Panel: Homelessness and Sexual Violence
Channel: San Francisco Public Library
Date: 2021-04-02

In recognition that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Human Rights Commission's Office of SHARP (Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention) in partnership with the Department on the Status of Women hosts a panel of sexual assault survivors and advocates on the experiences, survival stories and needs of homeless and housing insecure survivors. Dulce Garcia, SHARP's Policy Director, moderates a conversation on the prevalence of sexual violence when unhoused as well as the challenges and barriers in accessing services when housing insecure in San Francisco. The panel explores ideas on how San Francisco can better serve the homeless population through prevention and advocacy.

 Adriana Kin (She/Her) Originally from Mexico but has found a home in sunny California, is a trans woman whose art often depicts Latines activism. Kin is a CA State certified Rape Crisis Counselor and has been doing outreach for SFWAR since 2011 brining information about resources to the transgender comunity and unhoused women. In her free time she creates beautiful work both digitally and on paper and feels like art brings her peace and tranquility.Her work is inspired by her philosophical mind and blooming imagination.

Alicia Maldonado (She/Her) is the Director of Community Initiatives at San Francisco Women Against Rape (SFWAR).

SFWAR is a women-of-color led, volunteer-based organization that has provided rape crisis services to survivors of sexual assault for over 47 years. We are the only community-based rape crisis center in San Francisco and are committed to addressing sexual violence and the root causes that sustain it through a survivor-centered, and anti-oppressive framework.

Maldonado has been with SFWAR for 9 years in the prevention education and outreach program working with youth, adults and staffs of all backgrounds throughout San Francisco, providing training and prevention education around sexual violence, anti-oppression, bystander intervention and healthy relationships. Her work is centered on serving survivors and allies in communities who live at the intersection of multiple forms of oppression, providing education, tools for healing and response, building leadership and community organizing. She strongly believes in the power of survivor leadership in the movement to end sexual violence.

Maldonado is a queer Chicana originally from San Diego and has made a home in the Bay for 15 years. She finds joy and healing in a love for cooking, exploring the outdoors, gardening, and birding.

Kristen Moore is the Director of Programs at San Francisco SafeHouse, an organization whose mission is to empower and support womxn who are experiencing housing instability and sexual exploitation or trafficking, by creating survivor-centered spaces, services, advocacy and community education.  Moore has nearly 15 years of experience working in community mental health and women's programming, with a particular focus on sexual trauma recovery and harm reduction. Over her career, she has consistently advocated for a survivor-centered approach to services and strives to elevate the voices and experiences of the women most impacted by systemic oppression, the prison-industrial complex, interpersonal violence and sexual assault. She holds a Master's in Counseling Psychology from The Wright Institute and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who also maintains a psychotherapy practice. In her off time, you can usually find her out in nature or curled up at home with a good book and a great cat.

Dr. Sarah Metz graduated from Pepperdine University in 2009. Dr. Metz has extensive experience working with survivors of trauma, substance use disorders, combat Veterans, victims of violent crime, justice involved adults and complex PTSD. Prior to coming to UCSF in 2015, Dr. Metz worked for the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System at the National Center for PTSD and the Homeless Veterans Rehabilitation Program, a nationally recognized residential treatment program for homeless Veterans. Dr. Metz specializes in a variety of evidence-based practices and is a certified therapist in Cognitive Processing Therapy and Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation. Dr. Metz has been with the Trauma Recovery Center since 2015 and is now the Director of the Division of Trauma Recovery Services, Clinical Faculty at UCSF, and the Chief Psychologist for Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.