November 4, 2024 • 38 mins
Discover the transformative journey of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) as we sit down with Jan Langbein, CEO of Genesis, a leading voice in domestic violence advocacy. Jan’s firsthand experience as a senior policy advisor offers a unique perspective on the sweeping reforms introduced in the VAWA Reauthorization Act of 2022. She shares how these critical updates provide enhanced support through economic justice, housing protections, and expanded tribal jurisdiction, ensuring that survivors from all walks of life, including Native American women, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ individuals, receive the justice and protection they deserve.
The episode promises a deep dive into the political landscape surrounding women’s rights, focusing on how recent legislative changes impact survivors’ autonomy and safety. As we explore the significant hurdles faced by those seeking justice, particularly around issues like no-fault divorces and the oppressive control over victims’ rights, Jan offers insights into the ongoing advocacy necessary to combat these challenges. We also shed light on the importance of trauma-informed approaches and specialized training, crucial in effectively addressing and prosecuting crimes against women.
Join us as we recount Jan's inspiring experiences in Washington DC, celebrating the 30th anniversary of VAWA. From attending high-profile seminars to standing on stage with President Biden, her journey highlights the relentless efforts required to foster change. The episode concludes with a focus on the impactful work of Genesis Women's Shelter, a beacon of hope and support for those affected by domestic violence. Listen to the entire episode for dates of upcoming events and a sneak peek at our celebrity guest for the 2025 Genesis Annual Luncheon.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wondering how the reauthorization of the Violence
Against Women Act benefits youor all of us.
Genesis CEO Jan Langbein ishere to break it down, plus many
other exciting updates you donot want to miss.
I'm Maria McMullin and this isGenesis, the podcast.
Hi, jan, welcome to the show.
(00:23):
Thank you so much.
I'm glad to be here.
It's good to see you.
You've been so busy.
I've hardly seen you this fall,and most recently you traveled
to Washington DC to celebrate asignificant milestone for women
in this country, and it'sspecifically related to the
Genesis Mission, which isdedicated to supporting
survivors of domestic violence,as well as other crimes against
(00:44):
women, through the Conference onCrimes Against Women.
So to begin, let's talk aboutthe reauthorization of VAWA, why
it's important and what itmeans for women in abusive
relationships, and why others,including men, should care about
this act.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Absolutely so.
I would like to give you aquick timeline on the VAW, which
is the Violence Against WomenAct, and it truly set our
country apart for many countriesbecause it's a national
response to a national problem,and so it is specifically
designated as a response tosexual assault and domestic
(01:22):
violence, dating violence andstalking.
President Biden, when he was asenator, actually was committed
to preventing and addressinggender-based violence, and
really this whole issue, I think, has remained a cornerstone of
his career.
The Violence Against Women Actwas passed 30 years ago in
(01:43):
September.
The Violence Against Women Actwas passed 30 years ago in
September, so it was then signedby President Bill Clinton in
September 13, 1994.
That first act provided $1.6billion toward investigation and
prosecution of violent crimesagainst women.
It imposed an automatic andmandatory restitution on those
(02:03):
convicted and allowed civilredress when prosecutors chose
not to prosecute the cases.
The act also and this is whatone of the things that I'm so
excited about it established theOffice on Violence Against
Women within the Department ofJustice and, as you know, I was
incredibly honored to receive,in 2008, a presidential
(02:23):
appointment to serve in thatoffice as senior policy advisor
to the director of the Office onViolence Against Women.
The director at that time wasCindy Dyer, born in Waco,
studied at A&M, got her lawdegree.
She actually was in thedistrict attorney's office here
but then picked up to then gothrough the process to be the
(02:44):
Senate confirmed director of theOffice on Violence Against
Women.
And she had been in that chairfor a little bit and then was
able to pluck me up toWashington DC and I just I
learned so much in that ninemonths.
It was the end of the Bushadministration and from April to
when we were all kicked out inJanuary I was able to see across
(03:08):
this country programs just likeGenesis, doing what we can with
what we have, but having a zerotolerance for violence against
women.
I saw shelters in double widetrailers.
I saw shelters and programs inhigh-rise apartment buildings.
So it was interesting to me,from Alaska to Africa, that
(03:30):
there are just certain people inthis world who are putting on
their pants every day and goingoff to try to make this world a
better place for women,particularly so it was
authorized.
Let me get back to the historyof that.
It was authorized, signed intolaw in 94.
But in the bill it said thatevery five years it needed to be
history of that.
It was authorized, signed intolaw in 94.
But in the bill it said thatevery five years it needed to be
(03:50):
reauthorized.
So it just wasn't standingforever and it was.
So it was reauthorized threetimes 2000, 2005, and 2013.
And each time the work thatwent into those three
reauthorizations helped stretchor expand access to safety and
support for survivors andincrease prevention efforts.
(04:11):
Since 1994, these programs havebeen administered through the
Office on Violence Against Women, have been administered by the
United States Department ofJustice.
So again, senator Biden wrotethis there was no hotline, there
was no funding for programs andin fact recently I heard how
(04:32):
controversial it was.
Even in 1994, there wereaccusations of, oh, you're
trying to split up the family,or oh, you're trying to blame
men for women's problems, and onand on.
I mean just crazy, crazyconversation.
I would have thought it was ano-brainer.
It still seems to me to be ano-brainer to me.
(04:52):
But again it did get throughand it was bipartisan.
The next authorization, in 2000,was actually bipartisan, but
again they stretched that tocover legal assistance programs
for victims.
It also included datingviolence and stalking.
It reauthorized critical grantprograms that had been
(05:13):
established five years beforethat and new grant programs were
strengthened through thisfederal law.
So now we come to 2005 and thereauthorization produced new and
holistic responses and programsto meet the emerging needs,
like prevention, like landmarkhousing protection for survivors
, like funding rape crisiscenters, like culturally and
(05:36):
linguistically specific services.
So again, 10 years after theoriginal legislation, we
continue to stretch it to whereit really does cover the needs
of survivors, women who aresurvivors of gender-based
violence, wherever they are.
So here comes 2013.
It was up for reauthorizationin 2010, and it was not because,
(06:01):
all of a sudden, thisbipartisan effort got all
crosswise, because the originaldocuments were wanting to
include Native American womenand Alaska Native women.
Well, why not, right?
Right, it now in this 2010draft was to include immigrants.
Right, right, the crimes arebeing committed in our country,
(06:24):
so there needs to be protectionagainst those crimes and holding
perpetrators accountable, nomatter where they're from.
But there was a lot of talkabout we're not going to pay for
services for immigrants.
The LGBTQ plus really hit awall, particularly with
conservative Republicans.
This also particularly withconservative Republicans.
(06:47):
This also this draft that wasfor 2010 and didn't get
authorized till 2013 alsoincluded college students and
public housing residents.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So I just want to ask a question If it's not
reauthorized at the time that itcomes up for reauthorization,
what happens to?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
the act.
Well, nothing else happens.
So if we were getting fundswhich, as you know, genesis
doesn't get funds but if, foragencies that do get funds, they
were at that same level, it waskind of a continuing Okay, so
it still exists, it's just notit didn't go away.
It didn't go away, but therewere no additional
considerations.
There was no additional funds,which, as you know, the costs of
(07:26):
everything go up every singleyear, and so even these service
providers could not add programswithin their own programs, but
your funding didn't go away,right?
Unfortunately, there was somuch scrapping back and forth
that that 2010 reauthorizationdid not happen until 2013.
And again, mostly opposed byconservative Republicans who
(07:50):
were very opposed and objected alot to the acts protections of
same-sex couples that was a hugething as well as undocumented
immigrants.
So here comes April of 2019,all right, and the House of
Representatives passed areauthorization VAWA bill that
(08:11):
included new provisions.
