Since the First Industrial revolution, when women were coming into the city. This is a safe place to be. We have been at the forefront of some of the most pressing issues that have defined womens lives. Everything from childcare and afterschool programs, to launching the eight hour workday. There are so many issues defining womens lives, but we are also the Largest Network of Service Providers for survivors of Domestic Violence and sexual assault. Our footprint is a National Footprint and we have 204 ywcas across the country serving 2. 3 million women a year. We really have our finger on the women, anded to children. During the coronavirus crisis, we are very concerned about how women are being disproportionately impacted, especially women of color. Is Mission Statement eliminating barriers and powering women because we have to anchor our work around women of color if we want to lift up all women. We have an amazing organization, 162 years working on behalf of women and children. During the pandemic, what are you seeing with Domestic Violence. The unfortunate story as we are seeing a rise in the mystic violence. Whats unfortunate is that is not in Domestic Violence. Whats unfortunate is that its not a surprise. When communities are stressed we see to mystic violence increased. How itsre seeing is playing out. And the fact that social distancing, in order to protect the health of individuals we are asking them to stay home, thats aggravating the situation even more. Because women are now trapped in situations with their abusers. We are seeing that women are now within the home, they are now unable to make that phone call and are unable to reach out to their loved ones when situations are getting very bad. In particular, as well as other organizations become a because this is the work we do in collaboration with other organizations across the country are being very mindful, and paying attention, and keeping our doors open. We have kept our doors open through the crisis because we know that when women need help and they make a bold move to leave their home, we must be there for them. We will talk more about it but i want to underscore that women do not leave their homes alone. They take their children with them. Thats one of the major issues, leaving your children behind. Resources,find those but as the largest providers of housing in particular, we are seeing Emergency Shelters at capacity, if not overflowing. Host when you say women make that phone call, are you talking about your hotline which is available 20 47 . This is the domestic violent the national Domestic Violence hotline cometh not our hotline, but it does refer services and thats where we come in. We provide those services when the calls come in. We are concerned. We are very concerned. We want to make sure that not only are we able to respond but that we can respond quickly. Many of our Emergency Shelters are and under covid19 we have to take precautions to make sure that not only those women who are in our shelters are kept safe and healthy, but the ones who are coming in. We have to be very innovative and nimble and adaptive to make sure that everyone within our care is healthy. Host and i know we have been showing the number, but im gonna say it for our radio listeners. 00799safe, 7233 is the National Domestic hotline hot number. What happens when they call . Guest a couple of things. Making sure that they are ok, speaking to them, providing information, making sure whether they need to send an ambulance, police, how do we provide them the resources they need at that moment time . Giving them the referral that they need, and also referring them to the counseling. With of this has to do making sure at this moment in time, this particular individual , i want to say individual because we talk about genderbased violence. In many cases they are women but there are situations with an as well. For our particular organization, we focus primarily on women, but we do talk about genderbased violence. To answer your question, once the phone call is made, at that moment in time, we make sure that person is safe, we make sure whatever resources they need are available, whether its emergency care, sending the police, or making sure that we can find them a safe place to be. Thats where the Emergency Shelters come in and thats where the counseling comes in. And i want to underscore that we this, ns to all of we take a trauma based lens to all of this. Theres a lot of trauma involved, making sure but children are involved, sometimes a woman cannot leave because of children or an elderly parent. So making sure the family is safe area there are a lot of elements that come into play. We want to make sure we are taking care of not only a woman but her entire support system. Host we want to invite our viewers to join in, if you live in the Eastern Central part of ,he country at 202 7488000 or mountain and pacific call in at 202 7488001. Ms. Castillo, how does unemployment contribute to the surge in Domestic Violence . Guest in december the bureau of labor statistics showed that women work in biasing comprising a majority of the labor force, and now women are comprising a majority of the Service Industry, it hit that covid hit the Service Industry very hard, hospitality and restaurants. The Unemployment Rate is impacting women in particular. I want to go back to what i the laborin december, statistics, the bureau of labor statistics mentioned that women were comprising the majority of the labor force per the only other come important payonent is because of disparity, women were taking on two or three jobs to make ends meet. Women ared that bearing the brunt of the economic downturn. , becauseunfortunate they are also in the Service Industry and in many situations they may be deemed essential workers. So they are overly exposed to situations of covid. But theres a confluence of factors that are also impacting women in a very disproportionate way. We are concerned about that. Report ofust issued a how we need to make women and girls at the center of this situation, and how we need to put out the message in order to help recovery. Its women who are bearing a lot of the brunt. And the other thing i want to mca, were, at y w andide Childcare Services we do childcare for healthcare workers. When we talk about Health Care Workers we are not only talking about nurses and dr. Ears, we are also talking about everybody working in the hospital, a janitor, some of he working in a cafeteria, childcare is a critical component that needs to be focused on when we talk about women going back to work. As