The NC LGBTQ Domestic Violence Response Initiative is a statewide partnership between the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, three community-based domestic violence service provider agencies, one university-based service provider, and one community-based LGBTQ center. The goal of the Initiative is to increase the capacity of communities to provide safe, affirming, and quality service to LGBTQ-identified survivors of domestic violence.
This project was supported by Grant No. 014256 awarded by the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the state of North Carolina or the U.S. Department of Justice.
UNCG’s Campus Violence Response Center:
The mission of the Campus Violence Response Center (CVRC) with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) is to create a single point of access for any UNCG community member impacted by violence. Violence can take many forms and our team of dedicated and confidential staff understands the impact of violence including, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking, sexual or gender-based harassment, and all other forms of campus violence. We provide affirming, empowering, and confidential services to UNCG community members who have been victimized. Services include crisis response, advocacy, counseling, support groups, and coordination with on and off-campus services.
Check out their website: cvrc.uncg.edu,
Contact: Murphie Chappell,mechappe@uncg.edu
Gabriella Neyman, gmneyman@uncg.edu
Follow us on Instagram: @uncg_cvrc
Helpmate:
We work with our community to eliminate abuse and fear by providing safety, shelter, and support for victims/survivors of intimate partner domestic violence. We believe that to serve our clients, we must model a violence-free community that is founded in respect and equality. By providing safety, shelter, counseling, and advocacy, we empower each client to create a life that is free of violence; by providing education, we empower our community to create a world that is free of violence.
Check out their website: helpmateonline.org
Business line: 828-254-2968,
Hotline: 828-254-0516
Contact: Nikki Mintz, nmintz@helpmateonline.org
Follow us on Instagram: @helpmate_nc
Outer Banks Hotline:
Our mission is to promote a safe and compassionate community. We are a private, non-profit human services organization that provides crisis intervention, safe house, information and referrals, advocacy and prevention education services to residents of and visitors to the Northern Outer Banks.
Check out their website:obhotline.org
252-473-5121
Contact: Penny Adams, adams@obhotline.org
Follow us on instagram: @outerbankshotline
LGBTQ Center of Durham:
We are committed to improving the quality of life for LGBTQ+ people in and around Durham:
- through programming, resources, and networks of support;
- by acting as a hub for Durham’s LGBTQ+ community;
- by sharing and affirming all LGBTQ+ lived experiences; and,
- by educating our neighbors in order to enhance understanding of and sensitivity to LGBTQ+ issues.
Check out their website: lgbtqcenterofdurham.org
919-827-1436
Contact: E Wright, ewright@lgbtqcenterofdurham.org
Follow us on Instagram: @lgbtqdurham
Family Service of the Piedmont:
Family Service of the Piedmont is a private, not-for-profit agency focused on building safe and healthy families in the Piedmont Triad. We serve more than 19,000 clients each year, addressing issues of domestic violence, child abuse, mental health and financial stability. We empower individuals and families to restore hope, achieve stability and thrive through quality support services, advocacy and education.
Check out their website: fspcares.org
Business Line: 336-387-6161, Crisis Line: 336-273-7273
Contact: Austin Horne, austin.horne@fspcares.org
Follow us: @fspcares on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
Goals
- To identify, implement, and evaluate best practices for advancing organizational and community capacity to provide safe, affirming, and effective services and support to LGBTQ survivors in their geographic area. This goal is being realized through a partnership with 3 DV agencies, one LGBTQ Center, and one campus-based violence response center.
- To advance a community-informed and intersectional framework for how communities and organizations across North Carolina (and beyond) can provide safe, affirming, and effective services to LGBTQ survivors of gender violence.
Impact
- Since 2018, our project partners have served over 1,300 LGBTQ+ survivors in North Carolina.
- The project has reached over 8,000 people to date via LGBTQ trainings, technical assistance and outreach events.
- Our partner agencies have provided over 20,600 unique services to LGBTQ Survivors.
- To review our data report from Cycle 1 (2018-2020) of the project, click here.