However, it didn't get anyfarther.
It didn't get through Senate,it didn't pass at all and they
really had to start all over.
And you'll think about theadministration during that
period of time 2014 through 2020is where we're talking about in
that period, and who was overthe Senate, who was the majority
(08:34):
in the House and so on.
It just became really, reallypolitical.
But we are so pleased that inMarch 15th of 2022.
But we are so pleased that inMarch 15th of 2022, now it
hadn't been improved or extendedor refunded increased funding
since 2013.
But in 2022, president Joe Bidendid sign the reauthorization of
(08:59):
the Violence Against Women Act.
It did things like protecttransgender victims.
That hasn't been in there.
It also and you and I havetalked about this this is where
banning individuals convicted ofdomestic violence were
prohibited from purchasingfirearms.
So you and I have had so manyconversations about firearms in
(09:19):
the hands of abusers.
Studies tell us that just themere presence of a firearm in
the house where there is abuseratchets up the survivor's
lethality by 500% just having agun in the house, right?
There was a study not long agoin fact you may have sent that
to me about speaking withperpetrators who had murdered
(09:41):
their spouse or partner and thequestion was asked would you
have killed her had there notbeen firearms in the house?
And the majority was saying no.
No, I wouldn't have at thattime.
I don't know how much of that Ibelieve, because there are
certainly other choices ofweapons, but this particular
piece of legislation that wassigned in 2022 just really
(10:04):
really made a huge difference.
The Reauthorization Act of 2022,this bipartisan VAWA
reauthorization included what Ithink are groundbreaking
provisions to strengthen andmodernize the law.
The law provides funding forsurvivors and the thousands of
local programs that serve them.
It provides for communitieswith much needed resources for
(10:27):
housing, legal assistance,alternative to criminal
responses and preventionprogramming.
It also included a new economicjustice provision and bolsters
access for survivors of allgenders by strengthening
non-discrimination laws andcreating LGBTQ services programs
(10:47):
.
It restores tribal jurisdiction.
Now, this is another thing thatI believe you and I have spoken
about on this podcast.
But prior to this, if a woman,for example, was raped on a
reservation a Native Americanreservation by a non-native
white perpetrator living acrossthe highway where the United
(11:09):
States starts and the triballands stop, he could go across,
rape that person and thenslither back across the road and
could not be charged with acrime, because it didn't happen
on American soil and tribaljurisdiction didn't cover
non-native perpetrators.
So, basically, open season onwomen, right?
(11:30):
Yes, but this 2022 law restoredtribal jurisdiction, allowing
tribes to hold non-nativeperpetrators accountable.
This one also improved existinghousing protections and
increases access to emergencyand short-term housing.
So when I say housingprotections, there are a couple
(11:50):
of things that we can talk aboutnow, or maybe on another one,
but I don't think women in Texasknow that they can break their
lease if they are survivors ofdomestic violence.
This is relatively new, I thinklast legislative session, right
there's.
Also there was a law in placethat if the police came out to
your apartment you know morethan once, more than twice,
(12:12):
whatever it was the apartmentcomplex could evict whoever
lived there.
The intent of that was to weedout drugs and gangs that were
taking over apartment complexes,without taking into
consideration the impact onsurvivors of domestic violence.
They can either not call thepolice and have a place to live,
or call the police, which theydesperately need, and then be
(12:36):
evicted from their apartment.
So in this, you know, we seewe're seeing more and more
housing protections throughstate law and federal law as
well, and so that is the history.
I know that was a lot and Iknow I blew through that quickly
.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
I think those were some very valuable updates.
We needed the history right.
We needed to understand the actand let our listeners kind of
hear it again how this wasestablished.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
But the updates are amazing through the years and
you know I'll probably go off onlet your voice and your vote be
heard in this podcast, but Ithink it's incumbent upon all of
us who to see who voted for itand who voted against it.
That period of time when I wassaying conservative Republicans
with the trying to get thispassed in 2012 and 2013,.
(13:27):
You know my elected officialdid not vote for this.
My state senators did not votefor this and this was their
complaint was undocumentedimmigrants and same-sex couples,
and look at what the ripplingeffect of that is how many
programs across the countrycouldn't get the resources they
needed or how many people werenot helped because of this.
(13:51):
Stand against immigrants andLGBTQ same-sex couples
relationships.
Yeah, and I think it'sincumbent upon all of us to know
how our elected officials voteon the issues.
Look through the lens ofdomestic violence.
Look through and say, okay,that sounds nice, but how does
(14:12):
it impact women and children?
How does it impact the crimesthat are committed against women
and children?
Case in point there is anelected official who's running
for office right now who wantsto do away with no-fault
divorces.
No-fault divorce means I can gointo court and say my husband
(14:32):
beats me and I can be granted adivorce that I don't have to
prove that he beats me.
Without a no-fault divorce,victims will have to have
somebody witness the abuse, likeit was in 1950 and 60, or they
will have to have several peoplecome forward and testify on her
behalf.
That's what no-fault divorcemeans.
(14:54):
And this particular candidatehas also said you shouldn't
change a spouse or a partnerlike you change your underwear.
You shouldn't cast off amarriage even if there is
domestic violence.
Quote unquote.
Wow, so I think we all ought tobe very careful about how we
are voting.
(15:14):
Let's look past some of therhetoric and some of the slick
messages and really take a lookat what is that going to mean?
When my daughter is battered,what does that mean?
Talking about laws, there is alaw in Texas that I really hope
this legislative session willaddress, and that is if, for
(15:36):
example, if my daughter Godforbid were murdered by her
abuser, then the family cannotcollect her remains without the
perpetrator slash husbandapproving it, without the
perpetrator slash husbandapproving it.
So let's think about that.
He's in prison.
He's got nothing better to do,right?
(15:59):
I want to bury my daughter andI can't.
I can't claim her body Becausehe won't release them.
He won't release them.
So let's you know, I don't knowthere's so many things that we
could do legislatively, but I'mso proud to have had a smidgen
of input with regards to theprocess of the Violence Against
Women Act and the Office onViolence Against Women.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
That's an incredible recap and I also think it's
incredible insight into what thefuture could look like if we
didn't have this and if we don'tcontinue to have VAWA, and if
we don't continue to haveno-fault divorces and rights for
women, equal rights for women.
So I appreciate you and Iappreciate all of that
(16:34):
information.
Anything else that happened onyour trip to Washington DC you
want to share with us?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yes, I would love to.
So it was.
The Office on Violence AgainstWomen had a 30-year celebration
of the passage.
There were two days where onThursday of that week, we were
invited up for an all-dayseminar at the Peace Corps
office.
So it was cool surroundingsanyway, right, and the flags of
(17:01):
all the states where the PeaceCorps is involved were there,
and we heard panel after paneltalking about different programs
and different laws anddifferent issues and so on.
It was really educational andreally important.
The next day we had an all-dayseminar and it was held in the
Department of Justice in theGrand Hall.
(17:21):
The Attorney General, merrickGarland, spoke, talking about
the importance of the issuesthat face women criminally and
how this country he is expectingto prosecute at the federal
level some state crimes.
We've seen this here in Dallas.
Our United States assistantdistrict attorney here in Dallas
(17:42):
for North Texas has picked upcases out of the Dallas district
attorney's office andprosecuted them federally.
And that means there is no pleabargain, there is no get out of
jail early.
It is hard time the whole time.
So is that a deterrent Gosh?
I hope so, right, and itusually includes firearms as
(18:03):
part of that process.
Anyway, general Garland spokefor quite a long time about the
importance of the ViolenceAgainst Women Act, as did Rosie
Hidalgo, who now is the Senatesworn director of the Office on
Violence Against Women and, asyou know, has been a guest on
your podcast.
