Statement from CEO Judy Kahan on the Ray Rice Domestic Violence Situation

It’s been impossible to avoid the Ray Rice domestic violence story.  My deepest sympathy goes out to Janay Rice and all people affected by domestic abuse.

One out of four women will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime, making it an issue we desperately need to talk about and work to end. I am grateful for the awareness such a story brings to the issue of domestic violence.

It is the Center Against Domestic Violence’s mission to end domestic violence in our communities. In the midst  of the spotlight the Ray Rice case shines on domestic violence, I want to highlight and remind you of one of the Center’s core beliefs: abuse is a learned behavior and, with education, all people can lead lives filled with healthy, meaningful relationships. This is why we field so many prevention and education programs.

Our Relationship Abuse Prevention Program (RAPP) reaches 27,000 intermediate and high school students on 15 NYC public school campuses. Through workshops, individual and group counseling, and peer leadership training, RAPP works to stop teen dating violence now and prevent domestic violence in the future. The Center pilots Relationships Are Elementary, a healthy relationship education program for elementary school children. Focusing our efforts on younger children creates a better opportunity to break the cycle of violence. The earlier we reach students, from both violent and non violent homes, the better chance we have for laying the ground work for healthy relationships.

Let us concentrate on what we can do to prevent and stop domestic violence in the future. Everyone deserves a safe, violence-free life.  

From CEO Judy Kahan, on violence against women and the Santa Barbara killings

All our sympathy goes out to the families and loved ones of the victims killed senselessly in Santa Barbara this past weekend.

I have been searching my heart to find words to make sense of these killings. In his own words, Elliott Rogers – the killer - describes how seeing men, minority men especially, with white women made him mad. His hate speech was so frequent and virulent that he was known to groups that track hate speech, like the Southern Poverty Law Center. Rogers’ mother reported him as a risk to himself and society four weeks before the killings. UC Santa Barbara has such a history of crimes against women that young women rarely walk around campus alone.

There are issues of misogyny, mental illness, weapons ownership, a culture of violence, #YesAllWomen, male privilege - all mixed up in one hate filled life – the life of a man who saw the deaths of others as just retribution for being unpopular.

To make this crime an issue of the killer’s mental health does not help unless we are willing to tackle the difficult issue of mental health care in America. To hinge our actions on gun control may feel good, but half of the killer’s victims were killed with a knife, and although more than half our citizens favor stronger gun control, our elected officials don’t enact effective gun control legislation.  Taking on the culture’s views about women and violence? That is a large part of the Center Against Domestic Violence’s charge.

The Center Against Domestic Violence was founded on the principle that a woman – a person – should feel as safe in her home as she felt on the street. Our founders worked for legislation that made domestic violence and marital rape crimes in New York State and New York City. In recent times, we raised our institutional voice to support the Violence Against Women Act’s reinstatement, including its hate crime provisions.  

The Center believes that everyone has the right to a life free of violence; that domestic violence victims can transform their lives and become survivors; that violence is a learned behavior, and with education, all people can lead lives filled with healthy, meaningful relationships; and, finally, that the key to ending violence is to begin prevention programs at a young age. Our programs are based on these key beliefs and work together to accomplish our mission, ending domestic violence in our communities.

These programs, especially the school-based Relationship Abuse Prevention Program and Relationships Are Elementary, teach about healthy relationships by teaching about the worth and complexity of human beings. In an elementary school stopping fourth grade bullying, a high school organizing teens to end teen dating abuse, or a shelter giving a battered woman the tools to head her family, the Center affirms each human’s right to a life free of violence.

-Judith Kahan

CEO, Center Against Domestic Violence

International Women's Day - Stop the Violence

Today marks International Women’s Day, the 102nd anniversary of this special day when the world over honors the political, economic and social achievements of women and renew its commitment to improving the lives of all women.

There is much to celebrate.  A century ago it was almost unheard of for a woman to own a business or become a professional.  A woman’s place was in the home or in the sweatshop.  Women in the United States had no vote.  Their property belonged to their husbands.  Now we are closer to gender equality than ever.  And, after a long struggle, we celebrate the President signing the Violence Against Women Act into law yesterday.

This year the United Nations has chosen “A Promise is a Promise:  A Time for Action to End Violence Against Women” as the theme for International Women’s Day.  Judith Kahan, CEO of the Center Against Domestic Violence said, “This is a day of great significance across the globe.  The work of the Center Against Domestic Violence began a deep commitment to improving the quality of women’s lives.  We join our allies around the world to celebrate women and rededicate our efforts to ending violence.” 

Violence against women is a global crisis that threatens women globally, regardless of country, economic status, ethnicity or age.  Here in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control found that one in five US women have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. The CDC estimates that domestic violence costs the US over $8.3 billion a year in medical care, mental health services, and lost productivity.  Last year, here in New York City, Police responded to 263,207 domestic violence incidents and City’s Domestic Violence Hotline advocates answered 108,131 calls; that’s more than 1,000 cries for help every day.

For more than 35 years, the Center Against Domestic Violence has been working toward a society free from violence by transforming the lives of victims and raising awareness in our communities.  CADV opened the first publicly-funded shelter in New York State and now operates three full-service shelters for victims and their children, offering childcare, job assistance, housing placement, counseling and other crucial services. Our groundbreaking education programs teach more than 27,000 young people each year how to prevent domestic violence and have healthy relationships. We also provide ongoing support for shelter residents, victim advocacy, and community outreach as part of our efforts to eliminate domestic violence.

Violence against women needs to end worldwide. The Center Against Domestic Violence is proud to be a local leader working to end violence against women.