Mayor’s Office Spotlights Efforts Against Domestic Violence

As the year ends, the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) highlights its work to address the unique and challenging needs of serving survivors of domestic and gender-based violence which occurs in every part of the city.

Among people of all races, cultures, religions, and income levels. ENDGBV partnered with a variety of stakeholders including several city agencies, its program providers, the New York City advocacy community, and local elected officials to execute multiple programs and awareness campaigns including: the launch of the NYC Street Harassment Prevention Advisory Board (SHPAB) “Street Harassment Prevention Survey,” the operationalization of New York City Executive Order 85: Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Workplace Policy, and helping survivors access safe, permanent housing through the city’s Emergency Housing Voucher Program.

“Our office works to disrupt the impacts of domestic and gender-based violence on the lives of survivors by providing the support and resources they need to heal and thrive,” said New York City Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Commissioner Cecile Noel. “We take a public health approach to gendered violence, focusing on prevention education and awareness raising efforts while consistently increasing the supports available to survivors through a suite of survivor-centered, trauma-informed and culturally specific programming. We are grateful to our community-based partners, the New York City advocacy community and other city agencies, without whom we could not do this work, and proud of all we have achieved together in 2023 to support survivors throughout the city.”

Street Harassment Prevention Survey

In September, the Street Harassment Prevention Advisory Board (SHPAB), co-chaired by ENDGBV and the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice’s Commission on Gender Equity (CGE), launched the NYC “Street Harassment Prevention Survey” to learn about the nature, prevalence, and impact of street harassment on New Yorkers. This survey will help the Advisory Board better understand how and where New Yorkers experience street harassment, identify people and communities most impacted, and understand what kind of prevention, education, and training resources that city agencies, community members, and individuals can utilize to address this form of harm. SHPAB also created a Street Harassment Prevention Resource Guide to help New Yorkers  prevent and respond to street harassment, as well as find resources available to support someone who has been harassed. The survey and its companion resource guide were shared through stakeholder campaign mailers and social media, and through a day of outreach within the five boroughs on September 27.

Executive Order 85: Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Workplace Policy Program

2023 marked one year of ENDGBV implementing the New York City Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Workplace Policy pursuant to Executive Order 85 of 2021. Pursuant to the policy, each city agency must provide employees with a liaison who can provide confidential support and direct connection to ENDGBV and the city’s resources for survivors. Throughout the year, ENDGBV supported city agencies to standardize survivor-centered and trauma-informed responses for employees impacted by domestic and gender-based violence in the workplace or in their personal lives.

Emergency Housing Voucher Program for Survivors

Domestic and gender-based violence are leading causes of homelessness in our city and across the nation. Survivors who leave their abusive partners often do so with nowhere to go and limited or no means of securing new housing, putting them at greatly increased risk of homelessness. ENDGBV engaged other city agencies and over thirty community-based partners from September 2021 through December 2023 to provide survivors an option to obtain and maintain safe, affordable housing without entering the shelter system through the city’s Emergency Housing Voucher Program (EHV.) As of January 3, 1,156 survivors of domestic and gender-based violence and their families have moved into safe, permanent housing using their EHV, and an additional 120 survivors are in the lease-up process where they are negotiating their leases and move-in dates with landlords.

Awareness Campaigns

The Adams administration’s commitment to advancing the city’s response to domestic and gender-based violence is supported with multiple, innovative strategies and initiatives including annual awareness campaigns. ENDGBV’s 2023 campaign efforts included:

• 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence: ENDGBV and CGE announced New York City’s annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign which runs from November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to December 10, International Human Rights Day, to encourage New Yorkers to learn more about the impacts of gender-based violence, and to help spread awareness about the resources available to survivors. New Yorkers were also encouraged to show their support for survivors by wearing orange on ‘NYC Go Orange Day,’ November 27, when the Adams administration honored this international campaign by lighting City Hall and several municipal buildings in orange. ENDGBV partnered with LinkNYC to feature in-kind advertisements on its network of over 2,000 kiosks from local survivor-serving providers in neighborhoods across New York City to promote survivor resources at the hyperlocal, neighborhood level.
• Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM): ENDGBV announced October’s annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) campaign to alert New Yorkers about the resources and services available to survivors throughout New York City. During DVAM, events were held around the city to raise awareness about domestic violence, uplift survivors, and share critical information about resources. On October 19, “NYC Go Purple Day,” local landmarks across the city were lit purple, and New Yorkers were encouraged to wear purple to show support for survivors. Throughout the campaign the public was encouraged to host and/or attend DVAM events, workshops, trainings or gatherings as well as to share daily affirmations of healing and support for survivors on social media.
• Sexual Violence Awareness Month (SVAM): ENDGBV commemorated Sexual Violence Awareness Month (SVAM) throughout April in partnership with the Denim Day NYC Committee (DDNYC. An important part of SVAM is “Denim Day” which takes place annually on the last Wednesday of April when people across the world wear denim to raise awareness of sexual violence, stand up for survivors, and speak out against societal myths and attitudes that normalize and perpetuate sexual violence. ENDGBV and DDNYC’s coalition of survivors, advocates, service providers, City Council members, and city agencies marched over the Brooklyn Bridge on April 26 to Manhattan’s Foley Square to rally against sexual violence, and to promote this year’s Denim Day theme of ‘take space and make space’ which advocated for the importance of living, moving, and celebrating oneself in spaces without the fear of sexual violence.

The Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence

The Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) develops policies and programs, provides training and prevention education, conducts research and evaluations, performs community outreach, and operates the New York City Family Justice Centers. We collaborate with City agencies and community stakeholders to ensure access to inclusive services for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence (GBV). GBV can include intimate partner and family violence, elder abuse, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking. Read more about the term.

The NYC Family Justice Centers are co‐located multidisciplinary service centers providing vital social services, civil legal, and criminal justice assistance for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence and their children—all under one roof. For more information, visit nyc.gov/ENDGBV

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