Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20240713

Agencies here in San Francisco. As a safety, we have worked very hard to develop strong partnerships. I want to welcome supervisor Catherine Stefani. [cheers and applause] supervisor safai, City College Trustee i. V. Lee, fire chief janine nicholson, we welcome her david lazar. Representing San Francisco airports, front seth francesca garcia, and on her way is the sharp director Kelly Densmore who is the new director of the office of Sexual Harassment and assault response and prevention. So tonights theme is building pathways to safety. We recognize that Domestic Violence is an issue that impacts every gender, race, sexual orientation, immigration status, and we need to meet our Diverse Community members where they are. We are so proud of our Partner Agencies that work so hard every day to expand womens safety. If you are from one of our Partner Agencies, make some noise. [cheers and applause] please stay until the end of the event. As the sunsets, city hall will be let let purple for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This is the only time of the month that it will glow purple. It is truly magnificent. A wonderful selfie shot. So i want to welcome we are welcoming our president , the commission on the status of women, the strongest Womens Commission in the country. Lets give that a cheer. [cheering] the president the lifelong advocate for women and girls and has acted as a champion for policy change in education and community and economic development. She just stepped off a plane from india, so please help me welcome president rhianna zawart hi, everyone. I am very honored be here and to represent the strongest commission in the country. Im joined tonight by our Vice President , commissioners. Can we give it up for our commissioners . [applause] the reason why this commission and this department is so important is because every day we live the theme of this month which is building pathways to safety. According to the National Coalition against Domestic Violence, an average of 20 americans experience Domestic Violence every minute. That is 10 million victims in a single year in the u. S. And according to the coalition, Domestic Violence survivors receive 8 million lose 8 million working days. The numbers are there and they are scary. We cant get lost in the numbers because we have to remember what happens when people are victims and survivors of Domestic Violence. And what im proud of today with this commission is that we have provided an impressive dented 8. 6 million in funding to communitybased organizations working across the city to support victims and survivors of violence and their families with crisis lines, counseling, case management, legal services, emergency and transitional shelters. Can we give it up for a . 6 million in services for the city and county . [cheers and applause] for example, we provide essential funding to three Domestic Violence shelters including the first in the nation, the asian womens shelter pick the first in california [speaking spanish] and st. Vincent de paul society. Through these grants, we are serving thousands of victims and survivors. In 2017, our partners filled in 25,000 service calls, provided 25,000 hours of counseling and reach 12,000 individuals in violence education and prevention programs. Our Strong Network of partners and Provider Services and dozens in dozens of languages works to ensure that their work with the survivors is done in a culturally competent and sensitive way. Again, we always look past the numbers and the humanity. The people that faces every day to make sure that we are providing the needs of this community. So make some noise again for our Partner Agencies who are doing this work every day. We are so proud of you. [applause] even with all of that, the demand is greater than the supply. For every one person served in our Emergency Shelters, we are about four people who are turned away every day and placed outside of San Francisco. We have to do better. There is more work to be done to ensure that survivors and their families are on a path toward safety. Every day, survivors are faced with the impossible choice between remaining in an abusive environment that are potentially lifethreatening, relieving and becoming homeless. Or leaving and becoming homeless. We must invest in expanded services and more shelter spaces for Domestic Violence and their families. By providing safe places for survivors and supporting them to rebuild their lives, we can break the cycle of violence. Is our guest of honor here . Fantastic. With that, i want to introduce someone who i am honored to work with. Our supervisor Catherine Stefani , i know is not afraid to stand up and defend survivors and his leadership in this city and county is unprecedented when it comes to finding pathways to safety. Give it up for supervisor stefani. [cheers and applause] thank you so much. I want to thank the department on the status of women and the Domestic Violence consortium for sponsoring todays event and everyone who came out today to show your support. It is an honor to join Many Community partners as we continue to fight against Domestic Violence. I look forward to the day when we dont have to do this. We have made great progress in the city but we know we have a lot more work to do. According to a recent United Nations report, the most dangerous place for a woman around the world is in her home. More than half of all women, homicide victims in recent years , were killed by their partners or relatives, and while we know that it is not just women who are affected by Domestic Violence, women are far more likely than men to experience violence in the home. In the United States, more than one in three