Our new Director of Client Services, Lana Bushman, has always found satisfaction in helping people grow, heal and flourish, especially women and children who can’t advocate for themselves.
Being a survivor herself, she said, makes it easier for her to comprehend all that they are going through when dealing with domestic violence (DV) or sexual assault (SA).
IMMEDIATE GOALS
“My goal for the next three months,” said Lana, “is setting up a strong program of support groups for DV and SA survivors.”
In the next six months to a year, she plans awareness campaigns to educate community members, including teens, about DV, also called intimate partner violence (IPV), and to encourage people to promote social change.
WHAT IS DV
DV is a complex concept, she said. It isn’t a matter of anger management. It’s a pattern of behavior that one person uses to gain power and control over the other.
It can result in injury, harm, deprivation, or even death. It may involve physical or sexual assault, but it can also be emotional or psychological, including isolation from friends and family, emotional abuse, or financial control.
Awareness matters. Domestic violence awareness can help identify abuse if it happens to you or someone close to you. Awareness can provide information that can be life saving for victims and their families, such as hotlines, shelters, counseling, and legal aid.
Your YWCA support keeps these services available in our community and makes it possible to increase survivor awareness.
Numbers to know
- One out of five high school students is being sexually and/or physically abused by a dating partner.
- One million women and 371,000 men are being stalked right now.
- More than three women are killed by their partners every day.