Personal Safety
Focus: Personal Safety
By promoting programs, policies and systems that ensure women and girls’ safety, we can establish structural changes for women for generations to come.
Our next steps to achieve this are:
Establish (completed in 2023) and support a Domestic Violence Court in Allen County.
Develop sexual violence awareness campaigns for men and women.
Establishing supports around the importance of financial independence for women and how this affects their personal safety.
NO MATTER WHAT
The Women’s Fund of Greater Fort Wayne has launched the No Matter What Campaign. No Matter What is a campaign to quickly, efficiently, and discreetly connect sexual violence survivors to up-to-date resources they need most. Because no matter what, survivors are worthy of community support.
If you would like QR code stickers for your public restrooms, contact Cassie at cbeer@cfgfw.org
In Allen County:
70% of women have experienced crime in their lifetime.
41% of African American survey respondents indicated being a victim of domestic violence.
42% of women who experienced crime did not report the incident to the authorities.
*According to the Allen County Women & Girls Survey, conducted January-February 2020
REASONS FOR WOMEN NOT REPORTING CRIME
Domestic Violence Court
Domestic violence survivors need more help navigating the judicial system, which is not structured in favor of victims. Currently, if both parties are injured in a domestic violence case, both are arrested due to an Indiana law adopted in 2017—which discounts the complex nature and context of domestic violence cases. This alone discourages many victims from seeking help, and the prevalence of victim-blaming further marginalizes survivors. A specialized court will help build faith, resulting in fewer recants and more empowered survivors.
A Domestic Violence Court is a type of Problem-Solving Court (PSC). A key element of PSC is the creation of an interdisciplinary team, led by a judge, to collaborate on two goals:
Case management to create better communication within the court system to help expedite processing and reduce time in court
Therapeutic programming to reduce criminal offending by treating substance use disorders, mental health issues, or other underlying factors leading to the offense