women will report experiencing abuse by domestic partners in their lifetime. This abuse impacts not only the victims, but entire families and communities. One Domestic Abusers have access to guns, the effects are deadly. We know that over half of female victims were killed by the partners in the United States are killed with guns. If you are a woman in the United States, you are 16 times more likely to die by gun violence by an intimate partner then in other countries and we also know that most Mass Shootings in the United States, over 50 of them, are related to Domestic Violence listen to this statistic. This one blew me away. 92 of all women killed with guns in highincome countries in 2015 were from the United States 92 is absolutely unacceptable. We know that, and in so many cases, Law Enforcement and families feel powerless to stop tragedies. We have been hamstrung and getting weapons out of the hands who would harm their partners and family members, and there is no single way to win the fight against Domestic Violence, but we will not win unless we continue to bring attention to this important issue and pass legislation at every single level of government. That is why i will introduce my ordinance to implement the gun violence restraining order law and a very happy to be doing that with the help of deputy chief lazar. Gun violence restraining order laws give families and Law Enforcement the power to temporarily remove an individual s access to firearms before they commit acts of violence. Is also known as red flag laws. Gun violence restraining orders save lives. I look forward to passing this legislation at the board of supervisors and continuing to work for commonsense legislation to protect those affected by Domestic Violence. It is really so inspiring to be here surrounded by our citys leaders and advocates who are all working, we are all on the same page, to end Domestic Violence in San Francisco and i look forward to continuing that work with you all. Thank you. [applause] thank you so much, supervisor stefani. A couple other folks to recognize. Representing the sheriffs office, we have deputy kathy johnson. Give a wave. [applause] i will invite back to the podium president zawart to introduce our very special guest tonight. I am back and i am really honored again to be back to introduce one of my personal heroes. The mayor of San Francisco london breed, who is a committed and compassionate womens rights advocate who we know is not afraid to stand up to defend survivors and under his leadership the city has been working to further prevent. I think that is key here. We cant erase, there is no silver bullet, but this mayor is committed to preventing this every single day. Without further ado, mayor breed [applause] thank you. Good evening, everyone. I want to thank each and every one of you for being here to recognize something that is so critical to what we need to do in terms of the work of the city and county of San Francisco, and that is honoring and remembering survivors of Domestic Violence and making sure that their memories are not forgotten, that we do not forget who they are, in some of the challenges that they experienced. In fact, we know all too well the history of our city and our country. In fact, the neighborhood that i grew up in, it was not uncommon to sadly see men beat up their girlfriends and their wives. And when the police would get called on occasion, and i have had this experience directly, they would come and sadly, in some cases, people would pretend as if nothing ever happened and no one would be held accountable for that because the fact is, so many of those women were living in fear, in fear of what might happen if they did stand up, and the times on the kinds of situations they were in requires us to make sure that we are doing more to protect people. To make sure that no matter what relationship you are in, that you shouldnt have to fear your partner, your spouse, or fear that you dont have support or Resources Available to you to help in case you are in a situation like that. We are here today to remember that there is still work to be done. In fact, here in San Francisco, although we have invested millions of dollars over 8. 5 million into programs and services and resources that help those who tragically are victims of Domestic Violence and help with crisis hotlines and help with shelter and other access to services, we know that there is still work to be done and we are committed to the work. We also know that sadly, in the bayview Hunters Point community, we are seeing record numbers of Domestic Violence incidents that have been reported. As a result, we have to be focused on new ways in which we can make it easier to help people who are in need of help. In the San Francisco Police Department, we have launched a new opportunity for an app that is called hard. It is an application that, using technology, that assist Police Officers right on the spot with identifying what is happening in the situation, and asking the right questions, and more importantly, how we directly connect people who are victims with services right away. It is the first step in so many other things that we know we can do as a safety to be innovative, to be creative around creating opportunities to connect people to resources. Knowing that, is tough for someone maybe, it can happen to anyone at any given time, and any relationship. So it is important that we continue to provide the supports , to provide the resources, to remember the tragedies that have occurred, to never forget those, was specially who have lost their lives, and to really commend and thank the survivors who have come forward to tell their story and to be advocates for change around this most critical issue. Today and tonight, in