With Pride Week festivities in Boston in full swing, we wanted to take the opportunity to recognize the unique challenges faced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Queer (LGBTQ) survivors of domestic violence. Research about LGBTQ partner abuse shows that domestic violence occurs at similar rates as it does in the general population. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey released in January by the…
The following piece was written by a member of our Survivor Speakers Bureau. Here, in her own words, is what she wants you to know about domestic violence. OK, Here goes…Are you ready? Let’s talk about something super important that not enough people realize…Domestic violence is NOT discriminatory. It’s shocking, I know – but it is true. I mean, have you ever heard someone say: …I…
Have you ever wondered what it’s like for a domestic violence survivor arriving at a shelter? The following is a reflection from one of our shelter advocates, describing the experience of bringing a new person into the shelter for the first time. It starts with the ‘pick-up’ as we call it, a time when advocates and the person agree to meet at a safe, public place…
Some things are just plain hard to talk about. They’re hard to think about, let alone discuss in ‘polite’ company. But sometimes those are the things that need to be brought out into the open, because they thrive in silence, in isolation, in stigma. That’s what the Hope Project is about. REACH created the Hope Project in 2002 to look at the intersection of domestic violence…
Recent stories in the local and national news have raised serious questions about schools and their responses to reports of violence between students. Those stories, as well as the ones that never make the news, illustrate the need to be aware of schools’ policies before an incident takes place. Since April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we thought we’d take this opportunity to remind you that…
In just one 24-hour period, 1,752 victims of domestic violence received services from domestic violence programs in Massachusetts. The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) just released the results of their annual National Census of Domestic Violence Services, which they conducted in September. NNEDV made the results available in the report: “Domestic Violence Counts: A 24-hour Census of Domestic Violence Shelters and Services.” The sheer…
When we list the services that REACH provides to domestic violence survivors, we almost always include the words “safety planning.” But what exactly does that mean? Have you ever stopped to think about it? When you do, you start to understand the complexity of the challenges that domestic violence survivors face. When one of our Advocates meets with a domestic violence survivor, safety is always a…
So often domestic violence gets talked about in the context of the adults involved that we don’t always stop to think about how it’s affecting the kids. Children who live in homes where there is domestic violence are almost always aware of what is going on, and are often abused themselves. This can have a devastating effect on their lives. Many of the children we see…