She has, she spoke the deputydirector, attorney general, who
(18:24):
is just brilliant.
So that was a full day of that.
But here's the exciting part.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Oh, you mean, there's something more exciting there
is more so.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
On Thursday afternoon , president Biden hosted a
reception at the White House.
Wow, people who had worked onthis, been into the
administrations, worked on thedrafting of the legislations on
and on were invited to be on theSouth Lawn legislations on and
on were invited to be on theSouth Lawn.
And he was going to say youknow, he was going to address
(18:58):
the group.
Ruth Glenn of the NationalCoalition Against Domestic
Violence spoke a survivor of gunviolence herself.
She's amazing, she spoke and itwas pretty great, anyway.
So I'm on the way to theairport, right?
And my executive assistant getsanother email and says
President Biden would like youto join him on the stage during
his comments.
Oh, I'm like, wait what?
And so I said to my assistant Idon't know, that doesn't seem
(19:21):
like something I would like todo.
Oh, heck, yeah, I'm going to doit, right, absolutely.
Tell them yes and I'll see himtomorrow, right?
So we were just absolutelytaken care of.
We were invited to go into theEast Room of the White House
where we stood for maybe an houror two, getting on a platform
so that when President Bidencame in we would be set up for a
(19:44):
picture with him.
So there are probably I don'tknow 75 people in that room.
When he walked in and talkedabout you know, thank you for
what you do I thought it wasgoing to be people who had been
appointed during this time, butit wasn't.
It was people who work withAsian communities.
It was people who you know, menwho have been a part of the
solution.
It was people who work withwomen of color and people who
(20:07):
work with Genesis Women'sShelter and Support here in
Dallas, texas, and people whowork with Genesis Women's
Shelter and Support here inDallas, texas.
So if you picture the back ofthe White House, where it's got
the rotunda right there, and thestairs that come down, we were
on those stairs and boy oh boy,was that an amazing opportunity.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yeah, that must have been a moment, a real highlight
of your life, and that trip aswell.
So September was an incrediblemonth because, if that wasn't
enough, genesis also had anotherfirst, with the launch of the
Conference on Crimes AgainstWomen Summit Beyond the Bounds,
hosted in South Padre Island inTexas.
(20:45):
This was our first everconference outside the city of
Dallas and served as anextension of the Conference on
Crimes Against Women tohighlight the specific
gender-based challenges that areunique to coastal cities, rural
towns and resort communities,because victims and survivors of
coastal cities, rural towns andresort communities are
confronted with geographicisolation and transportation
(21:08):
issues, as well as a lack ofanonymity and limited access to
resources and services.
To address these issues, theConference on Crimes Against
Women Summit provided education,training and best practice
strategies to address somereally specific problems.
Tell us about that Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
First of all, we have always had concern for rural
communities that have thebiggest problems and the fewest
resources.
We have actually done webinarsand working with the Office on
Violence Against Women, goneinto rural communities to help
create coordinated communityresponses.
So let's think about SouthPadre Island.
(21:48):
So let's think about SouthPadre Island.
I believe they have sevenpeople on their police force.
For a community that is, youknow, normally just fine, but
then during summer, especiallyduring spring break, it swells
(22:09):
to just millions of peoplecoming and going out of South
Padre Island.
We looked at their particularproblems being a coastal resort,
being a spring break resort, ifyou want to call it that, rural
, fewer resources.
Way down in the Rio GrandeValley and we walked in with I
don't know 12 of the bestexperts from our Conference on
Crimes Against Women that wehold in May and we took them
south and took them to the beachand we talked about aquatic
(22:31):
homicide.
Aquatic homicide is provingthat she didn't slip in the
bathtub, that she was held underor her face was held up under
the spigot.
She didn't fall off the boat,she was, you know, pushed off
and drowned.
And how do you investigatethose?
We also had experts talk aboutsexual abuse and there was a
(22:54):
case, maria, you and I havetalked about it and you have
interviewed the mother, tracyMatheson.
Yes, her daughter, molly Jane,was murdered and raped and
murdered in Fort Worth, texas.
One of the first rapes of thismonster that did it to this
child.
This woman was on South PadreIsland and a woman named Katie
(23:15):
was on spring break and she, youknow, met this guy and he
seemed fun and they were on thebeach.
He eventually raped her andthen he is caught.
He said he did it.
They got a buckle swab that hada CODIS hit on it and by that
time, though, spring break isover, katie goes home, he leaves
(23:36):
to go on and rape in NorthTexas, to rape and murder in
Dallas area and rape and murderin Fort Worth.
This case was just so solid.
The police department of SouthPadre Island did an amazing job
on that particular case wrappedit up with a bow, had all kinds
of evidence, his confection Sure, I did it whatever.
(23:58):
I did it whatever.
I mean.
Do you hear me say that I didit whatever?
Yeah, it's incredible.
So they put the case togetherand they had submitted it to the
DA's office.
And you don't hear right away.
I thought you kind of could,you know, stick it in the vote
counting machine and it'd comeright back out saying we take it
or we don't.
They decided after about I think, 10 months or a year that they
(24:18):
were not gonna prosecute thatcase.
Now think about that.
Had they prosecuted that case,had they held this monster named
Kimbrough accountable, wouldthese two other women be alive?
What about all the rapes inbetween?
It just broke the hearts ofthat department because they
were the ones who worked withKatie, continue to work with
(24:40):
Katie and imagine a mother of achild who was murdered when this
guy slipped through the handsof law enforcement and
prosecutorial efforts.
Anyway, we talk a lot aboutsexual assault, how to prove it,
how to prosecute it.
Also, we talked about humantrafficking.
So close to the Mexico border.
(25:02):
There is a lot of that in thatarea, and so that was one 911
reporting and how to do it withkind of a trauma-informed
approach, which most of thosepolice officers had absolutely
no idea what we were talkingabout when we said those words.
Obviously, domestic violenceand law enforcement, report
writing and nursing andprosecutorial perspectives.
(25:25):
So it was a robust two dayswith experts that the Valley
never could have known who theyare much less afforded to bring
to their community.
So I'm super proud of thissummit and we look forward to
doing it again.
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I mean there were over 250 people attended 24
workshops, 33 speakers 25 states, maria, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
25 states, maria, that's amazing.
25 states, and I think it wassix tribal nations.
Yes, two of our attendees werefrom Hawaii and I don't know.
I don't think they came for thebeach, because, even as lovely
as South Audrey is Right.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
It's a little bit of a different experience.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
But they came to learn these kinds of things.
25 states.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Well, that actually makes perfect sense, though I
mean the one thing we yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
And here's something so great.
Our keynote speaker, who's thecountry's leading expert on
aquatic homicides, then did twobreakout workshops on the beach.
They taped it off.
They had everything from thediscovery of the body to the
interview of the person whofound the body role-played.
That reenacted the crime scene.
(26:34):
How she was dressed, how youknow how typically that is not
the way somebody floats up andyou know the fact that she was
found face down.
It had something to do with itas well, because there were
scrapes on her knees and theysaid, oh well, that's just the
gravel on the bottom in the sandand it's not.
They float up face up.
(26:56):
And so they could tell thebruises on her body was not,
didn't have anything to do withslipping off the boat.
So it was fascinating and Ilove this part.
I'm going to brag on ouradvocates of the world.
I was out there on the beachjust watching and they were
interviewing, role-playing theinterview of the witness, the
one who found the body.
(27:17):
Oh, my gosh, I think that's abody out there.
No, no, it's not there is.
There's a body out there.
And so a police officer wastaking her statement.
He stood over her with his armscrossed full uniform elbow on
his firearm and was like okay,what happened?
And she's like I don't know, Isaw something, you know that
kind of thing.
And so he would say well, Ineed, you know, I need to do a
(27:39):
report right off the bat, right?