fact, we light up city hall in the color purple. The purple the color that recognizes Domestic Violence Awareness Month in San Francisco , and when we see San Francisco lit up this color today, we think about the people , the experiences, the stories, the challenges that have existed, but more importantly, we think about the resilience of such an Incredible Community of people who have stepped up, told their story, and really have been able to make change happen. The difference between what happened in the past when i was growing up and what happens now, when there is an issue of Domestic Violence and the police come, someone is going to be held accountable. It took a long time to get to that point, but we are in a better place with more work that needs to be done, and i know, with the commission on the status of women, with the San Francisco Police Department, with so many incredible nonprofit organizations that continue to work on so many of these issues every single day, that it is only a matter of time before we finally get to a better place where we dont lose a life over Domestic Violence in the city and in the country. Thank you all for coming out today and for your advocacy and work and support on this very critical issue in our city. [cheers and applause] thank you so much. Another round of applause for the leadership of mayor london breed. We are so excited about this new announcement that will really bring more of the victims survivors services. We are really excited about that our next speaker is beverly upton, executive director of the Domestic Violence consortium, which brings together an incredible network of organizations to support survivors of Domestic Violence and their families. Beverly was a key partner in putting together tonights event please join me and giving her a warm welcome. [applause] thank you so much. Im so honored to stand here with emily again this year. We have lighted city hall purple for about a decade and we have seen a lot of progress in that decade. We have been gathering here to show the citys commitment to ending Domestic Violence, violence against women, and violence towards San Franciscos most vulnerable residents. We gather here today to honor those who certainly have survived and are here with us. They are our heroes, but this is also a time that we get together and honor the folks that are answering the crisis line 24 hours a day, that are running the shelters, 24 7, 365 days a year. [cheers and applause] keeping survivors and their children safe. Lots of children in shelter. Im sure you will hear more. They are teaching, training, working with survivors, working with youth, we have a pil you we have youth here today. They are taking the tough cases. They are getting the restraining orders, they are taking these complex cases that are so confusing and there are so many details, and the abuse has gone on for so long, it takes a good, Legal Community to unravel those cases, support their survivors, and take them where they need to go. We have that. I see jerel here, i say kimberley here, i see our attorneys from the justice and diversity center. We want to honor you for being in the trenches and really coming through for survivors and their kids. This is what we are here for today. This is what the mayor is supporting, this is what the department and the commission on the status of women are supporting. This team of survivors here, now , 24 hours a day, but we wouldnt be here without our city partners. Emily and her team at the department on the status of women are such great leaders. They support 24 hours a day these agencies. They help us make sure that our staff are right and help us tell the story. They help us connect with city hall every day. They help us connect with the commission on the status of women. None of us would be here without our city partners. We wouldnt be here without the Mayors Office, we wouldnt be here without mayor breed, and we wouldnt be here without the board of supervisors. The board of supervisors works with us every year to make sure that we have the resources we need to meet new communities where they are, to support our immigrant brothers and sisters, our transgender brother and sisters, our native american brothers and sisters. Absolutely. As mayor breed said, we have a lot to do. We have more to do, and we are going to need more resources, but i know they will be there when we need them. There are heroes. When we look at our native sisters working to end Domestic Violence, when we look at the Transgender Community looking to end Domestic Violence in their community, we are so happy to see you and we are so happy to stand with you always. Survivors and their children are our heroes. They take the courage every year they are beyond heroic every day to step out of violent situations and risk becoming homeless or worse. They risk it because of this safety net here. We have to get rid of gun violence, we have to protect our citizens, we have to protect our residents, our most Vulnerable People in San Francisco and we can do it. I think supervisor stefani really gave us a good task. Lets get this legislative work going, lets work with the Police Department, lets get guns out of the hands of abusers and stockers. It is pretty simple. Dont let anyone make it complex for you. It is not out of the hands of abusers and stockers. So their lives in the lives of children count. We are all here to do everything we can to end Domestic Violence in every community to make San Francisco the safest city in the nation. Can we do more . Yes. Must we do more . Yes, and we will. Thank you so much. [applause] thank you so much, beverly. Under mayor london breed, she has made a historic investment in these services. The largest budget ever for services to victims