The Mayor's Office

Monthly Bulletin

January 2019

STAY CONNECTED:

Message from Commissioner

Cecile Noel

New Year, Renewed Mission

As we head into 2019 with renewed purpose and vigor, and an ambitious expanded mission of strengthening New York City’s strategic response to domestic and gender-based violence, I am buoyed by the new and continuing conversations, efforts, and partnerships that ENDGBV has made and had with you, our partners, to move the needle forward on our work in New York City together.

This January, during National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and National Stalking Awareness Month, we are collaborating with partners to raise awareness, and support survivors. From working with faith leaders and salons citywide, to creating tool kits for service providers and other targeted communities, to resource fairs-those of us who do this work understand the power of coalitions. It is through our collaborative efforts that we can come together to bring hope to those we serve. At the heart of what we do are the victims and survivors who depend on the support we provide. They have stories to tell, and challenges to overcome, and it is through the work of tireless activists, survivors, and advocates who do this important work throughout the year that survivors are believed, and get connected to the support they need to walk their respective healing paths. At the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, we are proud to support survivors and our partners in the community as we uphold our commitment to this work each and every day. We look forward to supporting, walking and working with our partners to keep New York City at the forefront of best practices in addressing gender-based violence, which includes intimate partner and family violence, sexual assault and harassment, and trafficking, and potentially saving lives. I charge each of you to continue to serve as conduits to meaningful partnerships that will change and save lives. Know that you will always have a partner in us. Having you in the fight with us is what matters the most. There is no greater support we can give to survivors.

What's New

Human Trafficking Prevention Month

ENDGBV defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to get another person to provide labor or commercial sex.

Did you know?

Globally, sex and labor trafficking are estimated to be a $150 billion industry with approximately 40.3 million victims (International Labor Organization)

An estimated 403,000 people are living in trafficking situations in the United States (Global Slavery Index 2018)

New York continues to be both a gateway and a destination for trafficking, underscoring the need for both prevention and intervention at the local level

On January 11, ENDGBV and NYC FJC staff were standing with victims, survivors, and allies for #WearBlueDay, a national day of awareness for human trafficking. We also participated in a citywide resource fair offering information and resources for trafficking services.

In partnership with the NYC Center for Faith and Community Partnerships and Traffick-Free NYC, we hosted a weekend of action with faith leaders from across the city to discuss ways that local clergy can provide counsel and safety to those in need, help raise awareness amongst their community members, and alert survivors to services and resources available to survivors in NYC.

Last week, we also partnered with the Administration for Children’s Services to announce Trafficking Prevention Tool Kits, which will be made available to service providers working with young people. ENDGBV will be conducting trainings for ACS staff as part of our Coordinated Approach to Preventing Stalking (CAPS) program, and we look forward to hosting a roundtable with our sister agencies about trafficking screenings in healthcare settings at the end of the month.

Throughout January and the rest of the year, ENDGBV looks forward to publishing and sharing additional resources and information on our website and social media, including our toolkits and other outreach materials. You can also learn more about trafficking by the numbers at Human Trafficking Search, and through the Polaris Project’s 2017 Statistics from the National Human Trafficking Hotline and BeFree Textline.

STALKING AWARENESS MONTH

This year we mark the 15th National Stalking Awareness Month. ENDGBV defines stalking as Stalking is a pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would place that person in reasonable fear. It is a crime of power and control and can result in physical violence, psychological trauma and can be a predictor of severe violent crime, and even death. See ENDGBV’s brochure: What is Stalking?

Because of the intersectional nature of stalking, our expanding partnerships, including trainings about the NYC Coordinated Approach to Preventing Stalking (CAPS) model for family court lawyers, seek to educate about the dynamics of intimate partner stalking in order to help service providers better identify stalking.

Learn more and get resources for raising awareness at the Stalking, Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC)

Queens FJC Launches Young Readers Book Club

Joined by actress Kathryn Erbe (known for her role as Detective Alexandra Eames on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and death row inmate Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series Oz) and performer Tsidii Le Loka (best known for originating the role of Rafiki in the Broadway production of Disney's stage musical, The Lion King), QFJC and Sanctuary for Families recently launched the “Grab-and-Read Book Club” for young readers at QFJC this month, thanks to generous contributions from Hachette Book Group Inc.

The young readers book club introduces trauma-informed reads that illustrate experiences similar to the ones of our young clients, making their reading experience interactive, familiar, and safe, while engaging them in therapeutic art activities inspired by the books.

Partner Event Highlight: Our partners at RespectAbility are hosting an “Inclusion Advocacy Training Series”. Learn more at Respectability.org

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Upcoming Trainings

Every month, ENDGBV’s NYC Family Justice Centers (FJCs) host Core trainings and workshops for service providers. We also occasionally provide advanced trainings.

This month’s trainings include Intimate Partner Violence 101, Cultural Conversations Tools for Supportive Practice, Human Trafficking in the Context of IPV, Economic Empowerment, Online Petitions for Orders of Protection, and special trainings such as Human Rights Law Training and Overdose Prevention Training.

Check the full schedule of Upcoming FJC Trainings on our website: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/ocdv/programs/upcoming-trainings.page

All NYC FJCs are wheelchair accessible, including entrances and restrooms. If you require any other accommodations, such as ASL interpretation, please contact persons at the respective location upon registering at least 5 business days before event date(s) to ensure that an interpreter will be available.

In The News

Women Fleeing Borders: How Hard Is It?

Read full story on Forbes

For 2019, States Launch New Laws on Gun Ownership, Sexual Harassment, and More

Read the full story on U.S. News

Countries face tighter scrutiny on trafficking under U.S. law

Read full story on Reuters

Legal Aid filing class action suit over city's 'devastating' policy for domestic violence survivors

Read the full story on Politico

New domestic violence act to go into effect 2019

Read the full story on SheMazing

Toomey, Casey team to introduce cyber-stalking bill

Read the full story in the Times Leader

Report Says A Quarter Of Milwaukee's Sex-Trafficked Young People Were Missing From Home Care

Read the full story on WPR

Campaign aims to raise awareness of child sex trafficking

Read the full story in the Chicago Sun Times

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Disclaimer: We believe in the principles of open dialogue and considering varying perspectives. Viewpoints or opinions expressed in the content of this communication or in articles linked do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, or the City of New York.

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