Brave Woman is an innovative nonprofit that works to break down the stigma of domestic violence victims, re-languaging victims to “survivors,” empowering survivors to share their own power through an elevated and strong voice.
Their website says:
“Brave Woman is a grassroots movement to shift personal and public perception of women facing domestic violence situations and/or recovering from sexual assault from a victim mentality to one of courage and strength.”
Why Give?
Sandy Wright has been involved in nonprofits for a long time — both in the corporate and startup worlds. She’s always been a fan of WordPress so that was her starting point.
“We kept looking for the best plugin for a while and your name kept coming up. It’s been working really well.”
Though the donation page is currently live, the push for the Here I Am Campaign has not begun.
Here I Am Campaign
The current campaign has a goal of $50,000 which will fund video production that elevates the voice of the survivors.
These films will be 60 second shorts: the first of which is being shown at a national leadership conference. And there are two more in the works.
“No one understands better the emotions, the challenges, the triumphs, the habits we develop, the creativity of surviving family violence like survivors. Sandy and her therapy dog, Jack, are touring the country in a small RV, making a home where needed. The interviews, filmed on video with the consent of the survivor, are one-on-one. We honor all survivor requests for sharing insights and each survivor reads and signs a video release.”
Online Workbook
Brave Woman is also developing a cloud-based workbook so that anyone can log in from a library. This protects their privacy so the abuser doesn’t get to see it in their browser history.
This workbook will guide women through their emotions: “How do you feel when? What are some things that you would like to do? What’s your relationship with your kid?” This will enable them to work through their own feelings and to start to see themselves differently.
This is how Brave Woman plans to break down what Sandy calls the “Shame quotient.” The cycle of shame and denial and the self-languaging that “I can handle this by myself,” doesn’t serve us well.
Sandy’s Background
Sandy had a background of domestic violence from her childhood and, later in life, was drawn to help those facing these physical, emotional, financial, and even spiritual challenges.
While working in domestic violence centers, Sandy saw that even staff who were meant to help “domestic violence victims” unintentionally treated them as a victim.
“I had all of these a-ha moments. There was no project in the US where survivors are actually talking to one another and it goes beyond telling each other’s stories. Law enforcement needs to hear it and family members need to hear it and talk to one another in the forum.”
This did not empower the survivor. Though many of these places provide physical needs, Sandy wanted to break through the psychological stigma, the victimized pattern of thinking, and the mentality that the abused is responsible for the abuse.
Sandy believes that telling our stories (1 in 3 women are involved in domestic abuse), empowers each other to do the same. In this way, she believes that survivors are not treated as victims during their healing process. In fact, she views it as “They’re inviting women into their own power.” Speaking what happened makes it real. That’s the first step — acceptance — which empowers change. This is the mission of Brave Woman.
Resources
Brave Woman does not provide services but they highlight resources on their site. They also host a safe, private forum for peer-to-peer counseling and support. Currently they are exploring a pilot mentoring program as well.
Collection of Brave Stories
Brave Woman not only seeks to tell stories on video, but as Sandy travels throughout the country, she meets people wherever she is. They see her RV and ask her what the project is about. More often than not, that starts a conversation.
If they feel comfortable, she tells their stories in short posts on Facebook. Here is one where she tells her own.
I experienced abuse in my home when I was just a kid—growing up with a mother who shared the put downs and habits she…
Posted by Brave Woman on Wednesday, August 24, 2016
How can you help?
Brave Woman has a partnership with the National Network to End Domestic Violence, but there is no national financial support. This is a grassroots movement.
“The whole goal is to build a community of awareness of support that is one of a kind.”
Follow along on their website and social channels. You can also become a one-time or monthly donor.
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