and their families of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and human trafficking. We are really blessed to be in a city that is making this huge investment. I want to recognize a few more people. Nicole from the Mayors Office helped make today happen. [applause] kelly has joined us from the Human Rights Commission and the sharp office. Tammie bryant from the San Francisco county democratic central committee, we need our Political Leadership here as well, and we have our friends from san mateo county, our Domestic Violence advocates from our neighboring county who are here. As i mentioned, the theme of tonights event is building pathways to safety. Domestic violence is often the cause of homelessness, especially for our Lgbtq Community and families with children. Our Partner Agencies play a vital role in providing services to survivors of violence and we are fortunate to have a diverse set of services to reach our diverse population. Just a reminder, we will be lighting city hall purple and concluding tonight will be the red womens lightning group. Lets hear it for them. [applause] so tonight we want to recognize the commitment and hard work of our partners who provide Emergency Shelter. Our next week our next speakers represent organizations that do this every day. Join me in welcoming the executive protect project director of the first asian women shelter in the country. [applause]. Good evening. My name is orchid. I have orchid coloured glasses and i am ready for this years Domestic Violence Awareness Month press conference with all of you. I am here with asian womens shelter, and with every person here who believes that ending Domestic Violence is key to building healthy, safe, and hopeful communities. So this year, 2019, it actually marks the 30th anniversary of the first time that the u. S. Congress passed legislation to designate october as national Domestic Violence Awareness Month. And when they passed that legislation for the first time in 1989, it was eight years after the National Coalition against Domestic Violence. It had grown an initial day of unity in 1981 into a week, and then a month of events. These events were designed to do three things that we are still doing today. One is to mourn those and to honor those who have been killed by people perpetrating Domestic Violence, two, to celebrate and to support those who have survived and are still surviving today. And three, to connect those who work to end violence so that we can lean on each other, uplift each other, and amplify our longevity and our impact beyond what any of us could do if we were in isolation from each other. So 30 years later, we have come a long way and clearly, we are not going anywhere because our job is not done yet. We have so many to honor and mourn here in our city, as well as across our state, nation, and world. Whether they were killed by their perpetrators, framed by them, had their mysterious deaths covered up by them, or were driven to suicide or selfharm by the people who made their life unlivable. We also, 30 years later, we have so many to support and to celebrate as they rebuild their lives from rockbottom after having given up everything to try to carve out a new future for themselves and for their children, and because violence travels intergenerational he, for their childrens children. They survivors are champions who are trying to reroute this intergenerational violence and carve out a new lifeline for their family. Amidst odds that i think would make most of us at least to me, not be able to get up in the morning. And 30 years later, we have so many more of us who are working to end violence and who have been gifted the progress that has been made by those who came before us. But still, we have to be here and we have to be really loud. We have to be really clear, we have to be really confident and sure about what we are doing, and we are. Theyre still people in forces out there who are perpetuating myths about Domestic Violence and to need our help to become more aware. They still think Domestic Violence isnt actually that big of a deal, that it is a contained issue, that it is special interest or it is private or it is personal, it is about anger or it is about alcoholism, and that theres nothing we can do because its about individual people and individual people are who they are. Some people are just inherently more violent and others are inherently more submissive. We are here every single month, and especially in october to take those myths and grind them to a pulp and flush them. We know they are not true. We are here 30 years later using this platform to say Domestic Violence, it is personal, it is private, and it is social. Is political. We are showing that this is an issue that we pay a tremendous price, an unacceptable price for allowing to continue. At the asian women shelter here in San Francisco, we know that Domestic Violence is interwoven into every single issue that we are arguing about in the country right now. Immigration, gun violence, guncontrol, homelessness, workforce development, poverty, gender, justice, policing, equal pay, all of it. And now 30 years later, we have more data. Others have mentioned some of these pieces. On average, 20 to 24 people per minute, that means we are approaching 100 since i have been talking. Our victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States. Ten to 12 Million People over the course of a year. That is completely unacceptable. In a 16 year study ending in 2010, while we know Domestic Violence victimizes people across the gender spectrum, that study showed four in five victims were female identified. When we look at the numbers, the risk factors for women living with disabilities for survivors who are indigenous, survivors