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DSVS Vision: Peaceful, thriving, powerful communities where all people are safe and free from oppression, fear, and violence.
DFS Equity Impact Statement: “The Department of Family Services (DFS) is committed to addressing institutional racism in its core responsibility to support the safety, health, and wellness of county residents. DFS recognizes systemic oppression and institutional racism have contributed to disparities in opportunities for county residents to succeed. DFS will support equitable outcomes by examining its policies, practices, and procedures to eliminate disparities in service delivery and outcomes for county residents.”
Hispanic Heritage Month is observed each year from September 15 to October 15 to celebrate the histories, culture, achievements, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. This time period encompasses the Independence Day celebrations of multiple Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Chile. It also includes Día de la Raza on October 12, a holiday celebrating the combining of Spanish and indigenous culture in Latin America. National Hispanic Heritage Week was first observed in 1968 under President Lyndon B. Johnson and was expanded to a full 30-day period by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.
History
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican American artist and social activist. She is celebrated by feminists for her depiction of female experience and form. Her paintings touched on female issues such as abortion, miscarriage, birth, and breastfeeding. She is a woman who broke all social conventions. She refused to alter her features, which were labelled “masculine,” and was open about her sexuality.
"It’s not possible to present an accurate picture of our culture without all the voices of the people in the culture."
Julia de Burgos (1914-1953) was a poet, activist, and advocate for the rights of Afro-Puerto Rican women in the United States. She wrote about Puerto Rico, historical violence, racism, and gender expectations and was the Secretary General of the Daughters of Freedom, a political party in Puerto Rico. In 1979, the first domestic violence shelter in Puerto Rico was named Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos in reference to her legacy as a feminist and the themes of strength in her work.
"I am life, I am strength, I am woman."
Sandra Cisneros (1954–Present) is an author and poet known for her work in the Chicano literary movement. Cisneros’ book, The House on Mango Street, is regarded as a key text in modern Chicano literature. A major theme of this coming-of-age novel is main character Esperanza’s personal experiences of sexual violence and witnessing of domestic violence in her community and how they impact her understanding of race, gender, and power. Cisneros herself is a survivor of sexual and intimate partner violence and has highlighted these experiences as a major influence on her writing. In 1995, she founded the Macondo Writers Workshop, which cultivates writers with a focus on activism and social change.
"I have to say that the traditional role is kind of a myth. I think the traditional Mexican woman is a fierce woman."
Current Day Activism
Andrea Pino-Silva is a student activist, first-generation college student, and daughter of Cuban refugees. When she attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2012, she filed a Title IX complaint along with four other students after experiencing sexual assault on campus and was ostracized and ridiculed by her university. In response to this mistreatment, Pino-Silva founded the national survivor advocacy organization End Rape on Campus, where she supported students learning their rights under Title IX and working to change campus sexual assault and harassment policies. She is co-author of the book We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out.
"Sharing your truth as a survivor is the ultimate form of activism, because we live in a world that tells us to be silent."
Sandra Henriquez is the chief executive officer of national anti-sexual violence organization VALOR and has worked in the movement to end sexual and domestic violence since 1985. She has led VALOR since 2010, helping to elevate the profile of sexual violence and the work of rape crisis center programs throughout the nation. As VALOR’s CEO, Henriquez has helped transform the organization’s culture and strategies by centering and amplifying the voices and experiences of those most marginalized and working to create systemic change.
"We can and should continue to invest in supporting survivors, and we should invest, nationally and internationally, in preventing all forms of violence. Because we know that it is preventable, but we just don’t invest enough in efforts to do so."
America Ferrera is a Honduran American actress, producer, and activist. In 2007, she was the first Latina actress to win an Emmy for Lead Actress for her work on the ABC dramedy “Ugly Betty.” Ferrera has been active in political advocacy since 2008 and was the opening speaker for the Women’s March on Washington in 2017. During the surge of the #MeToo movement in Hollywood in 2017, Ferrera publicly shared her story of childhood sexual abuse and in 2018 was a founding member of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.
"I am trying to be guided by my passion."
Hispanic and Latin communities are incredibly diverse in cultural background, experiences, and needs, and assessing the impact of domestic and sexual violence on such a wide group can be difficult to encompass. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 3 (34.8%) Hispanic women and 1 in 5 (22.5%) Hispanic men in the United States experience some form of unwanted sexual contact and/or intimate partner violence in their lifetime. The impact of sexual and intimate partner violence is particularly significant among transgender people with 54% of Latino/a respondents to the National Transgender Survey reporting experiencing intimate partner violence and 48% reporting experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime.
Data from the United States Census Bureau in 2019 showed about 33% of Hispanic people in this country were born outside the U.S. Immigrant survivors of sexual and domestic violence experience greater barriers to accessing formal services, often due to a lack of resources relevant to their culture or provided in languages other than English. Many Hispanic immigrants speak languages indigenous to their country of origin and/or specific dialects of Spanish, so not all Spanish-language services meet the needs of survivors and families impacted by violence.
- Alianza Latina Contra Agresión Sexual (ALAS)/National Latinx Alliance Against Sexual Violence
- Latinos en Virginia Centro de Empoderamiento/Latinos in Virginia Empowerment Center
- Latinx Activists and Organizations against Sexual Violence | BARCC
- National Hispanic American Heritage Month