The front of the house is beautiful: a large old home restored. It’s a grand house…perhaps more for what happens inside. Behind it’s doors are women and children who are in need of safety and shelter as well as a place to play, laugh and learn new skills . Also inside this grand house is a team of exception employees and volunteers working for Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV). So begins Adele’s week 4 community service project. I explained to Adele that we were going to visit women and children in a local shelter.  Our goal was to donate items to their pantry and meet with the residents.  As Adele and I set off to the grocery store, I explained that we want to donate healthy foods (fruits, veggies, etc).  It was her “job” to pick out the items we would donate.  She took her responsibility very seriously until we [...]

We are thrilled to announce that Groupon, the popular daily deal site, has chosen PADV as a G-Team Campaign from Tuesday, July 12th – Thursday, July 14th! Being featured on Groupon.com is a big deal! It’s a great opportunity to share our mission and raise awareness of intimate partner violence with a wide audience in Atlanta and Athens. Best of all, your gift of $10 (or more) will directly benefit our 2 safe houses. 100% of your donations will go to PADV as long as the “deal” gets “tipped”. That means, when at least 50 people contribute to the campaign, PADV is funded to help more survivors! We need YOU to make this a successful campaign! First, subscribe to Groupon (http://www.groupon.com/subscriptions/new) in Atlanta or Athens BEFORE July 12th. Then, check the daily Groupon email on July 12th to view our campaign. You can find it along the right-hand side of the [...]

[youtube= "I was spit on" and "she stalked me" are not statements one typically expects or wants to hear from teenagers discussing their dating life. However, this video demonstrates the dark reality of dating abuse amongst teenagers and its many forms beyond physical abuse. Teen dating violence can be physical, but it often includes threats, harassing text messaging, insults, isolation from family and friends, sexual abuse, name-calling, emotional abuse and controlling a partner’s behavior and appearance. Further, it can happen to anyone, at any age, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, level of education or economic background. This public service announcement (PSA) won the Let Your Heart Rule PSA contest hosted by Break the Cycle and Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine®. Thank you Lehman High School in Bronx, N.Y. and all the other entrants for taking action against teen dating violence through their imaginative, impactful videos! Check out the winning video above, especially if you [...]

A few weeks ago, I was having a discussion on the dynamics of abuse with a survivor.  Mid-conversation,she stopped me and asked,“Are you sure you’ve never been abused?”  “Well,no,I mean…” I stammered.  “No,it’s not whether or not I’ve been abused,but the fact that I’m a woman.  I think many women are able to deeply understand the injustices in abusive relationships because we’ve experienced smaller tastes of the same injustice on some level in our own relationships.”  What an “Aha!” moment that was for both of us and one that led to a fruitful discussion. You see,the thing about patriarchy (broadly defined as control by men of a disproportionately large share of power) is that it does play a role in many women’s lives and relationships.  For instance, many women are in relationships with men who, while they would deny such an accusation, are undoubtedly taking steps to control their partner.  [...]

Children are far too often the silent witnesses of domestic violence.In fact, 15.5 million children in the United States live in families in which partner violence occurred at least oncein the past year.* I spoke with Daaiyah H., PADV’s Gwinnett Safe House Children’s Advocate, to find out how domestic violence in the home impacts children. Children are often left out of discussions about intimate partner violence if they are not targets of abuse. Why is it harmful for children to witness domestic violence?  Witnessing domestic violence can mean seeing actual incidents of physical and/or sexual abuse. It can mean hearing threats or fighting noises from another room. It can also mean observing the aftermath of it all, such as blood, bruises, tears, torn clothing, and broken items. Witnessing intimate partner violence is the single best predictor of juvenile delinquency and adult criminality. It can also have potential emotional, behavioral and [...]

There are always “moving moments” at any PADV gathering. Survivors speak. We hear stories of hope recovered following tragic and dangerous beginnings. Sadly, most often, the menacing behavior has been at the hands of men – literally and figuratively. It is almost breathtaking when a survivor shares a story about a good man, or a few good men who played a role in their survival. At least it is for me. Such was the case recently when I attended PADV’s “When Domestic Violence Goes to Work” conference and heard a survivor’s story about how two male work colleagues met her at her car each morning to ensure her safe entry to work and escorted her back to her car each evening. They did this for years. They believed her. They feared for her. They helped to protect her. And, I suspect, unwittingly helped to restore her faith in “man”kind. I admit it; I [...]

I felt I was well informed on the issue of domestic violence in the workplace. I knew the statistics. I knew the facts. My eyes were opened, however, to the insidiousness of intimate partner violence as I watched Sketchworks’ performance of “If Only You Knew.” Here is a synopsis: The scene opens with Jane’s plea, “John, please. I said I was sorry. Just come to bed. Jane’s husband is furiously ransacking the bedroom in search of something he has lost. “You do things just to piss me off, don’t you?” he asks. John is mad tonight because his steak wasn’t prepared the way he likes. The alarm clock reads 11:00 p.m. Jane needs to get up early in the morning for work. John finds what he is looking for – his gun. He threateningly waves it in the air, accusing his wife of being “too busy with [her] ‘work’ to [...]

April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month and is in full-swing! We will be using the blog to highlight some of our most committed volunteers. This month, and every month, we want to say THANK YOU to everyone who supports PADV with gifts of time and energy! Marquez Gaskin has been working with PADV since November of 2010. He came on board as an intern for our volunteer program but supports many departments in his work with us. Marquez is passionate about two things: social advocacy and fashion. When interviewed for the position, he was asked what he felt the correlation is between fashion and serving survivors of intimate partner violence. Without skipping a beat, Marquez said, “Fashion is all about empowerment and PADV’s mission is to empower survivors. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you’ve been through, you deserve to feel good!” Marquez brings passion to all that [...]

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/21601688] “The moment people are afraid to call police, society is less safe.” As a community committed to ending intimate partner violence, many reading this blog feel a sense of urgency surrounding the fact that there are still many who are being forced to live their lives in the shadows.  What is even more difficult for many of us to accept is the fact that some are currently being pushed further into the shadows, and away from the light that hope provides, by current immigration laws and the fear that such laws are create in immigrant communities. In the attached video, titled “Broken Trust,” advocates from the New Mexico-based domestic violence agency Enlace make the compelling argument that as the enforcement of federal immigration laws is increasingly placed in the hands of local law officers, fewer immigrant survivors of domestic violence are coming forward to report the violence and [...]

Earlier this week, we asked the question on PADV’s Facebook page, “What does empowerment mean to you?”  After many of our loyal fans shared their insights, I noticed a thread of reoccurring themes: freedom, opportunities and choices. This got me thinking about the insidious link between poverty and intimate partner violence. Unequivocally, poverty reduces options for domestic violence survivors.  That’s why it’s paramount to ensure that battered women find and/or retain employment.  Financial independence leads to self-sufficiency that coincides with opportunities, choices and ultimately freedom from an abusive relationship. Because economic empowerment is a means to ending both poverty and domestic violence, PADV recruited Second Chance Employment Services President and Founder, Ludy Green, PhD, to present at the 10th annual “When Domestic Violence Goes to Work” conference. Green’s nonprofit organization provides meaningful employment for survivors of intimate partner violence. Battered women face a number of employment barriers such as increased tardiness [...]