Finally, an advocate couldn'ttake it anymore and she said can
I just please try this and showyou how to do this?
And so she gets over there, Ilevel with the witness and said
you know what?
Can I get you a drink of water?
Can I, you know?
Is there anything I can get youright now?
Have you had anything to eat?
I'd be happy to grab somethingfor you.
And then, just how are you?
(28:01):
How are you feeling right now?
Before, hey, what happened?
Or whatever.
So I could tell the cops sortof cops versus advocates the
cops were getting their backs upa little bit Like well, that's
not how we do it, or I don'thave time for that, or you know,
whatever, I still need a report.
And at the end of this workshopon the beach, I saw these big
(28:22):
old guys nodding their heads andsaying I never thought about
that.
I promise you I'm going to dothis differently from now on.
And I was like and there youhave it, you know, sure.
So anyway, it was an amazingtwo days and the facility was
great.
The island was so hospitable.
They threw a party on the deckof the hotel on the first night,
(28:45):
with fireworks, just for us.
How exciting, oh, I know it wasreally great and they just kept
saying thank you for doing this.
Where other conferences I'vegone to and it's been kind of
like yeah, okay, what's in itfor me?
Don't you serve lunch?
Kind of thing.
Oh, they were so gratefulbecause they never could have
had this kind of training had wenot brought it to South Padre
Island.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
That's amazing Training, training everywhere
for the Conference on CrimesAgainst Women.
Side note, the 2025 conferencewill be held in Dallas, texas,
may 19th through the 22nd at theSheraton Dallas.
Learn more and register now atconferencecaworg.
And may I add that there is somuch education available as well
(29:26):
through our National TrainingCenter on Crimes Against Women
that I almost can't mention itall.
There's just a few highlightsIn October, a DV symposium that
is a deeper dive into tactics ofthe abuser.
In November, topics onstrangulation with Kelsey McKay.
In February, the Institute onProsecuting Domestic Violence,
(29:47):
office of Special Trial Counsel.
All of these trainings and moreyou can find information on the
website, trainingcaworg.
And as if that wasn't enough,we also hosted the seventh
annual First Ladies Bruncheon onOctober 5th at the beautiful
Fairmont Hotel, and what alovely event that was.
(30:08):
For those not familiar, jan,what is the First Ladies
Bruncheon and who does itsupport?
Speaker 2 (30:15):
So we know that domestic violence is an equal
opportunity epidemic.
It happens in all neighborhoods, all ethnicities, all race, all
creed, all zip codes.
But we know thatAfrican-American women are
assaulted 35% more than whitewomen.
Now, I don't think that meansthat black men are more violent.
(30:35):
I think that means the assaultsare more often and they are
more, possibly more severe, andthey are tremendously
underreported.
So for many years, genesis hashad the strategic plan of
addressing the needs inunderserved communities, and one
of these communities is theAfrican American community.
(30:55):
So we began looking around,thinking what can we do to help?
We gave grants a couple oftimes to people who are trying
to do good work.
Many of the efforts are not501c3 efforts, so they could not
get donations, and we tried todo a webinar seminar on how to
get a 501c3.
But what we came across was thatin the southern sector of
(31:19):
Dallas, on any given Sundaymorning, there are probably
500,000 people who go to thatarea to worship Mega churches
like Concord or Potter's House,but also these wonderful
congregations like Smith Chapel,ame, where the first ladies,
particularly the First Ladies ofthose churches, are not only
(31:42):
celebrated but they also haveministries to help survivors of
intimate partner violence.
And so we began reaching out tothose communities, recognizing
the impact that their ministrieshad, but also recognizing that
they were not taking that nextstep to partner with Genesis, to
(32:03):
have the resources beyond whatthey can do in that faith
community.
So we actually, seven years ago, partnered with many of the
churches, the African-Americanchurches in Southern Dallas,
dallas, to host First LadiesBruncheon.
We put on our hats and we geton our praise and I am telling
you what we recognize primarilyFirst Ladies, but then also men
(32:27):
of faith, survivors, and we havequite a bruncheon.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
And last Saturday- we do have quite a bruncheon.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
We have singing, we have preaching, we have a room
full of 500 people saying thatwe work this together Because
it's not a black issue, it's nota white issue, it's a human
beings issue and we all need tohave the answers to those.
So it was amazing.
(32:59):
Shalondria Taylor.
Pastor Shalondria Taylor, fromCalifornia, came in and did our
message that morning.
I mean, it was hands in the air.
It was just incredible.
You walked out filled withsomething that you didn't come
in with.
You walked out filled with theknowledge that domestic violence
(33:19):
is not the victim's fault, thisis not a woman's issue, that
men have to be a part of this,that faith communities can have
a tremendous impact on thisissue.
So very successful event.
It was beautiful.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
It was beautiful, wasn't it?
Yeah, I loved every minute ofit.
It was a beautiful morning anda beautiful celebration of the
joy of life and thepossibilities beyond living in
an abusive relationship.
We also most recently, atGenesis, hosted a domestic
violence town hall with DallasCounty Sheriff Marion Brown.
(33:52):
Tell us about the significanceof a town hall on this topic and
what was discussed.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Great question.
So we actually, as you say,hosted Sheriff Brown.
It was one of her efforts inrecognizing October as Domestic
Violence Awareness Month and wehad a room full of law
enforcement and advocates andsurvivors and a panel of
information.
(34:18):
I was there representing theservice providers.
Next to me was Major MonicaIgoe, who is over the domestic
violence unit with the DallasPolice Department, and we also
had Ms Austin, teresa Austin,from the district attorney's
office, talking about whathappens when you file a
protective order, how to, what'sthe difference between a
(34:38):
restraining order and aprotective order?
So, from the legal point thepolice department, from the
resources Sheriff Brown reallywanted the community to know
that there are there's more thanshelter, there's more than a
police response, and we wereable to talk to the audience
about what those kinds of thingsare and we were able to talk to
(34:58):
the audience about what thosekinds of things are.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Yeah, that's a very important gathering, especially
during Domestic ViolenceAwareness Month.
I know this month we'rerecording this in the month of
October, which is DomesticViolence Awareness Month, and I
know it's really jam-packed withevents, especially education
and supporting survivors andreally declaring the
anti-domestic violence movementis still here.
It's here to stay, and VAWA hasconfirmed that.
(35:25):
So we are moving on to the restof the year with so many events
.
I hope you will save the datesfor Jamfest on November 2nd,
masquerade on February 28th 2025, and the Genesis Annual
Luncheon, may 1st 2025.
All of the details about theseevents and more are on our
(35:47):
website, genesisshelterorg, andwhen you follow Genesis on
social media, you can get evenmore information more
information, jan, the last word.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
I have a secret with who our speaker is going to be
in May of 25, on May 1st.
Are you going to tell us andI'm not supposed to tell, but
I'm going to tell you, and Idon't know anybody who's
listening to this podcast thatKristen Chenoweth is going to be
our speaker?
Oh, wow, we are so thrilled.
Broadway star, actress, amazing, and this summer she was able
to share a story of abuse in herfirst marriage not her current
(36:24):
marriage, but her first marriage.
And, as you know, everyluncheon that we have, we try to
tie it to the issue.
It isn't just hey, I want tomeet a famous person.
This is somebody who is anexpert on the issue of domestic
violence and we are thrilledthat she will be our keynote
speaker at the Genesis AnnualLuncheon next May.
That is a great secret, butdon't tell anybody, okay.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
It's too bad, we can't tell anybody.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
We can't tell anybody okay, not yet, okay tell your
friends.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
By your table now.
Okay, well, on that note, Iguess I will see you next time.
Thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
I love being here.
I just you do such a good job.
