Advocates to the Front! 2024 WSCADV Conference

Come enjoy some coffee, tea, and light refreshments before we get started!

The Roots of Our Movement and the Path Ahead

Tuesday’s lunch will feature a performance by Los Bailadores del Sol. Los Bailadores del Sol, lead by Rosendo Deloza Jr. "Jay" and Cynthia Deloza teach and perform traditional Mexican-folkloric dancing to preserve and pass down Mexican traditions to the next generations. The dance group is from Yakima, Washington but they perform all-around the Pacific Northwest. Follow them on Facebook under the group name, Los Bailadores del Sol, to learn more.

In this session, we will delve into the significance of incorporating culture as a primary means of prevention, especially within minoritized communities. Harnessing the wisdom passed down through our indigenous teachings, Snxestwilxtn staff will explore how cultural practices play a pivotal role in establishing and nurturing healthy relationships. Through a hands-on mindfulness activity rooted in our traditions, we will engage in meaningful dialogue about our shared responsibility in amplifying BIPOC voices and anchoring culture in prevention efforts. Discover why culture is not just an add-on, but a cornerstone of building and sustaining thriving communities.

This workshop will consider how our movement requires leaders to hold the complexities of trauma-based work alongside our role responsibilities for grant compliance, laws, and HR.  With a lens of grace and compassion for the weight of that charge, participants will learn topics such as: 1) how nice is not always kind, 2) how positions of power require an ongoing commitment to earning trust 3) FEAST principles 4) how leaders are (good) people too, and 5) how to ensure our own needs are tended to so that we can sustain.  There will be time for Q&A for specific leadership/management questions during the final half hour of the session.

A comprehensive overview of WAISN’s advocacy and action plans designed to support and empower immigrant communities, with a special focus on supporting victims of domestic violence through advocacy, resources, and community-building efforts.

Increase your understanding of how mandatory reporting impacts survivors and their children; decision making and advocacy questions beyond report or don't report. Come learn about best practices, practical skills & tools for advocates.

For many survivors who use substances, it is a way to cope with the trauma of abuse, while some are also coerced into using by their abusive partner. Let’s come together and learn how to support survivors experiencing this challenging intersection.

This workshop will provide an introduction to In Their Shoes: Teens and Dating Violence - Classroom Edition for anyone who wants to use this innovative community education tool in your work. Participants will experience the training for themselves, and learn best practices, tips and tricks for facilitators. In Their Shoes is a scenario-based training designed to help participants talk about what dating is like for today’s teens—from their perspective. Participants become teen characters, make choices about their relationships, and see what happens. In Their Shoes provides a snapshot of unhealthy teen relationships and generates a thoughtful discussion about the role we all have to play in stopping dating violence before it starts. Workshop participants will leave this training with a deeper understanding of teen dating violence from an intersectional perspective, and equipped with useful and intentional tools to facilitate this training in your own community.

Martin Spotted Bear (Blackfeet), Shanna Howtopat (Yakama), and Madeline Rider (Algonquin Anishinabeg) will share their experiences providing culturally specific, Intergenerational trauma informed, street outreach to Native American survivors of violence. They will share how homelessness response and prevention is intricately connected to ending gender based violence and the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR).

Mother Nation was founded in 2013 by Norine Hill, with a mission to deliver social and cultural healing services for Native women that nurture, create stability, and inspire growth through sisterhood. Today Mother Nation is a Native American 501(c)(3) nonprofit that offers culturally informed healing services, advocacy, mentorship and homeless prevention in Washington State. We support Native and Indigenous women during times of transition from chronic homelessness and gender-based violence to stable housing by providing counseling, connection to social services, sisterhood, community, and spiritual support.

Historically remote and rural communities have had limited access to reproductive health care and as a result survivors experience lifelong impacts that can undermine their health and choices. Rural Resources Victim Services created strategic messaging about Reproductive Justice and health care options while making sure neither survivors nor staff had a target on their backs.

Black and Indigenous People of Color and our communities all face unique challenges as we aim to protect our communities from violence and preserve bodily autonomy. Join us for a purposefully nourishing and interactive workshop navigating storytelling as an important tool for unity in our advocacy. Do you know why you do what you do? Do you need a refresher to tap into your reserve of hope? Generating a personal and organizational narrative empowers fundraising, and expanded outreach to victims and supporters! There is no need to sanitize or professionalize our stories. By sharing our history and origin stories, we personalize polarizing issues and expand empathy for our movements. This workshop will be one one-part presentation, one-part sharing in small groups, and one-part collective conference closing. We'll wrap up our workshop and close the conference together as we collectively synthesize key takeaways and next steps as advocates for gender-based violence prevention.

This space is for BIPOC advocates and people of the global majority. To our white-identified allies and colleagues, this workshop is not for you.

Transgender folks experience some of the highest rates of intimate partner violence. Yet, our field lacks the tools and knowledge to support survivors when they come to our agencies. Learn more about the reality of transgender IPV, barriers to accessing service, and how approaching service through a holistic approach can help transgender survivors towards safety.