Professor of English and Director of Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies
Elizabeth Gregory, Taylor Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies and Professor of English, directs the WGSS Program and the UH Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality. She writes on Marianne Moore’s poetry and women’s work and fertility. Read more about her here.
UH Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality
Report to the Community
February 2023
Houston Area Domestic Violence Providers Study
+ Initial Local DV Data Aggregation
This report shares the results of UH-IRWGS’s study of regional Domestic Violence [DV] Service Providers, based on interviews and group discussions with leaders of 12 local DV shelters and nonresidential agencies. It recommends significant community investment in expanded DV infrastructure coordination and staffing, to move from the current model of limited response to overwhelming demand to a model that allows the community to not only address DV cases more effectively but to analyze and address causes as well.
In addition, the report contains an initial aggregation of regional DV data – including data from some shelters, law enforcement, and nonresidential service providers (see Supplement). Future reports will provide more detail and include data from more sources.<p/p>
Houston has a major problem with Domestic Violence assaults and homicides: Calls for Shelter and Calls for Service from the police are high, and IPV homicides doubled between 2019 and 2022, rising from 32 to 64 across the two largest police departments in Harris County (HPD and HCSO).
Newly Aggregated DV Data
Additional Findings
Professor of English and Director of Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies
Elizabeth Gregory, Taylor Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies and Professor of English, directs the WGSS Program and the UH Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality. She writes on Marianne Moore’s poetry and women’s work and fertility. Read more about her here.
Desiré Martinez, LCSW-S is a Lead Trauma Support Partner for HCDVCC.
1 in 3 teens will experience some form of physical, sexual, verbal, or emotional abuse by a dating partner and approximately 8.5 million women experienced sexual assault before the age of 18. Teen dating violence, a form of intimate partner violence, is the most prevalent form of youth violence – affecting youth regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.
Just a couple months ago I was invited out to Austin, Texas to conduct a training for a group of young college-aged women. I began my presentation with the same eye-opening activity I always use – “Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Now, raise your hand if you either have experienced or know someone who has experienced some form of intimate partner violence. Now open your eyes and look around.” There was not a single hand in the room that was not raised…
After concluding my presentation with the young women, a few came up to me to express how they wished they had the opportunity to learn about healthy relationships before they had started dating. So, here is where you come in – preventing teen dating violence requires a broad coalition of parents, schools, and community organizations to join forces to start having conversations about healthy relationships at an early age.
Here are a few steps you can take to help prevent teen dating violence:
Effective prevention and action has been seen to significantly decrease cases of intimate partner violence in teens. If you are interested in learning more about healthy relationships or wanting to set up a healthy relationships training, please email tishya@dayahouston.org.
Let’s do our part to decrease the number of hands that go up when asked “raise your hand if you either have experienced or know someone who has experienced some form of intimate partner violence.”
Tishya Bedi is the Director of Outreach and Education at Daya Houston.
Honoring Crime Victims Rights’ Week
The 1970’s were a volatile time in America. The Vietnam War was still raging with constant protests and the Equal Rights Amendment was struggling to get ratified (and is still not ratified to date). In the meantime, victims of crime had very few if any rights. In 1972, the first three victim assistance programs were created in St. Louis, San Francisco and Washington, DC to begin to address the unique needs of crime victims. In 1976, Harris County District Attorney Carol S. Vance was serving as President of the National District Attorneys Association when he heard about a program in California to help victims through the difficult experience of the criminal justice process. He decided that Harris County needed a similar program, so he tasked Suzanne McDaniel to establish the first such program in Texas. In 1977 the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Victim Witness Division was created to provide information, assistance, and support for victims of crime in Harris County.
