User:Lmprs/FVPF

For more than 25 years, the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) has been pioneering innovative programs to help end domestic and sexual violence. Instrumental in enacting the landmark Violence Against Women Act the FVPF breaks new ground every day by reaching out to men and youth, promoting community-based violence prevention programs, and transforming the way health care providers, police, judges, employers and others address violence against women and children. FVPF model programs, policies and publications have been distributed to and replicated in every state and an increasing number of countries.

History
Family Violence Prevention Fund President Esta Soler first established the organization with a federal grant in 1980. It has become the nation’s leading expert on violence against women and children, the source of numerous trailblazing prevention and intervention campaigns – including the award-winning There’s No Excuse for Domestic Violence campaign. It has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

Public Policy
The FVPF was instrumental in passing the first comprehensive national legislation ever to address violence against women - the Against Women Act of 1994 - and in expanding and reauthorizing it in 2000 and 2005.

Each day, the FVPF raises awareness among policymakers about the cost and prevalence of violence against women and children, and builds support for promising, innovative solutions. The organization’s presence in Washington D.C. gives national policymakers ready access to the FVPF’s expertise on child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, teen dating violence, health, public education, international issues, immigration, poverty, and workplace policy. The organization works to support asylum and immigration policies that protect the interests of battered immigrant women, to keep guns out of the hands of batterers, and on a range of other issues related to violence against women and children.

Members of Congress and other policy makers regularly seek testimony, advice and technical assistance from FVPF board members, leaders, staff and allied organizations. The FVPF monitors federal legislative activity, educates congressional staff, and works closely with violence prevention and other social justice organizations to inform Congress, the Administration and a range of federal agencies.

Programs
Because sometimes the only messages boys get are the wrong ones, in 2003 the FVPF and The Advertising Councillaunched a campaign to encourage men to teach boys that violence against women is wrong. Coaching Boys into Men includes television, radio and print public service announcements, and numerous resources. FVPF and UNICEF joined forces in 2007 to develop a new International Coaches Manual. It is based on concepts from the original Coaching Boys into Men Playbook and includes quotes and endorsement from stars such as David Beckham, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Thierry Henry.

The FVPF’s Founding Fathers campaign was launched by distinguished CEOs, professional athletes, entertainers, coaches and others and is also mobilizing men to teach the next generation to treat women and girls with honor and respect, and to teach boys that violence does not equal strength by giving men tools to make change in their homes, communities and workplaces.

Preventing intimate partner violence begins with ensuring that young people’s first relationships are healthy ones. Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships, is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation administered by the FVPF to support the creation and evaluation of comprehensive community-based models of prevention that aim to decrease relationship violence and increase positive relationship skills among 10 to 14-year-olds. By strengthening the supports for developing healthy relationships among adolescents at the individual, interpersonal, community, and policy levels, advocates can reduce the cycle of violence and incidence of intimate partner violence later in life.

The FVPF’s highly successful Health Care Initiative is teaching providers to inquire about whether their patients have been exposed to violence, and to offer help to patients who need it. The FVPF hosts the National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence. It is the nation’s clearinghouse for information on the health care response to domestic violence and provides free technical assistance and materials to thousands of people each year. The Center is one of five specialized domestic violence resource centers in the country funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The FVPF’s National Judicial Institute is giving judges guidelines, education and materials to ensure that their courtrooms provide real help to victims of family violence.

The Children’s Initiative is working with domestic violence and batterer intervention programs, child welfare agencies and community organizers to build collaborations and partnerships that promote safe and healthy families.

The Workplace Project is a historic collaboration with employers and unions, and offers an online resource kit offering sample workplace domestic violence policies, education and training materials, case studies, resources, and more.

Its Immigrant Women Campaign is expanding services for immigrant victims of violence and mobilizing Americans to press for more humane asylum policies. The FVPF’s International Partnerships in China, India, Mexico and Russia are addressing all forms of violence, including human trafficking.