Number one, but number two thisis information that Genesis
wants to share with listenersall across the country, all
across the world, actually, asthis podcast is followed.
So thank you for having me andremember, let your voices and
your votes be heard.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Genesis Women's Shelter and Support exists to
give women in abusive situationsa way out.
We are committed to our missionof providing safety, shelter
and support for women andchildren who have experienced
domestic violence, and to raiseawareness regarding its cause,
prevalence and impact.
Join us in creating a societalshift on how people think about
domestic violence.
You can learn more atGenesisShelterorg and when you
(37:41):
follow us on social media onFacebook and Instagram at
Genesis Women's Shelter, and onX at Genesis Shelter.
The Genesis Helpline isavailable 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, by call or text at214-946-HELP 214-946-4357.
Wondering how the reauthorization of the Violence
Against Women Act benefits youor all of us.
Genesis CEO Jan Langbein ishere to break it down, plus many
other exciting updates you donot want to miss.
I'm Maria McMullin and this isGenesis, the podcast.
Hi, jan, welcome to the show.
(00:23):
Thank you so much.
I'm glad to be here.
It's good to see you.
You've been so busy.
I've hardly seen you this fall,and most recently you traveled
to Washington DC to celebrate asignificant milestone for women
in this country, and it'sspecifically related to the
Genesis Mission, which isdedicated to supporting
survivors of domestic violence,as well as other crimes against
(00:44):
women, through the Conference onCrimes Against Women.
So to begin, let's talk aboutthe reauthorization of VAWA, why
it's important and what itmeans for women in abusive
relationships, and why others,including men, should care about
this act.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Absolutely so.
I would like to give you aquick timeline on the VAW, which
is the Violence Against WomenAct, and it truly set our
country apart for many countriesbecause it's a national
response to a national problem,and so it is specifically
designated as a response tosexual assault and domestic
(01:22):
violence, dating violence andstalking.
President Biden, when he was asenator, actually was committed
to preventing and addressinggender-based violence, and
really this whole issue, I think, has remained a cornerstone of
his career.
The Violence Against Women Actwas passed 30 years ago in
(01:43):
September.
The Violence Against Women Actwas passed 30 years ago in
September, so it was then signedby President Bill Clinton in
September 13, 1994.
That first act provided $1.6billion toward investigation and
prosecution of violent crimesagainst women.
It imposed an automatic andmandatory restitution on those
(02:03):
convicted and allowed civilredress when prosecutors chose
not to prosecute the cases.
The act also and this is whatone of the things that I'm so
excited about it established theOffice on Violence Against
Women within the Department ofJustice and, as you know, I was
incredibly honored to receive,in 2008, a presidential
(02:23):
appointment to serve in thatoffice as senior policy advisor
to the director of the Office onViolence Against Women.
The director at that time wasCindy Dyer, born in Waco,
studied at A&M, got her lawdegree.
She actually was in thedistrict attorney's office here
but then picked up to then gothrough the process to be the
(02:44):
Senate confirmed director of theOffice on Violence Against
Women.
And she had been in that chairfor a little bit and then was
able to pluck me up toWashington DC and I just I
learned so much in that ninemonths.
It was the end of the Bushadministration and from April to
when we were all kicked out inJanuary I was able to see across
(03:08):
this country programs just likeGenesis, doing what we can with
what we have, but having a zerotolerance for violence against
women.
I saw shelters in double widetrailers.
I saw shelters and programs inhigh-rise apartment buildings.
So it was interesting to me,from Alaska to Africa, that
(03:30):
there are just certain people inthis world who are putting on
their pants every day and goingoff to try to make this world a
better place for women,particularly so it was
authorized.
Let me get back to the historyof that.
It was authorized, signed intolaw in 94.
But in the bill it said thatevery five years it needed to be
history of that.
It was authorized, signed intolaw in 94.
But in the bill it said thatevery five years it needed to be
(03:50):
reauthorized.
So it just wasn't standingforever and it was.
So it was reauthorized threetimes 2000, 2005, and 2013.
And each time the work thatwent into those three
reauthorizations helped stretchor expand access to safety and
support for survivors andincrease prevention efforts.
(04:11):
Since 1994, these programs havebeen administered through the
Office on Violence Against Women, have been administered by the
United States Department ofJustice.
So again, senator Biden wrotethis there was no hotline, there
was no funding for programs andin fact recently I heard how
(04:32):
controversial it was.
Even in 1994, there wereaccusations of, oh, you're
trying to split up the family,or oh, you're trying to blame
men for women's problems, and onand on.
I mean just crazy, crazyconversation.
I would have thought it was ano-brainer.
It still seems to me to be ano-brainer to me.
(04:52):
But again it did get throughand it was bipartisan.
The next authorization, in 2000,was actually bipartisan, but
again they stretched that tocover legal assistance programs
for victims.
It also included datingviolence and stalking.
It reauthorized critical grantprograms that had been
(05:13):
established five years beforethat and new grant programs were
strengthened through thisfederal law.
So now we come to 2005 and thereauthorization produced new and
holistic responses and programsto meet the emerging needs,
like prevention, like landmarkhousing protection for survivors
, like funding rape crisiscenters, like culturally and
(05:36):
linguistically specific services.
So again, 10 years after theoriginal legislation, we
continue to stretch it to whereit really does cover the needs
of survivors, women who aresurvivors of gender-based
violence, wherever they are.
So here comes 2013.
It was up for reauthorizationin 2010, and it was not because,
(06:01):
all of a sudden, thisbipartisan effort got all
crosswise, because the originaldocuments were wanting to
include Native American womenand Alaska Native women.
Well, why not, right?
Right, it now in this 2010draft was to include immigrants.
Right, right, the crimes arebeing committed in our country,
(06:24):
so there needs to be protectionagainst those crimes and holding
perpetrators accountable, nomatter where they're from.
But there was a lot of talkabout we're not going to pay for
services for immigrants.
The LGBTQ plus really hit awall, particularly with
conservative Republicans.
This also particularly withconservative Republicans.
(06:47):
This also this draft that wasfor 2010 and didn't get
authorized till 2013 alsoincluded college students and
public housing residents.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
So I just want to ask a question If it's not
reauthorized at the time that itcomes up for reauthorization,
what happens to?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
the act.
Well, nothing else happens.
So if we were getting fundswhich, as you know, genesis
doesn't get funds but if, foragencies that do get funds, they
were at that same level, it waskind of a continuing Okay, so
it still exists, it's just notit didn't go away.
It didn't go away, but therewere no additional
considerations.
There was no additional funds,which, as you know, the costs of
(07:26):
everything go up every singleyear, and so even these service
providers could not add programswithin their own programs, but
your funding didn't go away,right?
Unfortunately, there was somuch scrapping back and forth
that that 2010 reauthorizationdid not happen until 2013.
And again, mostly opposed byconservative Republicans who
(07:50):
were very opposed and objected alot to the acts protections of
same-sex couples that was a hugething as well as undocumented
immigrants.
So here comes April of 2019,all right, and the House of
Representatives passed areauthorization VAWA bill that
(08:11):
included new provisions.
However, it didn't get anyfarther.
It didn't get through Senate,it didn't pass at all and they
really had to start all over.
And you'll think about theadministration during that
period of time 2014 through 2020is where we're talking about in
that period, and who was overthe Senate, who was the majority
(08:34):
in the House and so on.
It just became really, reallypolitical.
But we are so pleased that inMarch 15th of 2022.
But we are so pleased that inMarch 15th of 2022, now it
hadn't been improved or extendedor refunded increased funding
since 2013.
But in 2022, president Joe Bidendid sign the reauthorization of
(08:59):
the Violence Against Women Act.
It did things like protecttransgender victims.
That hasn't been in there.