who are black, survivors who are transgender, undocumented, who speak limited english, we know the pathways that we have to create, they dont look the same way. We have to have all kinds of different pathways that address the different barriers and challenges that different survivors face in our communities and our neighborhoods and in nurse neighborhoods and families. We will have to recognize, as has also been said before, the kids. The kids. Nationally, the majority of people who abuse their intimate partner do so in front of the kids. And 50 also abuse their children, but over and over, week after week, in our counties here in the bay area, we see decisions made that dont reflect knowledge of this. That somehow think that you can terrorize your intimate partner but be an amazing parents. That is not true. In 2018, every town for gun Safety Report indicated that at least 50 4 of Mass Shootings in the United States revealed that the perpetrator also shot a current or former intimate partner or family member. Over 54 . And almost 100 of those perpetrators of Mass Violence have histories of violence or verbalized violence and hatred against women. We cant say that they are unconnected anymore. We cant say Domestic Violence is private and personal anymore, that it is only personal and not connected to Public Health and public safety. What i want people to know this month, and i want people to still know it, know it even better in november, and even better in december, and be able to tell all the people you know about it, but not so much that they dont invite you to their parties anymore, that violence violent armed perpetrators are a deadly force in america and also here in our city and San Francisco. And ending Domestic Violence is central to saving lives, to saving childhood, to saving our Public Health and our Workplace Safety and our school safety, and ultimately our future. So to all the partners here, whether you are in government, whether you are a nonprofit, if you work at night, if you answer the crisis line, if you are an advocate with infants or an advocate with adults or seniors, thank you so much for your creativity and your stamina and you are not alone. None of us is alone. To the survivors out there, i want to tell you that when you feel at your most alone, somehow , a tiny place in your mind and heart, belief that you are not. We are out there. We are scattered all across the city and we are scattered all across the bay area. We speak your language. We grew up in a family like yours, we grew up in a neighborhood like yours and we cannot wait to support you to find all of your strengths and decide what you want to do to have a better life. You can call us. You dont have to know what you want to do. Most of us have no idea what we want to do with our life. You dont have to know, either. But you can call and we can talk about it. We wont judge you, and we wont gossip about you, and we care. It is our whole life. This is what we care about the most. To the kids out there, to the kids that are being woken up several nights a week in fear, to the kids that wake up and spend their night time comforting their younger siblings so that they wont make anything worse, to the kids that then have to get up and go to school and they cant focus and their grades arent good, and theyre making disruptions and having marks of negative attached to them, i want to tell those kids, i want you to know, we cant wait to work with you. We want to help you with your homework, we want to help you rebuild your relationship with your nonviolent parents, we want you to have a safe place at night and to sleep with stuffy his and have hope for your future because we have hope for your future and we are going nowhere until this issue is gone thank you. [cheers and applause] another round of applause for orchid. There are a few more City Department heads that have joined me, in addition to fire chief janine nicholson. Linda, department of department apartment of technology, we could not have done the app without her and her staff. Please recognize linda. Also, walking torres has joined us, director of the office of economic and workforce development. Our next speaker is kathy black, executive director of the [speaking spanish] the first domestic shelter in california. Please give her a warm welcome. Thank you. Orchid, you are awesome. I just want to say that. In keeping with todays theme, building pathways to safety, i want you to know, i will take it a little bit more local and i want you to know that we respond to calls for help from victims of Domestic Violence of all ages , 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We give survivors the tools to transform their lives. We seek to prevent future violence by educating the community and redefining Public Perceptions about Domestic Violence. We attempt to accomplish this by engaging nearly 20,000 women, teens, men, older adults and children each year through a continuum of expert intervention and prevention services. We also envision a community where Domestic Violence is not tolerated in equal access to asset asset building opportunities that is freely available to all. I want to talk about a local stat from our shelter. That is of the 7,000 hotline calls we take every year, or this last year, 500 of those were from the San Francisco Police Department Law Enforcement and from the medical community. We are working really hard to engage Community Partners who are out, First Responders, and to make a difference in that way i feel like that ties to the mayor mayors press release today because we believe these early interventions are really key to future safety. That by connecting victims and survivors with Community Resources like the ones represented here, and all out there, i