• Current Projects
• Reports and Publications
• Historical Activities

Current Projects

• Participates on the Fairfax County Domestic Violence Prevention Policy Coordinating Council
  
  
• Coordinates the Verizon Wireless HopeLine Project.

  HopeLine from Verizon accepts wireless phones and accessories in any condition from any carrier for reuse and recycling. The phones are then refurbished or recycled in an environmentally sound way. Refurbished phones – complete with 3,000 minutes of wireless service – are provided to local domestic violence organizations or local government and law enforcement agencies for use with their domestic violence clients.

  The Commission for Women collects no-longer-used cell phones and accessories at various locations around the county. In return for the collection, Verizon Wireless will provide a cash donation to Artemis House, the county’s shelter for victims of domestic violence.

  In both 2009 and 2010, Verizon Wireless donated $7,500 to Artemis House. Please help the Commission for Women continue this important project by donating your used cell phones and accessories. Contact cfw-CommissionForWomen@fairfaxcounty.gov for more information about the project or where to donate.

• Maintains the Fairfax County Mother’s Rooms
  
  
• Researches Affordable Housing Options for Victims of Domestic Violence
  
  
• Commemorates Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October)
  
  
• Holds the Fairfax County Women’s Voices Forum

  The Commission for Women holds this biennial event to hear directly from Fairfax County women and girls about issues important to them. The next forum will be held in March, 2013.
  
  

• Celebrates Women’s History Month (March)
  
  
• Supports the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial

Reports and Publications

• The Commission conducts research on issues related to women and girls and promotes research findings and policy recommendations to the county’s Board of Supervisors through oral testimony and published reports. The following are a sample of the reports that the Commission has released since its inception in 1971:
  • Rape Law Reform: A Report on the Public Hearing (March 1976)
  • Quality and Equality: A Study of the Fairfax County Public School System
  • Battered Wives: Report of the Fairfax County Commission for Women (April 1977)
  • The Courts and Sexual Assault: Court Observer Program (March 1982)
  • Separation and Divorce Information
    • Spanish version
  • Report on Women and Diversity in Fairfax County Forum (April 2000)
  • Spanish Resource Guide for Women
  • Summer Tech Resource Guide for Girls
  • Women Business Owner’s Directory
    
    
• The Commission also releases a report every two years detailing the work of the Commission for that time period. Read the latest: 2009/2010 Biennial Report
  

Historical Activities

• Early in the Commission's history, the Commission helped establish:
  • The Human Rights Commission (now affiliated with the Office of Human Rights and Equity Programs)
  • The Women's Shelter (now Artemis House)
  • The Women's Re-entry Center (a career development center for women re-entering the workforce)
  • The Victim/Witness Program (now the Victim Services Section of the Police Department)
• The Commission is also a leader in creating many Fairfax County employment policies favorable to women and families. Related reports include:
  • Job Sharing Policies and Practices for Fairfax County Employees; Managing Work and Family: Bottom Line Issues for Fairfax County Employees (January 1994)
  • Gender Distribution on Fairfax County Boards, Authorities, and Commissions;
  • Breaking Barriers: Women's Achievement in Fairfax County Government (a report by the Glass Ceiling Task Force, July 1997)

The Global Children’s Foundation
presents a check to the
Artemis House, the county’s
domestic violence shelter