevention. What we disagree on is how to stop this vicious cycle. The generations before me broke the silence and established resources for survivors to escape. The criminal justice system adopted laws and court mandated services to hold batterers accountable. My generation is demanding equity by calling out the injustices inflicted upon survivors of color, immigrants, and incarcerated women.
We are at a place in the movement that is requiring us to expand our vision of accountability and rather than excluding harm doers from the healing process, we are open to alternatives to justice that includes people that commit harm in the healing process. We are going beyond this platform of survivors versus batterers with punishment. This means that rather than shifting power from batterers to a system for justice, we are placing power in solutions by engaging both sides.
Survivors are at a place today where they want a voice in deciding what is best for them. Survivors are becoming more empowered in voicing how they want to seek justice and we have respect their autonomy.”