It also and you and I havetalked about this this is where
banning individuals convicted ofdomestic violence were
prohibited from purchasingfirearms.
So you and I have had so manyconversations about firearms in
(09:19):
the hands of abusers.
Studies tell us that just themere presence of a firearm in
the house where there is abuseratchets up the survivor's
lethality by 500% just having agun in the house, right?
There was a study not long agoin fact you may have sent that
to me about speaking withperpetrators who had murdered
(09:41):
their spouse or partner and thequestion was asked would you
have killed her had there notbeen firearms in the house?
And the majority was saying no.
No, I wouldn't have at thattime.
I don't know how much of that Ibelieve, because there are
certainly other choices ofweapons, but this particular
piece of legislation that wassigned in 2022 just really
(10:04):
really made a huge difference.
The Reauthorization Act of 2022,this bipartisan VAWA
reauthorization included what Ithink are groundbreaking
provisions to strengthen andmodernize the law.
The law provides funding forsurvivors and the thousands of
local programs that serve them.
It provides for communitieswith much needed resources for
(10:27):
housing, legal assistance,alternative to criminal
responses and preventionprogramming.
It also included a new economicjustice provision and bolsters
access for survivors of allgenders by strengthening
non-discrimination laws andcreating LGBTQ services programs
(10:47):
.
It restores tribal jurisdiction.
Now, this is another thing thatI believe you and I have spoken
about on this podcast.
But prior to this, if a woman,for example, was raped on a
reservation a Native Americanreservation by a non-native
white perpetrator living acrossthe highway where the United
(11:09):
States starts and the triballands stop, he could go across,
rape that person and thenslither back across the road and
could not be charged with acrime, because it didn't happen
on American soil and tribaljurisdiction didn't cover
non-native perpetrators.
So, basically, open season onwomen, right?
(11:30):
Yes, but this 2022 law restoredtribal jurisdiction, allowing
tribes to hold non-nativeperpetrators accountable.
This one also improved existinghousing protections and
increases access to emergencyand short-term housing.
So when I say housingprotections, there are a couple
(11:50):
of things that we can talk aboutnow, or maybe on another one,
but I don't think women in Texasknow that they can break their
lease if they are survivors ofdomestic violence.
This is relatively new, I thinklast legislative session, right
there's.
Also there was a law in placethat if the police came out to
your apartment you know morethan once, more than twice,
(12:12):
whatever it was the apartmentcomplex could evict whoever
lived there.
The intent of that was to weedout drugs and gangs that were
taking over apartment complexes,without taking into
consideration the impact onsurvivors of domestic violence.
They can either not call thepolice and have a place to live,
or call the police, which theydesperately need, and then be
(12:36):
evicted from their apartment.
So in this, you know, we seewe're seeing more and more
housing protections throughstate law and federal law as
well, and so that is the history.
I know that was a lot and Iknow I blew through that quickly
.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
I think those were some very valuable updates.
We needed the history right.
We needed to understand the actand let our listeners kind of
hear it again how this wasestablished.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
But the updates are amazing through the years and
you know I'll probably go off onlet your voice and your vote be
heard in this podcast, but Ithink it's incumbent upon all of
us who to see who voted for itand who voted against it.
That period of time when I wassaying conservative Republicans
with the trying to get thispassed in 2012 and 2013,.
(13:27):
You know my elected officialdid not vote for this.
My state senators did not votefor this and this was their
complaint was undocumentedimmigrants and same-sex couples,
and look at what the ripplingeffect of that is how many
programs across the countrycouldn't get the resources they
needed or how many people werenot helped because of this.
(13:51):
Stand against immigrants andLGBTQ same-sex couples
relationships.
Yeah, and I think it'sincumbent upon all of us to know
how our elected officials voteon the issues.
Look through the lens ofdomestic violence.
Look through and say, okay,that sounds nice, but how does
(14:12):
it impact women and children?
How does it impact the crimesthat are committed against women
and children?
Case in point there is anelected official who's running
for office right now who wantsto do away with no-fault
divorces.
No-fault divorce means I can gointo court and say my husband
(14:32):
beats me and I can be granted adivorce that I don't have to
prove that he beats me.
Without a no-fault divorce,victims will have to have
somebody witness the abuse, likeit was in 1950 and 60, or they
will have to have several peoplecome forward and testify on her
behalf.
That's what no-fault divorcemeans.
(14:54):
And this particular candidatehas also said you shouldn't
change a spouse or a partnerlike you change your underwear.
You shouldn't cast off amarriage even if there is
domestic violence.
Quote unquote.
Wow, so I think we all ought tobe very careful about how we
are voting.
(15:14):
Let's look past some of therhetoric and some of the slick
messages and really take a lookat what is that going to mean?
When my daughter is battered,what does that mean?
Talking about laws, there is alaw in Texas that I really hope
this legislative session willaddress, and that is if, for
(15:36):
example, if my daughter Godforbid were murdered by her
abuser, then the family cannotcollect her remains without the
perpetrator slash husbandapproving it, without the
perpetrator slash husbandapproving it.
So let's think about that.
He's in prison.
He's got nothing better to do,right?
(15:59):
I want to bury my daughter andI can't.
I can't claim her body Becausehe won't release them.
He won't release them.
So let's you know, I don't knowthere's so many things that we
could do legislatively, but I'mso proud to have had a smidgen
of input with regards to theprocess of the Violence Against
Women Act and the Office onViolence Against Women.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
That's an incredible recap and I also think it's
incredible insight into what thefuture could look like if we
didn't have this and if we don'tcontinue to have VAWA, and if
we don't continue to haveno-fault divorces and rights for
women, equal rights for women.
So I appreciate you and Iappreciate all of that
(16:34):
information.
Anything else that happened onyour trip to Washington DC you
want to share with us?
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Yes, I would love to.
So it was.
The Office on Violence AgainstWomen had a 30-year celebration
of the passage.
There were two days where onThursday of that week, we were
invited up for an all-dayseminar at the Peace Corps
office.
So it was cool surroundingsanyway, right, and the flags of
(17:01):
all the states where the PeaceCorps is involved were there,
and we heard panel after paneltalking about different programs
and different laws anddifferent issues and so on.
It was really educational andreally important.
The next day we had an all-dayseminar and it was held in the
Department of Justice in theGrand Hall.
(17:21):
The Attorney General, merrickGarland, spoke, talking about
the importance of the issuesthat face women criminally and
how this country he is expectingto prosecute at the federal
level some state crimes.
We've seen this here in Dallas.
Our United States assistantdistrict attorney here in Dallas
(17:42):
for North Texas has picked upcases out of the Dallas district
attorney's office andprosecuted them federally.
And that means there is no pleabargain, there is no get out of
jail early.
It is hard time the whole time.
So is that a deterrent Gosh?
I hope so, right, and itusually includes firearms as
(18:03):
part of that process.
Anyway, general Garland spokefor quite a long time about the
importance of the ViolenceAgainst Women Act, as did Rosie
Hidalgo, who now is the Senatesworn director of the Office on
Violence Against Women and, asyou know, has been a guest on
your podcast.
She has, she spoke the deputydirector, attorney general, who
(18:24):
is just brilliant.
So that was a full day of that.
But here's the exciting part.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Oh, you mean, there's something more exciting there
is more so.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
On Thursday afternoon , president Biden hosted a
reception at the White House.
Wow, people who had worked onthis, been into the
administrations, worked on thedrafting of the legislations on
and on were invited to be on theSouth Lawn legislations on and
on were invited to be on theSouth Lawn.
And he was going to say youknow, he was going to address
(18:58):
the group.
Ruth Glenn of the NationalCoalition Against Domestic
Violence spoke a survivor of gunviolence herself.
She's amazing, she spoke and itwas pretty great, anyway.
So I'm on the way to theairport, right?