Harris County was ahead of the times because it was not until 1982, that President Ronald Reagan created the President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime. The report from the Task Forces had sixty-eight recommendations in five different areas including proposed Executive and Legislative action at both the Federal and State levels, proposed Federal action, proposed action for criminal justice system agencies, proposed actions for organizations and a proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution. As a result, the United States Congress passed the Federal Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982. This act changed the status of a crime victim from a person who merely identifies the perpetrator and testifies in court to the role of an active participant in the criminal justice process. Victims were allowed to provide victim impact statements to the court describing their experiences and costs of being a crime victim and guaranteeing the right to claim restitution. Two years later the US Congress enacted the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) that created a matching grant program to encourage states to create victim compensation funds and local programs to assist crime victims. Even though the Victim Witness Division had been established in 1977, it was not until the 69th Texas Legislature in 1985 passed HB 235 adding Chapter 56 to the Code of Criminal Procedure, Rights of Crime Victims. And in 1989 Texans voted to add the Victims Bill of Rights to the Texas Constitution (Article 1, Section 30). Over the years the Division has grown and changed its name to the Victim Services Division. In 2017, the Division applied for and received a grant to go from six Victim Assistance Coordinators to twenty-one! Their expansion continued and they now have twenty-five Victim Assistance Coordinators who reach out to over 20,000 victims of crime each year! How the Victim Services Division helps crime victims in Harris County: Basic ServicesWritten by:
Amy Smith, Senior Director of Communications and Operations for HCDVCC
and
Colleen Jordan, Assistant Director for the HCDA Victim Services Division
Each April we take time to pause and reflect on Sexual Assault and Child Abuse. Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month include many events that are meant to raise awareness about Sexual Assault and to talk about preventing Child Abuse. Teal and blue ribbons are worn, tied to trees and fences to remind people that we need to address both serious issues. While we in the field are aware of the significance of this month, many in the community are not. Most people think of sexual assault as it only happens to other people, or it can’t ever happen to me because I do not do anything that can “cause” it to happen to me.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) defines sexual assault as any type of unwanted sexual contact. This includes words and actions of a sexual nature against a person’s will and without their consent. For example, if someone forces you to kiss them or touches you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable or fearful, this is sexual assault. It’s important to note that it doesn’t have to be physical—any kind of verbal pressure for sex or even just suggesting sex without consent is also considered sexual assault. Also worth mentioning is never pressure children to hug an adult, to keep any type of secrets, and make sure they understand the difference between good touches and places they should not be touched.
Survivors need access to emotional and practical support to heal from their trauma. Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) and local organizations provide 24/7 hotline services with trained professionals who can discuss options with survivors and offer advice on how they can move forward after an experience with sexual violence. Our local agencies also offer support groups where survivors can talk with one another in a safe space. These spaces provide a sense of community and understanding that can be healing for those affected by this crime.
In addition to supporting survivors, it’s important for everyone to educate themselves about the signs of potential abuse so that they can intervene when necessary. Education around healthy relationships is key in preventing future instances of sexual violence from occurring. Teaching young people about consent and mutual respect early on will help set them up for success later in life. Especially, if they find themselves in a potentially dangerous situation that could escalate into something more serious.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month serve as an important reminder that we all need to do our part in combating this pervasive problem by supporting victims, educating ourselves on prevention measures, and working towards creating a culture where everyone feels safe and always respected. Be sure to check out the NSVRC and RAINN’s websites if you or someone you know needs help dealing with matters related to sexual assault or abuse. For more information on Child Abuse you can visit Child Help National Child Abuse hotline. Together we can create positive change!
As we are in full March mode, I am reflecting on the herstory of women in the domestic violence field. I was asked to write something for Women’s History Month, and all that comes to mind is an overwhelming sense of gratitude and the inability to find the words to truly express this. There have been so many women who have guided and mentored me, worked with me and beside me, offered training and education to me, and accepted and loved me. To name them all would take many, many pages. I have much love, admiration, and respect for them all, and they are my HERSTORY. With the opening of the first domestic violence shelter in 1970 by Erin Pizzey (author of Scream Quietly or the Neighbors will Hear, 1974), a movement started and took shape with shelters opening across the county including right here in our community. It is this movement that gave me my first true career and life passion. I have much to be thankful for – and much to be saddened by in that this same work also gave me greater awareness of the incredible suffering and loss that persists for so many women. I know that that this movement took root far sooner than 1970 with women helping women, giving them support, offering a temporary sofa or room in their house to get away for a period of time, offering money to help, and an ear to just listen. This is what women do – support one another and problem solve – and… do all the activities of managing their own families and lives. Let us not forget the power we each have in developing relationships with one another, for this is where change occurs – in positive, respectful relationships with one another. The movement is now professional – and – the work can still be personal. Thank you to all those who have sacrificed and suffered to ensure that women can become safer. Thank you to all those that have been a part of this never-ending work. Women are AMAZING! We are bold, brilliant, beautiful, benevolent, brave, and frankly – BAD ASS!! I admire each and every woman who has come before us to build a better world, and I thank each and every woman who has been courageous enough to share their lives with those of us in the domestic violence movement – we are all in this together and we are better for it. I celebrate you all.
Executive Director of HCDVCC,
Barbie Brashear
