Actions and Activism on Violence Against Women
By Ria Rao, Cognitive Science Major, CSW|Streisand Center Student Worker
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is a global campaign that runs annually from November 25th to December 10th (International Human Rights Day) and aims to raise awareness and call for an end to gender-based violence. As we at CSW|Streisand Center reflect on the violence that have claimed the lives of women and gender non-conforming people, we reiterate our dedication to fighting the hatred behind tragedies like this one by centering actions on violence against women. In honor of the 16 Days of Activism we are highlighting several organizations on UCLA campus and in the Los Angeles area working to create safer and more informed communities.
UCLA Organizations
FEM News Magazine is UCLA’s feminist newsmagazine. Since 1973, FEM has served UCLA with quarterly publications, frequent articles, multimedia content and campus events centering the empowerment of all people, the recognition of gender diversity, the dismantling of systems of oppression, and the application of intersectional feminist ideology for the liberation of all peoples. Several articles from FEM News Magazine platform issues on violence against women on local, national, and global scales and provide subsequent actions to combat these issues.
- Genocidal Violence: The Japanese Military Comfort System and Our Futile Imagination: This article touches on the Japanese military comfort system, which is the “largest case of government-sponsored human trafficking and sexual slavery in modern history”. It pulls from sources like the Racial Violence Hub workshop series, titled “Feminist Approaches to Theorizing Genocidal Violence, Wars, and Occupations,” which explores complex questions about violence and power. It is a virtual research and teaching network created by UCLA gender studies scholar Sherene Razack and Women’s Studies chair Penney Kanner and includes six sessions where feminist scholars share and discuss their research on these issues.
- Addressing Domestic Violence in the Classroom: As the title suggests, this article addresses domestic violence in classrooms and the issues posed by students, parents, and teachers alike in navigating this. It comes to the consensus that schools should build more concrete and open relationships with trained professionals such as psychologists and social workers to better educate students on domestic violence and give them accessible resources to address these issues.
- Gendered Violence and Coping Resources in LA: This piece highlights and covers many resources aimed at fostering a healing-focused environment in college campuses and surrounding communities. These resources include but are not limited to UCLA CAPS, Counseling and Psychological Services, provides six free visits for UCSHIP, UCLA Santa Monica Health’s Rape Treatment Center at the Santa Monica, and student organization Resilience in the Study Experience (RISE) which provides mental health leadership training and journaling workshops for survivors of sexual assault.
Survivors + Allies is a student organization that advocates for and with survivors of sexual violence across the University of California campuses by elevating student concerns to improved resources, services, and communications for survivors. They also push for improved UC-wide policies and funding for survivors of sexual assault, and pursue their mission statement through a three-pronged strategy framed around research with survivors, educational resources to bring awareness to the broader LA community, and activism aimed at changing UC policies and funding. Some recent briefs produced in collaboration with Survivors + Allies members are Graduate Student Experiences & Perceptions of the Title IX Office at the UC, Comparing confidential and non-confidential resources for UC survivors of sexual violence & sexual harassment, UC Student Awareness of Resources for Survivors on Campus.
Their most recent report, the report “From Surviving to Healing: Results and Demands from a Study with Survivors of Sexual Violence on University of California Campuses” was born out of a collective frustration at the UC system’s reticence to make basic changes that would better support student survivors.
Their study findings demonstrate what many survivors already know: resources at the UCs for survivors of sexual violence are inadequate, underfunded, and focused on punishing perpetrators while neglecting to provide adequate healing options for survivors. Marginalized students, including international students, students of color, and LGBTQIA+ students, are left behind. Mental health resources are undermined in favor of investigative processes.
UCLA Campus Assault Resources and Education (CARE):
UCLA’s CARE or Campus Assault Resources and Education program provides confidential support, advocacy, and healing services for survivors of sexual violence, dating/domestic violence, and stalking. You can connect with a CARE advocate by filling out a self-referral form UCLA CARE Program.
The UCLA Title IX Civil Rights Office offers support and guidance to those who have experienced sexual violence, harassment, discrimination, or stalking. CARE is committed to the eradication of sexual and gender-based violence through creating and sustaining a safe, healthy, and equitable community for all people. As an advocacy office for seuxal and gender-based violence and misconduct, CARE provides confidential resources for reporting for both UCLA students and faculty.
UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS):
UCLA’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers 24/7 confidential support, including counseling, through its office at 330 De Neve Dr. Their services include individual therapy, group therapy, and psychiatry services among other services. UCLA CAPS just launched their new COmpassionate REsponse (CORE) team that will provide mental health resources to students in crisis on campus including behavioral health wellness checks,crisis support, and intervention services to registered UCLA students.
Violence Prevention Research | Wagman Lab
As part of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s aim to build health and equity and drive positive change for all people, the Wagman Lab focuses on violence as a critical public health concern, both independently and as it intersects with mental health, substance use, and sexual and reproductive health. The lab focuses on interpersonal violence (such as intimate partner violence and sexual violence), sexual health, and reproductive health.
CSW|Streisand Center
The UCLA Center for the Study of Women|Streisand Center works towards a world in which education and scholarship are tools for social justice feminism, improving the lives of people of all genders. Aside from platforming feminist research, our space also offers co-sponsorship for events and bookings for meetings! Feel free to check out books from trans and feminist authors from our mini library at Pub Aff 1500! Stay updated with future events such as Just Research research stream and our annual Thinking Gender Conference by joining our mailing list here.
Los Angeles Organizations
Peace over Violence is a domestic violence prevention center in Los Angeles whose offerings and services are framed around the mission statement:”building healthy relationships, families, and communities free from sexual, domestic, and interpersonal violence.” Under the five pillars Emergency, Intervention, Prevention, Education, and Advocacy, Peace over Violence provides emergency response resources, legal services, counseling, self-defense workshops, and professional training.
East Los Angeles Women’s Center
The East Los Angeles Women’s Center serves as a voice for survivors of sexual and domestic violence with a specific emphasis on Latino communities. From being the first in the country to have a bilingual hotline for Spanish-speaking survivors of sexual assault to now providing hospital-based emergency services and housing assistance programs for victims of domestic and sexual violence, this center remains a valuable resource for survivors in East Los Angeles.
Downtown Women’s Center – Violence Against Women
The Downtown Women’s Center addresses violence against women through the lens of the housing crisis in America, citing that “domestic violence is one of the main drivers into homelessness for the over 18,330 homeless women in Los Angeles County.” To combat this, the center directs its attention to a transitional housing framed around Trauma-Informed-Care. This includes women-only shelter beds, critical overnight housing to unaccompanied women, and a Trauma Recovery Center in coordination with Peace over Violence that offers different forms of therapy and medical assessments for survivors of domestic violence.
Ria Rao is a junior at UCLA studying Cognitive Science and Statistics & Data Science. She has been involved with UCLA student media organizations UCLA Radio and FEM News Magazine, and now serves the CSW|Streisand Center as a Student Worker.Report