Kate Rawson, M. Ed (she, her, hers), kerawson@uncg.edu
As the LGBTQ Victim Services specialist for the project, Kate provides support as well as Training & Technical Assistance to our project partners across the state. Kate studied Psychology at Appalachian State and got her Master’s in Student Affairs Administration from UNCG. Go Spartans! Prior to this role, Kate worked as an advocate in UNCG’s Campus Violence Response Center. She is passionate about advancing equity and inclusion for Queer & Trans folks through an anti-violence and anti-racist framework. Outside of work, Kate likes to go on adventures with her partner, binge Netflix, and eat good food.
Paige Hall Smith, Ph. D (she, her, hers), phsmith@uncg.edu
Paige Hall Smith is the co-director of the NC LGBTQ DV Response Initiative and a professor of Public Health Education. She received her doctorate in health behavior and health education from UNC Chapel Hill and her MSPH in health policy and administration, also from UNC-CH. She was the Linda Arnold Carlisle Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies for 2004-2006. She served as director of UNCG’s Center for Women’s Health and Wellness from 2005-2020. Her research continues to focus on breastfeeding and gender violence prevention and response. Prior gender violence research has focused on various areas including conceptualization and measurement (Women’s Experience with Battering Scale), health care response to domestic violence, and prevalence and risk factors for victimization and perpetration of sexual violence. Her work in breastfeeding centers on assessing the links between infant feeding and gender. She was director of the Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conference for 2004-2019. Dr. Smith is an active member of the Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist and enjoys spending time with her daughter, going to the beach, and is currently training to be a yoga teacher.
Stacy Sechrist, Ph.D (She, her, hers), smsechri@uncg.edu
Dr. Stacy Sechrist is the Director for UNCG’s Program to End Gender-Based Violence, as well as, Co-Founder of UNCG’s North Carolina Network for Safe Communities (NCNSC) under the Office of Research and Engagement. In both roles, she works with community and campus partners, including resource providers, law enforcement, practitioners, and community members on understanding risk factors and correlates of interpersonal violence and violent crime, as well, assisting with the implementation and evaluation of strategies to reduce violence. Sechrist is the also the Project Director for the North Carolina LGBTQ Domestic Violence Response Initiative. Sechrist has served as the lead evaluator of an offender-focused strategy to combat intimate partner domestic violence in two communities. Currently, Sechrist and colleagues at NCNSC work with the United States Attorney’s Offices in all three federal judicial districts in NC to provide training/technical assistance and research/evaluation related to federal Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiatives. Sechrist is the Assistant Project Director for another NC Governor’s Crime Commission-funded initiative to build the capacity of eight underserved counties in Eastern NC to identify and serve survivors of human trafficking. Sechrist is also the lead evaluator of a recent Strategies in Policing Innovation (SPI) grant awarded to the Winston-Salem Police Department to implement a real-time crime center. Sechrist has been the lead evaluator for the past six years of a gang and gun violence intervention program called Educating Kids about Gun Violence (EKG), which has been implemented by the Fayetteville Police Department to students as part of the 7th-grade Health curriculum in Cumberland County Schools. The EKG program has received much interest and is currently being replicated or considered for replication in sites across NC. In addition, Dr. Sechrist has adjunct faculty appointments and enjoys working with students in UNCG’s Public Health Education and Psychology Departments. Prior to joining UNCG, Sechrist taught at Elon University and Guilford College, teaching courses in psychology, interpersonal violence, forensic psychology, and criminal behavior, and also spent time doing research in the corporate sector. Dr. Sechrist earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her M.A. in Forensic Psychology from Castleton State College.
Dolores Chandler, MSW (they, them, theirs)
Dolores is a mixed race-Black, transmasculine and gender non-conforming, tender, tough human living in Durham, NC. Dolores serves as the Racial Equity consultant for the NC LGBTQ DV Response Initiative. Founder and Principal Consultant of Build from the Heart, Dolores supports organizations to practice their values with integrity and through a lens of racial and gender justice. Dolores obtained their MSW in 2014 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When they are not working, Dolores likes to build things and watch things grow.
The Laughing Gull Foundation has awarded us funding to conduct a statewide community listening project this year. The goal of the community listening project is to advance a community-informed and intersectional framework for action for how communities across NC (and beyond) can provide safe, affirming, and effective services to LGBTQ survivors of domestic violence that is recognized as being credible, trustworthy, dependable, and reflective of the voices of the LGBTQ community. We will do this by conducting a statewide community listening project (CLP) to further our knowledge of the needs, concerns, and perspectives of LGBTQ survivors across the state. Key to the success of the CLP is to have an actively engaged community leadership team that develops the CLP, reviews the results, and identifies recommended strategies. More information will be posted to our site as the project evolves.
