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Safe Embrace: A Northern Nevada Resource
In this episode, we are joined by Leslie Berg, who is a Client Services Manager at a local organization that is focused on helping support victims of domestic violence (DV), sexual assault (SA), and human trafficking, Safe Embrace. We wanted to chat with Leslie to learn more about this difficult topic, as October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and we know our families and listeners are always curious to learn more about how to help support organizations such as this one in our community.
Safe Embrace is a local organization that works with people of all genders, races, ethnicities, and sexual orientation to navigate the complex and often very challenging situations that include DV, SA and human trafficking. The organization traces its roots back to 1994, when it was founded to primarily assist minorities and people of color who were victims of these situations. Since then, the organization has expanded its scope to serve all types of people with the hope that they can help them find their way out and into a stable, sustainable living arrangement. They operate 2 housing facilities and a confidential shelter that provides temporary and secure housing.
Unfortunately, Northern Nevada finds itself at the top of the list of areas with respect to incidences of DV, SA, and human trafficking. World Population Review cites the following statistics for Nevada:
About 43.8% of Nevadan women and 32.8% of men experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Nevada has the fifth-highest overall crime rate in the United States. For many years, Nevada was ranked first for domestic violence fatalities and ranked third in 2014. About 48.1% of Nevada women and 30.9% of Nevada men experience intimate partner violence in their lifetimes. In 2014 alone, domestic violence services were contacted 65,026 times. Nevada has the fifth-highest rape rate in the country of 70.2 per 100,000 people.
Safe Embrace Programs
Safe Embrace has a number of programs that are currently being delivered in the Northern Nevada area, aimed at teaching young people about what is and is not appropriate within the boundaries of a healthy relationship. One is called the Love Means Respect curriculum within WCSD. The Safe Embrace team has learned as they have delivered this content to high schoolers that these digital natives have some VERY blurred lines regarding what is digitally appropriate behavior. For example, while it’s absolutely normal for a parent to have their child share locations with them, these children often track their friends/romantic partners – sometimes sans permissions – and are unaware that that is actually not appropriate in this different type of relationship, because the sharing of location has already been normalized. There is also the Athletes as Leaders curriculum in athletic programs — helping coaches have these important conversations with their teams.
Supporting Safe Embrace
Safe Embrace gets a large part of its funding through grants from federal and foundation sources. But they always welcome local business and individuals who want to sponsor events or provide direct financial support in the way of donations. This month, you may have seen some local restaurants and bars have added purple menu items to their offerings in support of Domestic Violence Awareness month, which uses the color purple, as part of the Love Should Be Sweet campaign. Later this year, they will be hosting their annual fundraising gala, The Trees and Lights Annual Gala, taking place at the Grand Sierra Resort. The organization welcomes companies and donors in the area to decorate holiday trees and wreaths that will then go up for auction the evening of, amidst survivor stories, auction items and a host of seasonal festivities and delicious bites, champagne and dinner.
Awareness Begins at Home
Parents, especially dads, can learn more about this important topic by checking out the Safe Embrace website, or attending any one of a number of facilitated discussions that are sponsored by Safe Embrace. Learn how to identify the signs that someone is experiencing DV or some other form of abuse and what questions to ask to find out if you might need to help them get out of a dangerous situation. We can all do our part to learn more about something that seems hidden from view, but is actually more prevalent in our community than any of us would like it to be.
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