And my executive assistant getsanother email and says
President Biden would like youto join him on the stage during
his comments.
Oh, I'm like, wait what?
And so I said to my assistant Idon't know, that doesn't seem
(19:21):
like something I would like todo.
Oh, heck, yeah, I'm going to doit, right, absolutely.
Tell them yes and I'll see himtomorrow, right?
So we were just absolutelytaken care of.
We were invited to go into theEast Room of the White House
where we stood for maybe an houror two, getting on a platform
so that when President Bidencame in we would be set up for a
(19:44):
picture with him.
So there are probably I don'tknow 75 people in that room.
When he walked in and talkedabout you know, thank you for
what you do I thought it wasgoing to be people who had been
appointed during this time, butit wasn't.
It was people who work withAsian communities.
It was people who you know, menwho have been a part of the
solution.
It was people who work withwomen of color and people who
(20:07):
work with Genesis Women'sShelter and Support here in
Dallas, texas, and people whowork with Genesis Women's
Shelter and Support here inDallas, texas.
So if you picture the back ofthe White House, where it's got
the rotunda right there, and thestairs that come down, we were
on those stairs and boy oh boy,was that an amazing opportunity.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yeah, that must have been a moment, a real highlight
of your life, and that trip aswell.
So September was an incrediblemonth because, if that wasn't
enough, genesis also had anotherfirst, with the launch of the
Conference on Crimes AgainstWomen Summit Beyond the Bounds,
hosted in South Padre Island inTexas.
(20:45):
This was our first everconference outside the city of
Dallas and served as anextension of the Conference on
Crimes Against Women tohighlight the specific
gender-based challenges that areunique to coastal cities, rural
towns and resort communities,because victims and survivors of
coastal cities, rural towns andresort communities are
confronted with geographicisolation and transportation
(21:08):
issues, as well as a lack ofanonymity and limited access to
resources and services.
To address these issues, theConference on Crimes Against
Women Summit provided education,training and best practice
strategies to address somereally specific problems.
Tell us about that Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
First of all, we have always had concern for rural
communities that have thebiggest problems and the fewest
resources.
We have actually done webinarsand working with the Office on
Violence Against Women, goneinto rural communities to help
create coordinated communityresponses.
So let's think about SouthPadre Island.
(21:48):
So let's think about SouthPadre Island.
I believe they have sevenpeople on their police force.
For a community that is, youknow, normally just fine, but
then during summer, especiallyduring spring break, it swells
(22:09):
to just millions of peoplecoming and going out of South
Padre Island.
We looked at their particularproblems being a coastal resort,
being a spring break resort, ifyou want to call it that, rural
, fewer resources.
Way down in the Rio GrandeValley and we walked in with I
don't know 12 of the bestexperts from our Conference on
Crimes Against Women that wehold in May and we took them
south and took them to the beachand we talked about aquatic
(22:31):
homicide.
Aquatic homicide is provingthat she didn't slip in the
bathtub, that she was held underor her face was held up under
the spigot.
She didn't fall off the boat,she was, you know, pushed off
and drowned.
And how do you investigatethose?
We also had experts talk aboutsexual abuse and there was a
(22:54):
case, maria, you and I havetalked about it and you have
interviewed the mother, tracyMatheson.
Yes, her daughter, molly Jane,was murdered and raped and
murdered in Fort Worth, texas.
One of the first rapes of thismonster that did it to this
child.
This woman was on South PadreIsland and a woman named Katie
(23:15):
was on spring break and she, youknow, met this guy and he
seemed fun and they were on thebeach.
He eventually raped her andthen he is caught.
He said he did it.
They got a buckle swab that hada CODIS hit on it and by that
time, though, spring break isover, katie goes home, he leaves
(23:36):
to go on and rape in NorthTexas, to rape and murder in
Dallas area and rape and murderin Fort Worth.
This case was just so solid.
The police department of SouthPadre Island did an amazing job
on that particular case wrappedit up with a bow, had all kinds
of evidence, his confection Sure, I did it whatever.
(23:58):
I did it whatever.
I mean.
Do you hear me say that I didit whatever?
Yeah, it's incredible.
So they put the case togetherand they had submitted it to the
DA's office.
And you don't hear right away.
I thought you kind of could,you know, stick it in the vote
counting machine and it'd comeright back out saying we take it
or we don't.
They decided after about I think, 10 months or a year that they
(24:18):
were not gonna prosecute thatcase.
Now think about that.
Had they prosecuted that case,had they held this monster named
Kimbrough accountable, wouldthese two other women be alive?
What about all the rapes inbetween?
It just broke the hearts ofthat department because they
were the ones who worked withKatie, continue to work with
(24:40):
Katie and imagine a mother of achild who was murdered when this
guy slipped through the handsof law enforcement and
prosecutorial efforts.
Anyway, we talk a lot aboutsexual assault, how to prove it,
how to prosecute it.
Also, we talked about humantrafficking.
So close to the Mexico border.
(25:02):
There is a lot of that in thatarea, and so that was one 911
reporting and how to do it withkind of a trauma-informed
approach, which most of thosepolice officers had absolutely
no idea what we were talkingabout when we said those words.
Obviously, domestic violenceand law enforcement, report
writing and nursing andprosecutorial perspectives.
(25:25):
So it was a robust two dayswith experts that the Valley
never could have known who theyare much less afforded to bring
to their community.
So I'm super proud of thissummit and we look forward to
doing it again.
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I mean there were over 250 people attended 24
workshops, 33 speakers 25 states, maria, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
25 states, maria, that's amazing.
25 states, and I think it wassix tribal nations.
Yes, two of our attendees werefrom Hawaii and I don't know.
I don't think they came for thebeach, because, even as lovely
as South Audrey is Right.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
It's a little bit of a different experience.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
But they came to learn these kinds of things.
25 states.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Well, that actually makes perfect sense, though I
mean the one thing we yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
And here's something so great.
Our keynote speaker, who's thecountry's leading expert on
aquatic homicides, then did twobreakout workshops on the beach.
They taped it off.
They had everything from thediscovery of the body to the
interview of the person whofound the body role-played.
That reenacted the crime scene.
(26:34):
How she was dressed, how youknow how typically that is not
the way somebody floats up andyou know the fact that she was
found face down.
It had something to do with itas well, because there were
scrapes on her knees and theysaid, oh well, that's just the
gravel on the bottom in the sandand it's not.
They float up face up.
(26:56):
And so they could tell thebruises on her body was not,
didn't have anything to do withslipping off the boat.
So it was fascinating and Ilove this part.
I'm going to brag on ouradvocates of the world.
I was out there on the beachjust watching and they were
interviewing, role-playing theinterview of the witness, the
one who found the body.
(27:17):
Oh, my gosh, I think that's abody out there.
No, no, it's not there is.
There's a body out there.
And so a police officer wastaking her statement.
He stood over her with his armscrossed full uniform elbow on
his firearm and was like okay,what happened?
And she's like I don't know, Isaw something, you know that
kind of thing.
And so he would say well, Ineed, you know, I need to do a
(27:39):
report right off the bat, right?
Finally, an advocate couldn'ttake it anymore and she said can
I just please try this and showyou how to do this?
And so she gets over there, Ilevel with the witness and said
you know what?
Can I get you a drink of water?
Can I, you know?
Is there anything I can get youright now?
Have you had anything to eat?
I'd be happy to grab somethingfor you.
And then, just how are you?
(28:01):
How are you feeling right now?
Before, hey, what happened?
Or whatever.
So I could tell the cops sortof cops versus advocates the
cops were getting their backs upa little bit Like well, that's
not how we do it, or I don'thave time for that, or you know,
whatever, I still need a report.
And at the end of this workshopon the beach, I saw these big
(28:22):
old guys nodding their heads andsaying I never thought about
that.
I promise you I'm going to dothis differently from now on.
And I was like and there youhave it, you know, sure.
So anyway, it was an amazingtwo days and the facility was
great.
The island was so hospitable.
They threw a party on the deckof the hotel on the first night,
(28:45):
with fireworks, just for us.
How exciting, oh, I know it wasreally great and they just kept
saying thank you for doing this.
Where other conferences I'vegone to and it's been kind of
like yeah, okay, what's in itfor me?
Don't you serve lunch?
Kind of thing.
Oh, they were so gratefulbecause they never could have
had this kind of training had wenot brought it to South Padre
Island.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
That's amazing Training, training everywhere
for the Conference on CrimesAgainst Women.
Side note, the 2025 conferencewill be held in Dallas, texas,
may 19th through the 22nd at theSheraton Dallas.
Learn more and register now atconferencecaworg.
And may I add that there is somuch education available as well
(29:26):
through our National TrainingCenter on Crimes Against Women
that I almost can't mention itall.
There's just a few highlightsIn October, a DV symposium that
is a deeper dive into tactics ofthe abuser.
In November, topics onstrangulation with Kelsey McKay.
In February, the Institute onProsecuting Domestic Violence,
(29:47):
office of Special Trial Counsel.
All of these trainings and moreyou can find information on the
website, trainingcaworg.
And as if that wasn't enough,we also hosted the seventh
annual First Ladies Bruncheon onOctober 5th at the beautiful
Fairmont Hotel, and what alovely event that was.
(30:08):
For those not familiar, jan,what is the First Ladies
Bruncheon and who does itsupport?
Speaker 2 (30:15):
So we know that domestic violence is an equal
opportunity epidemic.
It happens in all neighborhoods, all ethnicities, all race, all
creed, all zip codes.
But we know thatAfrican-American women are
assaulted 35% more than whitewomen.
Now, I don't think that meansthat black men are more violent.
(30:35):
I think that means the assaultsare more often and they are
more, possibly more severe, andthey are tremendously
underreported.
So for many years, genesis hashad the strategic plan of
addressing the needs inunderserved communities, and one
of these communities is theAfrican American community.
(30:55):
So we began looking around,thinking what can we do to help?
We gave grants a couple oftimes to people who are trying
to do good work.
Many of the efforts are not501c3 efforts, so they could not
get donations, and we tried todo a webinar seminar on how to
get a 501c3.
But what we came across was thatin the southern sector of
(31:19):
Dallas, on any given Sundaymorning, there are probably
500,000 people who go to thatarea to worship Mega churches
like Concord or Potter's House,but also these wonderful
congregations like Smith Chapel,ame, where the first ladies,
particularly the First Ladies ofthose churches, are not only
(31:42):
celebrated but they also haveministries to help survivors of
intimate partner violence.
And so we began reaching out tothose communities, recognizing
the impact that their ministrieshad, but also recognizing that
they were not taking that nextstep to partner with Genesis, to
(32:03):
have the resources beyond whatthey can do in that faith
community.
So we actually, seven years ago, partnered with many of the
churches, the African-Americanchurches in Southern Dallas,
dallas, to host First LadiesBruncheon.
We put on our hats and we geton our praise and I am telling
you what we recognize primarilyFirst Ladies, but then also men
(32:27):
of faith, survivors, and we havequite a bruncheon.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
And last Saturday- we do have quite a bruncheon.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
We have singing, we have preaching, we have a room
full of 500 people saying thatwe work this together Because
it's not a black issue, it's nota white issue, it's a human
beings issue and we all need tohave the answers to those.
So it was amazing.
(32:59):
Shalondria Taylor.
Pastor Shalondria Taylor, fromCalifornia, came in and did our
message that morning.
I mean, it was hands in the air.
It was just incredible.
You walked out filled withsomething that you didn't come
in with.
You walked out filled with theknowledge that domestic violence
(33:19):
is not the victim's fault, thisis not a woman's issue, that
men have to be a part of this,that faith communities can have
a tremendous impact on thisissue.
So very successful event.
It was beautiful.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
It was beautiful, wasn't it?
Yeah, I loved every minute ofit.
It was a beautiful morning anda beautiful celebration of the
joy of life and thepossibilities beyond living in
an abusive relationship.
We also most recently, atGenesis, hosted a domestic
violence town hall with DallasCounty Sheriff Marion Brown.
(33:52):
Tell us about the significanceof a town hall on this topic and
what was discussed.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Great question.
So we actually, as you say,hosted Sheriff Brown.
It was one of her efforts inrecognizing October as Domestic
Violence Awareness Month and wehad a room full of law
enforcement and advocates andsurvivors and a panel of
information.
(34:18):
I was there representing theservice providers.
Next to me was Major MonicaIgoe, who is over the domestic
violence unit with the DallasPolice Department, and we also
had Ms Austin, teresa Austin,from the district attorney's
office, talking about whathappens when you file a
protective order, how to, what'sthe difference between a
(34:38):
restraining order and aprotective order?
So, from the legal point thepolice department, from the
resources Sheriff Brown reallywanted the community to know
that there are there's more thanshelter, there's more than a
police response, and we wereable to talk to the audience
about what those kinds of thingsare and we were able to talk to
(34:58):
the audience about what thosekinds of things are.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Yeah, that's a very important gathering, especially
during Domestic ViolenceAwareness Month.
I know this month we'rerecording this in the month of
October, which is DomesticViolence Awareness Month, and I
know it's really jam-packed withevents, especially education
and supporting survivors andreally declaring the
anti-domestic violence movementis still here.
It's here to stay, and VAWA hasconfirmed that.
(35:25):
So we are moving on to the restof the year with so many events
.
I hope you will save the datesfor Jamfest on November 2nd,
masquerade on February 28th 2025, and the Genesis Annual
Luncheon, may 1st 2025.
All of the details about theseevents and more are on our
(35:47):
website, genesisshelterorg, andwhen you follow Genesis on
social media, you can get evenmore information more
information, jan, the last word.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
I have a secret with who our speaker is going to be
in May of 25, on May 1st.
Are you going to tell us andI'm not supposed to tell, but
I'm going to tell you, and Idon't know anybody who's
listening to this podcast thatKristen Chenoweth is going to be
our speaker?
Oh, wow, we are so thrilled.
Broadway star, actress, amazing, and this summer she was able
to share a story of abuse in herfirst marriage not her current
(36:24):
marriage, but her first marriage.
And, as you know, everyluncheon that we have, we try to
tie it to the issue.
It isn't just hey, I want tomeet a famous person.
This is somebody who is anexpert on the issue of domestic
violence and we are thrilledthat she will be our keynote
speaker at the Genesis AnnualLuncheon next May.
That is a great secret, butdon't tell anybody, okay.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
It's too bad, we can't tell anybody.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
We can't tell anybody okay, not yet, okay tell your
friends.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
By your table now.
Okay, well, on that note, Iguess I will see you next time.
Thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
I love being here.
I just you do such a good job.
Number one, but number two thisis information that Genesis
wants to share with listenersall across the country, all
across the world, actually, asthis podcast is followed.
So thank you for having me andremember, let your voices and
your votes be heard.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Genesis Women's Shelter and Support exists to
give women in abusive situationsa way out.
We are committed to our missionof providing safety, shelter
and support for women andchildren who have experienced
domestic violence, and to raiseawareness regarding its cause,
prevalence and impact.
Join us in creating a societalshift on how people think about
domestic violence.
You can learn more atGenesisShelterorg and when you
(37:41):
follow us on social media onFacebook and Instagram at
Genesis Women's Shelter, and onX at Genesis Shelter.
The Genesis Helpline isavailable 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, by call or text at214-946-HELP 214-946-4357.
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