In 2000, the Voices of Women Organizing Project (VOW), the lead initiative of the Battered Women’s Resource Center, was founded so that survivors of domestic violence can help shape the policies, actions and regulations that impact abused women and children. The success of our first initiative, the Battered Mother’s Justice Campaign, encouraged us to develop organizing campaigns focused on reforming housing and child welfare programs in New York City.
Our campaigns affect thousands of women annually. We are committed to ensuring that the systems in place to aid survivors of domestic violence and their children are effective and responsive. Through diverse collaborations, we educate the public about issues facing survivors of domestic violence and their children. We wish to be recognized as the leading community organization dedicated to bettering the lives of survivors of domestic violence and their children.
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website: https://vownow.org
Domestic violence (also named domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse in a domestic setting, such as in marriage or cohabitation. Domestic violence is often used as a synonym for intimate partner violence, which is committed by one of the people in an intimate relationship against the other person, and can take place in heterosexual or same-sex relationships, or between former spouses or partners. In its broadest sense, domestic violence also involves violence against children, teenagers, parents, or the elderly. It takes multiple forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive, and sexual abuse, which can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and to violent physical abuse such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing that results in disfigurement or death. Domestic murders include stoning, bride burning, honor killing, and dowry death (which sometimes involve non-cohabitating family members).