Leadership Team Co- Chairs
Chimi Boyd-Keyes (she/her), CEO & Founder, CBK Enterprises
Kate Rawson (she/her), LGBTQ Specialist & Project Manager, UNCG
Leadership Team Members:
Dr. Paige Hall Smith (she/her), Professor & Co-Director of NC LGBTQ DV Response Initiative, UNCG
Dr. Stacy Sechrist (she/her), Senior Research Scientist & Co-Director of NC LGBTQ DV Response Initiative, UNCG
Dr. Tamar Goldenberg (she/her), Assistant Professor, UNCG
Berenice Del Rio (she/her), Lead Victim Advocate, UNCG
Austin Horne (he/they), LGBTQ Outreach Specialist, Family Service of the Piedmont
Penny Adams (she/her), LGBTQ Advocate, Outer Banks Hotline
E Wright (they/them), LGBTQ Survivorship Services Coordinator, LGBTQ Center of Durham
Nikki Mintz (she/her), LGBTQ Services Specialist, Helpmate
Brittany Hill (she/her), Student intern, UNCG
Mohammed Sheikh Eldin Jibriel (he/him), Ph.D Student, UNCG
Katlynn Mabine (she/her), Future MPH graduate student, UNCG
Torrianna Foster (she/they), Sex Educator and Certified Intimacy Coordinator
JP Przewoznik (any pronouns), Clinical Assistant Professor, UNC Chapel Hill
General Information about LGBTQ Intimate Partner Violence
The LGBT Power and Control Wheel was developed by Roe and Jagodinsky. Adapted from the Power & Control and Equity Wheels Developed by the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project.
For information and statistics about IPV in Trans communities, check out this fact sheet .
Resources for Service Providers
Click on the following resource links to view technical assistance documents created by the Initiative to help you build capacity to serve LGBTQ survivors:
Understanding the Unique Needs of LGBTQ Survivors
Building Capacity to Serve LGBTQ Survivors (Handout)
Checklist for Serving Queer & Trans Survivors in Healthcare Settings
Resources for Survivors
If you are not located near one of our partner sites in Greensboro, Durham, Asheville, or Manteo, or would like to seek out other support resources, check out this list of national resources for LGBTQ survivors:
National Coalition for Anti-Violence program’s LGBTQ Victim Hotline: 212-714-1141
The Network la Red’s Hotline: 617-742-4911
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
Forge: Trans Anti-Violence Organization: forge-forward.org
The purpose of our Community Needs Assessment is to gather information from stakeholders (including LGBTQ survivors) living or working in various communities where the NC LGBTQ Domestic Violence Response Initiative is operating. The NC LGBTQ Domestic Violence Response Initiative has a goal of improving domestic violence service providers’ capacity to provide safe, effective, and culturally competent services to LGBTQ-identified survivors of domestic violence, and we hope the community needs assessment will give further information to meet this goal. This project has been approved by the university’s Institutional Review Board.
To view a report on the major findings from LGBTQ survivors, please click here.
In September of 2021, the NC LGBTQ Domestic Violence Response Initiative hosted a statewide Symposium on LGBTQ Domestic Violence that was funded by the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. The symposium brought together domestic violence advocates, LGBTQ-serving professionals, higher education professionals, activists, and other stakeholders to discuss how we can build the capacity of communities in North Carolina and beyond to better serve LGBTQ survivors of violence. The theme of the symposium, “Centering the Margins,” highlighted the needs of survivors from marginalized, especially BIPOC, communities, which are often not met by formal institutions or systems meant to support victims and survivors. Through the symposium sessions and accompanying discussions, we were able to share better practices for supporting survivors, share prevention strategies, discuss alternative means of finding safety outside criminal justice systems, and collaboratively create a statewide plan for addressing violence in Queer and Trans communities.
For more information about the workshops and presenters, you can view the symposium program here: https://ncnsc.uncg.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/NC-LGBTQ-DV-Symposium-program_r1-1.pdf
English and Spanish recordings of the sessions from this year’s symposium can be found on our Youtube playlist:
