Throwback Thursday: Stop Street Harassment Rally 2013

In April 2013, RAPP students joined Councilmember Julissa Ferreras and a large number of community activists, elected officials, and organizations for the annual Rally Against Street Harassment in honor of International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Organized by Hollaback!, an organization that was created to end street harassment, the rally drew more than 200 participants who raised awareness on what street harassment is, who it affects and how to fight it. It was a great afternoon and we are proud to stand up for this important cause!

 See more photos on our Facebook page.

Throwback Thursday: RAPP Field Day

RAPP Peer Leaders from our Manhattan high schools got together for a picnic and field day. They got to know students from different schools, participated in team building activities, and celebrated the end of the school year. Visit saveteenrapp.org for more information about the groundbreaking Relationship Abuse Prevention Program, and find more photos of this event on our Facebook page.

 

Introducing Our #RunForCADVNY Marathon Team

We're so proud to have five strong, dedicated women fundraising for us and representing us during the TCS NYC marathon in November. Meet there here!

You can follow our fundraising and training efforts at our Twitter Hashtag #RunForCADVNY! We'll be posting pictures and status updates of our journey to collectively raise $15,000 and complete 131 miles.

4 months to go!

Throwback Thursday: Save RAPP Rally 2010

Supporters of the Center's Relationship Abuse Prevention Program, which partners with NYC high schools to provide counseling, education, and outreach on abusive relationships, rallied outside City Hall to protest the possibility of RAPP being cut from the NYC budget.

See more photos on our Facebook page.

Amazon Smile: You Shop, Amazon Gives

We're thrilled to announce the newest way to support CADV: shopping with Amazon Smile!


With Amazon Smile, Amazon donates 0.5% of eligible purchases to CADV. The shopping experience, prices, and products are exactly the same - you just have a new excuse to shop on Amazon :)


To get started, click here and sign into your Amazon account or create an account. Search for "Center Against Domestic Violence" in the box on the right and select us as your charity.


Every time you shop, you are contributing to ending violence.


Please spread the word! Thank you so much for your unwavering support.

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

College Sexual Assault Rally

On Monday, May 12, the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault joined NYC Public Advocate Hon. Letitia James for a press conference, which addressed the mishandling of sexual assault cases at 55 colleges and universities nationwide. Citizens and officials, including CADV CEO Judith Kahan, supported James as she called for a few important changes:

- The NYPD must establish a department liaison to higher education campuses within NYC to improve response to sexual assault.

- All colleges and universities must report the number and nature of sexual assaults on their campus each month.

- All colleges and universities must work with a local rape crisis center to ensure that victims have access to care and resources.

Mary Haviland, Executive director of the Alliance Against Sexual Assault, stated before the rally:

"I am heartened to see more attention and resources go to this issue. I applaud the Public Advocate for taking this issue seriously and calling for concrete improvements in assistance for students who suffer sexual violence."

See more photos of the sexual assault rally, as well as of other events, on our Facebook page.

Public Advocate Letitia James

Rally supporters holding signs

CADV CEO Judith Kahan

Mary Haviland, Executive Director of NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault