Shelter

Resources

The hardships imposed by COVID-19 are numerous, impacting advocates as individuals and their ability to provide advocacy, resources and shelter to domestic violence survivors. Stay-At-Home orders, social distancing and the other necessary steps intended to offer protection from COVID-19, often escalate the danger to victims of domestic violence and create barriers to safety.

Privacy, confidentiality and privileged communications are the keystones to safety for survivors of battering or domestic violence. Protecting privacy and confidentiality of victims of domestic violence is directly related to a survivor’s ability to trust, ask for advocacy, support and help. The law provides certain protections to conversations referred to as “privileged communications” between two individuals. All of these protections are important to understand as well as any legal limitations that local laws may impose.

There is a clear and established link between animal cruelty and human violence. This webinar will focus on implications for pets in the context of domestic violence. This is important since studies have shown that 48% of domestic violence victims delay leaving or remain in abusive situations because of their pets.  Yet fewer than 10% of domestic violence shelters house pets and almost half of all victim/survivors do not want to be separated from their pets.

In the beginning, the movement to end violence against women started as a grass-roots effort of women helping women. Soon shelters were started to create a safe, temporary space for women and their children who were fleeing the violence. With the advent of shelters came the institutional process of housing women in rule-driven environments. The subject of rules in shelter is a topic that comes up again and again. This timely and important webinar asks the question, “What would happen if there were no rules?