see my crew out there. That helps reduce the incidence of future violence. And some other highlights from this past year, just so you get an idea about the scope of the work that some of our programs provide, we provided 10,991 nights of shelter to 368 women and their children. Eightyseven of the mothers who stayed in our shelter participate in Family Counseling and support groups. People are eager to learn and eager to get resources. We often operate at or over capacity. Last year, it was 22 of the year that we operated either at our full capacity or over. What that means is that in the middle of the night when the Police Department calls, we bring out, and we are full, which we are a lot, we havent rollaway beds, we have couches, we figure things out and we will shelter victims and survivors overnight while they are figuring out what their next move might be with the expert help of the staff and our Community Partners. Also, i think i want you to know that, again, whether it is 10 0a First Responder is going through the legality assessment lethality assessment tool, that when they connect that victim with an advocate at our shelter, and they decide to do an intake, that victim is going to meet the same advocate at the door of our shelter so that it is not theres compassion, theres consistency, and i think that makes a big difference for people. It is a real personal connection over 92 of clients, of our clients report, and im sure this is true of my partner programs, as well, over 92 of clients report positive outcomes across our five key metrics, which is, i have to look and see what it is, knowledge, safety, his stability, agency, and isolation. With that, i want to really say that we are one agency as part of a larger safety net, and i see my friends here, and my allies, and we couldnt do the work without city partnerships, political allies, people like joaquin who has been a friend for years. Thank you for everything you do for us. And the Community Partners we work with. Thank you very much. [applause] our third and final representative of our Domestic Violence Emergency Shelter community is sherry, executive director of the riley center, Saint Vincent de paul society. Please give her a warm welcome. [applause] good evening. If we are to address and prevent Domestic Violence holistically, we must provide comprehensive Supportive Services centred on the survivors trauma and need while highlighting their individual family and Community Systems, strength and protective factors. And if we focus our efforts in providing client centred, trauma informed and culturally sensitive Supportive Services, we will support the longterm healing of intergenerational cycle of violence experienced by survivors and their children. This will lead to a stronger, safer, and healthier family and Community System free of violence. This is what we work on at our center. We have four major programs in which we do this. We have our transitional housing program, we have rosalie house which is our Emergency Shelter and our crisis line, we have our Community Office where survivors can get the services they need, education, workshops, support groups, and then we also work with the Family Services department, and so if there is an incident of Domestic Violence , we have a specialist that helps that family moved to a healthier life. We have been in this city of San Francisco for 35 years and we are very proud of the work that we do. I want to take this time to thank our consortium, beverly, our domestic our department on the status of women, and the staff and all our Community Partners that do the work we do. This is how we survived the Domestic Violence system in the city. Thank you. [applause] thank you so much. As president zawart stated, prevention is a critical part of our work to stop the cycle of violence. For over 20 years, asianPacific Islander legal outreach has engaged youth through its Youth Advisory Council to address genderbased and dating violence in asian and Pacific Islander communities. Please join me in welcoming the Youth Advisory Council at the youth coordinator. Give him a warm welcome. [applause] good evening, everyone. We are the Youth Advisory Council from the legal outreach. We strive for and accepting an equitable future in which everyone is helpfully loved. As youth in our communities, it is important we engage in work against a mystic violence to educate our peers and prevent its occurrence in our everyday lives. Through this work, we believe in setting pathways to safety. The Youth Advisory Council meets to share a safe space where we are able to become activists and create positive change in our communities. In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, every year the Youth Advisory Council sets up press sets of presentations about teen dating violence to youth organizations, schools, and Community Spaces oh, oh, all over the bay area. We inform our peers and give them a better understanding of healthy and unhealthy relationships and we also empower other youth and equip them with the skills and knowledge to make change in their communities. As youth ourselves, were able to directly connect with other youth and encourage them to be active and involved in their community. We believe in encouraging our young, male identifying peers to break the culture of silence regarding violence within our communities. We also seek to empower youth from the lgbt plus community, people of color, and women. They are patriarchal and systematic effects that are prevalent in our underserved communities, specifically low income people of color. There are societal norms that places men in positions of power over women. In my experience as a young woman of color, i have seen the cultural and societal expectations of