The Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) recently participated in Jane Doe Inc.’s (JDI) Advocacy Day to urge the Massachusetts State Legislature to allocate critical resources and to pass essential legislation to support people impacted by sexual and domestic violence and their families.
Initial plans to gather at the State House were replaced with remote meetings with elected officials where advocates, community members, volunteers and survivors made the case for increased state investment in services and prevention and measures to advance safety across the Commonwealth.
As a member program of the state coalition, MAPS joined JDI and organizations from across Massachusetts to educate our state representatives and senators on how the following items will help meet the needs of their district:
• More than $5 million additional funding for the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention and Treatment Services line item in the state budget, which would enable community-based service organizations to expand survivor advocacy and outreach services;
• Level funding for the Healthy Relationships Grant Program and the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) and Pediatric SANE program;
• The Safe Communities Act to protect due process and rebuild trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement, and help support survivors in immigrant communities;
• The Healthy Youth Act to ensure that sexual health education includes medically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sexual health information, including information on the development of healthy relationships;
• An Act to Lift Kids Out of Deep Poverty to support families and help alleviate cycles of poverty.
“In the past year, the vast majority of JDI’s member organizations have seen an increase not only in the number of requests for services, but in the breadth and complexity of those requests. Increased state investment and policy support is essential to ensuring that every survivor in the Commonwealth has access to confidential, survivor-centered, trauma-informed resources for safety and justice, as well as ongoing efforts to prevent future instances of gender-based violence,” said Debra J. Robbin, Executive Director of JDI.
“Because we work daily with immigrant victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, we know that they face many more barriers to justice and safety, especially in the current political climate,” said Dulce Ferreira, MA, MAPS Director of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services. “This is why it is crucial that our elected representatives increase funding and pass these important pieces of legislation, so that we can continue and expand our work, and send a clear message to all immigrants in the Commonwealth that their safety is a priority.”
In the coming months, MAPS, JDI, and other advocates will continue to organize and mobilize to secure essential funding and policy action to ensure that survivors have the support they need. The current coronavirus pandemic has only deepened the Coalition’s resolve to shore up resources and support for survivors whose safety and well-being can depend on access to community based sexual and domestic violence programs.
Detailed information on JDI’s Budget and Legislative Priorities can be found here: https://janedoe.org/policy-action/