With the constant stream of tragedies stemming from domestic violence people often ask, “What could have been done to prevent this from happening?” The reality is that a staggering 5.78 million Californians experience domestic violence every year. Domestic violence homicides in public places put entire communities at risk of harm. And yet, we know much can be done to prevent these deaths which devastate families and communities.
We’ve heard the individual stories, tagged #MeToo and #TimesUp on social media. But what about the collective cost of sexual assault?
Research we published last month shows that the annual cost of sexual violence in California is $140 billion.
California immigration advocates are concerned about two recent actions by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that could make it harder for foreigners fleeing violent situations to get asylum.
Los Angeles County – the birthplace of heavy-handed police tactics like S.W.A.T. teams, helicopter patrols and gang injunctions – is embarking on an effort that could make the nation’s most populous county a model for using a lighter touch with juvenile offenders.
In Los Angeles, and across much of California, affordable housing is scarce and can result in domestic violence victims staying in abusive relationships simply because there is nowhere else for them to live. No one should have to choose between homelessness and staying in a violent home.
Social workers at the Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse program, NEWS, in Napa are no strangers to helping people during times of extreme crisis and trauma. But the recent wildfires in the area added an extra layer of challenges to help their clients through.
The life Dewey Welker, 27, describes so matter-of-factly might seem like a caricature of deprivation, violence and defeat, a horrific anomaly. A pair of studies shows that in semi-rural communities like his, that kind of horror is common.
Residents of San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood have long complained of their youth being targeted by police. In response, community advocates and law enforcement came together to create a restorative justice program. The program has generated both praise and criticism.
An Assembly Committee whose mission it is to determine how young men of color can be better supported and diverted from the juvenile or adult criminal justice system is about to make a very large budget request come January.
“If you have someone that is willing to harm a spouse, a partner or their own children, to assume that they would isolate that violence only to their family is really naïve.”