Office of Gender-Based Violence Prevention
Our Initiatives
Addressing Those Who Do Harm to End Gender-Based Violence
In the last fiscal year, our office funded intervention treatment for individuals convicted of domestic violence in Santa Clara County. This 3-year initiative was a response to the AB372 California legislation that identified the five counties to create alternative batterer intervention pilot programs. The purpose was to teach people strategies to identify and manage situations related to interpersonal violence, which include activities for cognitive, social, and emotional skills development. The successful Santa Clara County pilot program offered 16-week or 26-week programs for men and women in both English and Spanish. Our office funded advocacy services and resources to survivors in current or past relationships with individuals participating in the alternative domestic violence program. Additionally, we funded an external evaluation of the AB372 pilot program that provided insights to the impact of the program and the successes and challenges of implementing the intervention treatment.
Addressing Economic Empowerment as a Violence Prevention Strategy
Santa Clara County is committed to connecting survivors with the services they need to heal and thrive. We recognize economic self-sufficiency as a foundational piece for survivors to move from crisis to stability. We fund a variety of programs in the gender-based violence prevention spectrum that provide different types of resources to survivors, including two pilot programs to support suspected, at-risk, and confirmed survivors of human trafficking. The Young Women’s Freedom Center offered the Life Coach Pilot to 40 suspected, at risk, or confirmed commercially sexually exploited children and transitional-aged youth (ages 14 – 24 years) and provided life coaching services and empowerment stipends. The Thriving Pilot by Community Solutions will develop and implement a curriculum to support 20 adult Human Trafficking survivors by increasing their economic security through individualized and group self-sufficiency programming and case management services.
Addressing Housing for Survivors as a Violence Prevention Strategy
Our office prioritizes providing safe spaces for survivors in moments of need. A major part of our housing initiative has been to collaborate with county and community partners to provide a confidential emergency shelter at one of our four local domestic violence shelters or through motel/hotel vouchers for survivors of gender-based violence and their children. We are also working with partners to address the needs of survivors and families to have access to transitional and permanent housing. Addressing housing needs is violence prevention. Violence is the primary cause of homelessness for women with minor children. Ending homelessness serves our vision to end all forms of gender-based violence in Santa Clara County.
For emergency and transitional shelter access, please contact local 24/7 hotlines. Local hotlines support callers with information on emergency shelters and follow-up services.
Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Schools and in the Community
The office has taken initiative to support an education system free of gender-based violence. Part of our efforts to support safety in educational institutions has been to fund an assessment of state and federal protections from sex and gender-based harassment and violence. This assessment includes a review of educational institutions’ compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, and California Education Codes. This multi-year initiative also has a community engagement component so that all K – 12, public, private, charter, and higher education institutions within Santa Clara County can better understand the impact of sexual violence on students and work collaboratively to increase safety.
The OGBVP funds community programs addressing violence prevention through educational workshops for pregnant and parent students, training to school professionals on issues related to intimate partner violence, and counseling services for teens and members of the LGBTQIA+ community experiencing domestic violence. Additionally, we promote awareness campaigns on teen dating violence and healthy relationships in middle and high schools, and throughout the community.
Addressing Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment
In 2001, Santa Clara County was chosen as one of six communities by federal agencies to implement policies from the Greenbook Project, a policy blueprint to design effective interventions in cases managed by child welfare services, domestic violence agencies and the juvenile dependency court. Currently known as the Initiative To End Domestic Violence and Advance Child Wellbeing, the inter-departmental collaboration continues in our county today. The Office of Gender-Based Violence Prevention has brought together a multi-disciplinary team to assess policies, protocols, and the original 67 recommendations; review child removal cases due to domestic violence; and improve coordination for child welfare, county attorneys, and dependency systems trainings.