gender roles placed upon women of color that make it difficult for women of color to tell the truth. These marginalized women are survivors and deserve justice, with this Justice System abuses their power to oppress this community. [applause]. We believe that in order to be helpful he loved, education is crucial. It is important to be able to identify an unhealthy relationship. For starters, and any relationship, it is important that both partners know what consent really is. Consent is a strong and continuous yes. It is also a decision that cannot be influenced by power imbalances. Another vital factor in safety and determining unhealthy relationships is the cycle of violence. A cycle of which the abuser or abusers traps a survivor in an unhealthy relationship. Through the Youth Advisory Councils presentation, we also shuck the importance of a pragmatic and optimistic mindset everyone should feel safe opening up to others, but we should still take the necessary precautions to ensure our safety and wellbeing. It is also crucial to be wellinformed of the reality of Domestic Violence, including some societal factors that perpetuate this issue. This mindset combines both positivity and it helps to avoid violence and or aggression. [applause] it is important among San Francisco teens because we present students with Accurate Information about Domestic Violence and the resources they can use to confront these situations. Often, teens take to social media to speak about issues, but only to the extent of republishing a post. They dont necessarily check their sources, and this leads to people being misinformed and quickly disinterested. We are helpful in this way because it gives straightforward and reliable information on Domestic Abuse and dating violence, as well as resources for people in these situations. This is especially needed in metropolitan areas such as San Francisco where there isnt a strong sense of community or people to watch out for one another. [applause] too often, youth are unaware of the resources that they have at hand if they find themselves in an unhealthy relationship. These resources include hotlines , restraining orders, and measures of selfdefence. Through our presentation, we work to bring attention to these issues, which are often not touched upon in schools. Our work as youth is equally, if not more important as the work of previous generations. Our actions will lead to pathways to safety for our youth , not only now, but as they grow into adult hood in the future. We urge you to listen to the youth around you. Encourage them to become involved in our communities, provide them the support that they need to make profound changes in our society. But most importantly, give them the resources to protect themselves and find pathways to safety and their environments. [cheers and applause] another round of applause for our Youth Advisory Council. So our final speaker tonight, before our concluding performance and group photo, please be sure to stay for the group photo, our final speaker is april mcgill, a california native and director of Community Partnerships and projects for the California Consortium of urban Indian Health. April will share about the incredibly important project called red women rising, which advocates for culturally Responsive Services for urban, indian survivors. Please give a warm welcome to april. [cheers and applause] [speaking indigenous language] my name is april mcgill. I am in the enrolled member of rep round valley indian tribe california native, San Francisco resident, and i want to recognize our ancestors whose land we reside on today. I just want to remind everybody that we stand on stolen land. This land was stolen by violence so we have a history of violence and all of our lives, in every single one of you. You have experienced experience that energy and that violence from this land. Our what red women rising project brings attention to the to Domestic Violence and missing and murdered Indigenous Women here in california. We work with all the urban Indian Health and tribal consortiums to bring more attention to violence against native women. As california indian women, we have experienced this violence since the gold rush. We know this violence. This has been happening throughout indian countries, that many nations, but our work is to make change with our rising project by bringing attention to policy and legislative initiative that can change and impact issues around Domestic Violence and missing and murdered Indigenous Women and in california. We work with many legislators to make change. We work with sovereign bodies institutes, we work with strong native women coalition, and we partner with all of our other grassroots organizations here in San Francisco that are also standing behind me. I wanted to share with you some statistics from sovereign bodys institute about california. Statewide, there are 135 missing and murdered Indigenous Women and girls cases across california that have been identified. California is number five for total number of missing and Indigenous Women and girls cases , alongside washington, new mexico, arizona, and montana. Seventyfive of all cases in california occurred in northern california. Nearly one third, 28 of all cases in the state, a humble of the humble county are involved with victims involved in tribes. Of the 135 cases, only seven have information on alleged perpetrators available to the public and only one of those alleged perpetrators has actually been charged. Over half the cases documented in california occurred in the last three years. From 2013 through 2015, the rate of these cases per year statewide increased by approximately 20 each year. In 2016, the right out the rate of cases increased, and in 2018, the rate