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Although the Community Outreach is not a part of the direct
services to battered women and their children that our
shelter provides, it is one of the most important parts of
our efforts to end domestic violence. Our mission is not only
to step in to help women and children after they have been
abused; it is to work toward preventing the abuse in the
first place. It is not enough to simply help woman after woman
put the pieces of her life back together after violence
has shattered her family; My Sister's Place is committed to
effecting a change in society so that women and children
need not suffer the devastating effects of abuse.
My Sister's Place is strongly committed to addressing the
roots of domestic violence and breaking through the persistent
silence about violence against women in order to work toward
the prevention of future violence. Community Outreach
is essential to that effort. Through Community Outreach, we
reach out to women who might not otherwise have the
opportunity to become educated about domestic violence. Sometimes
we might reach a woman or man who has never
given it much thought before, sometimes it might be a friend
or family member of someone who is experiencing domestic
violence, and sometimes it is a woman who is experiencing
it herself but has not yet realized it for what it is. These
efforts are invaluable in helping survivors come forward, helping
caring people to know how to reach out to a loved one in trouble,
and helping people otherwise uninvolved in the issue understand
it. We also occasionally reach potential batterers who
have not been able to recognize their behavior as abusive
they may just think they have a problem with their temper
or have momentary lapses in their usual behavior. This recognition
is the all important first step toward change.
In our efforts to effect society-wide change in attitudes
about domestic violence, My Sister's Place's Community
Outreach Program places great emphasis on training and community
education. Training workshops are extensive and
cover a wide area of information about domestic violence.
Our goal is to be sure that professionals, community groups,
religious organizations, and any other people who have contact
and are concerned with battered women have better
information about and an understanding of domestic violence
so that they can respond in as helpful and constructive
a manner as possible to victims. Training topics include:
 A historical perspective on domestic violence
It is emphasized that domestic violence is not a phenomenon
unique to our time and place but has a long historical and cultural
precedence which has fostered society-wide attitudes which tend
to perpetuate it today.
Information
on linkages between sexism, racism, religious oppression, etc.
The use of power and control are not idiosyncratic to abusers;
they are society-wide behaviors that abusers take advantage
of in the home. In order to eradicate domestic violence, we
as a society must change our reliance upon the use of power
and control in interactions and replace them with respect and
dignity for the autonomy of all human beings.
Types of abuse, ie. physical, emotional, sexual
Much time is spent explaining various forms of abuse and their
effects on abused partners. It is important to be able to recognize
the specific behaviors that are abusive in order to recognize
and deal appropriately with a victim of domestic violence.
Why she stays
As one of the questions most frequently asked about domestic
violence survivors, this topic needs to be addressed in full.
It is emphasize that this question itself tends toward victim-blaming
which disempowers battered women and displaces responsibility
for battering on the victims rather than on batterers.
Personal biases and judgments that inhibit changes in attitudes
It is emphasized that everyone, due to socialization, has biases
and judgments. Training focuses on creating awareness of such
reflexive biases in order to rethink them.
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