increased, as well. San francisco is one of the highest in the state, which is really embarrassing considering that we have such a progressive state. One of the things that i can say is we are making change with the port with support from the mayor. Thank you, london breed for all your support for the American Indian community. Thank you supervisor ronen, and supervisor brown because we were able to pass a legislation a resolution in may recognizing may 5th as the national day of awareness ongoing missing murdered Indigenous Women. [cheers and applause] i would like to read the resolution. Were as Indigenous People have inhabited the north American Continent including the state of california for many centuries, and from the First Contact with settlers from other countries, native americans share their knowledge of the land and its resources and have continued to play a vital role in the development of local communities , the state of california, and the nation. Whereas, the missing murdered Indigenous Women and girls report from the urban Indian Health institute released in 20 2009 provides data from 71 urban cities across the United States on missing and murdered Indigenous Women and girls. Recognizing that a number of factors, including or Data Collection by Law Enforcement, and limited health resources, that there is an undercount of these women in urban areas such as San Francisco, and we are ranked tenth among cities with the highest number of these cases. Whereas the 2009 apology to native American People of the u. S. Recognizes special legal and political relationships Indian Tribes have with the United States, and the land we share. Recognize that there has been years of official policies and the breaking of laws by federal Government Regarding Indian Tribes. Apologize on behalf of the people of the United States to all native people for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on native people by citizens of the United States, and commend that the state governments that have begun reconciliation efforts with native american tribes, located in the boundaries, encourage all state governments to work towards rock and say it reconciling relationships with Indian Tribes within their boundaries, were as the city and county of San Francisco has a responsibility to address the disapproved and an victimization of Indigenous Women from domestic and sexual violence, including missing and murdered Indigenous Women, and whereas, our sister, Jessica Nicole alva, lassie died on april 6th, 2019 at the age of 35 after being in a coma for four days as a result of an abusive domestic relationship. Jessica grew up in reading and lived in San Francisco for five years. She is survived by her mother cindy and her six children and four siblings with a stepbrother and stepsister. And whereas, in 2005, grassroots movements for the safety of Indigenous Women led to the struggle to include safety for indian women under the violence against women act. Whereas, of the last decade, awareness of the National Issue has increased, but more must be done at all levels to stop the disappearance and save lives of our women. Whereas, may 5th, 2017 was designated as the First National day of awareness for honoring missing and murdered Indigenous Women through the efforts of survival families, native american tribes, national, indigenous organizations and law and policy makers. Now resolve, this city and county of San Francisco permanently designates may 5th as honoring missing and murdered Indigenous Womens day in the city and county of San Francisco , and furthermore, will begin discussions with urban indian organizations, neighboring native american tribes, local tribal organizations to develop recommendations for local and indigenous victim advocacy services. Local and tribal justice responses including coordination and identifying the implemented solutions to strengthen the safety and health and wellbeing of our Indigenous Women. Thank you, San Francisco Mayors Office for this resolution. [applause] [cheers and applause] and i would like to ask my sister aurora to come up and introduce our red lightning women singers. Good evening, relatives. We are from the red lightning woman power group. We came about the name through our sister betty over here in regards to missing and murdered Indigenous Women. We started about a year and a half or two years ago through a red ribbon dress workshop where we had some workshops on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault awareness. We created, 21 we created and so 21 ribbon skirts. Red represents are missing and murdered women and Domestic Violence. We are from the native American Health centre here in San Francisco, the wellness department, located on mission and seventh. We believe that women are sacred and when we wear our skirts, we are sacred, and also native women, is april mentioned, have the highest rate of Domestic Violence. We believe in saying her name for our sisters that are no longer here due to Domestic Violence, and we come from Matriarchal Society originally, before colonizers came. I just want to say, remake treat we will sing a missing and murdered Indigenous Women and girls song this evening. Thank you. [applause] [singing] [singing] [singing] [singing] [singing] [singing] [singing] [applause] lets give another hand to the lightning singers, the red women lightning singers. There are three people i want to think as we close. First, nicole, the Senior Adviser to the mayor for helping us put together today. Give us a wave. Secondly, and finally i want to thank elise of the the department of the status of women. Please waive. She held she helped put all of todays logistics together. I want to thank all of my staff at the department. Please join us for a very large