we another element talk about relief and response. As an organization, we are also thinking about how we rebuild communities. Childcare is going to be a very important factor to help women get back on their feet. And i want to tie this back, i know i have been talking about a what may feel like very different issues, but let me bring it back together. When a woman is going through Domestic Violence, part of the challenges when making that decision can be financial abuse. Not being able to leave that to messick violent situation that to mastech violence isestic violence situation because the means to leave is ,ot controlled by or by her or she may not be able to access resources. Time, this economic access is doubly important. How do we felt women financially get back on their feet so they can always be in a safe place of their choosing. We talk about employment and Workforce Development, but also providing childcare that they need in order to be able to go back to work and know that their kids are being taken care of. Host we will get to our calls and our viewers are lining up to speak to you about this issue, our guest, alejandra castillo, the ceo of the ywca usa, here to talk about Domestic Violence. Go to william in new york. Good morning, thank you for cspan trade a lot of these programs that come up with addressing Domestic Violence and abuse come about when theres federal attention to it and theres federal money out there. Unfortunately theres a lot of players in the game that over report stuff tied to money. So you will find people getting reported for something that they didnt do and an overzealous government comes in and makes a big monster out of anything. You cannot rely on agencies because they are always going after the federal funding or the state funding or whatever it is. Like if you look at the who, im sure they have something on Domestic Violence. Taiwan knew about corona way back on december 31, but the who doesnt listen to taiwan host im going to stop there and take your point about trusting the government. Ms. Castillo . Government. Ieve in ive worked in government, i worked in many entities of the government, ive worked in the nonprofit and the private sector. When were talking about challenges that impact society, haveimpact families, that situations of trauma involving children and women, we have to have some faith and i will tell you why. Issues like Domestic Violence leaves Lasting Impacts. These are issues that can only be addressed when people come together. Domestic violence does not discriminate. Ive spoken to women who are in silicon valley, and manhattan, and women and will latch she iowa. The impacts are lasting. I believe in many situations we have to understand that the approach that is required is a multipronged approach, and government has an Important Role to play. We have seen with covid in china, italy, france, Domestic Violence cases were on the rise. And its on the rise in the united states. From ourcts and data association. We are seeing the hotline increase in the numbers of calls. So at the end of the day, i trust that as humans we have to care for each other. I would like to see more engagement. I want to thank the washington journal, we need more journalists to cover this issue. Its one of the most underreported crimes, only half of Domestic Violence cases are reported to police, and one in four women experiences Domestic Violence in their life. We have to come together. Theres a moment of reckoning and i believe that covid is one of those moments that is telling us that issues like Domestic Violence needs be addressed, wholeheartedly and with complete engagement from all corners of life. In phyllis, in message in michigan. Good morning. Go ahead. I have a sister that she has aichigan, boyfriend that she had left and she came back home. Continues, i dont know why she puts up with it. But right now, we believe he has covid19. When i call her, hes in the background, she tells me she doesnt feel good and she has grandkids there, she had a grandbaby born two months ago that shes taken care of and her other grandson is nine years old. Do, ore something i can someone i can call to put it out there to let them know whats going on . If that man has that and he ,efuses to go to the hospital its possibly going to affect the kids there. Thank you for your good work. Guest i do want to thank the concerned. Use shes sometimes when we are concerned we dont know what to do. The fact that she made this phone call is incredibly important. That intervention is very needed to save a womans life, and to make sure that they are safe. So one of the things i would say is to definitely call the hotline, ask for resources in your area, and some guidance on how to approach it. And thatstuations, what makes Domestic Violence so challenging, its in the private space and people feel uncomfortable. But making sure you can intervene in a way that can help your sister. Of the things that would be important would be talking to your sister and providing information, also providing information on how to address covid because thats one of the crackle issues as well. You areng sure that being there for her. Asking to her, reaching out frequently as you can, because at the end of the day, part of what challenges women were going through Domestic Violence is isolation. Catch. Ing covid its a we are asked to isolate to keep also aggravating the Domestic Violence situation. So continuing to reach out to her, and calling the hotline for more information on resources that might be available for her as well. Host and sharon, in hyattsville, maryland. Cspan, fork you educating me and others. I dont have much to say, but thank you so much. I have experienced Domestic Violence myself, so it is hopeful to hear you come out and educate and help people. Do if they want when itteer or help out comes to Domestic Violence . Guest let me say, thank you for your call. I am humbled because i can hearing your voice how brave you for your thank you phone call. I cannot tell you how empowering it is when i hear women like , and to tell your story be able to be willing to help others. Thats the richness of our humanity and i am moved by you. You have made my day. There are so many ways to help. Needed,w, donations are as you can imagine. The National Coalition against Domestic Violence led by northglenn is doing incredible work. I recommend reaching out reaching to the coalition. And i will tell you to go to our at our and look organizations across the country, donate anything you can, we need everything, from diapers, to grocery carts, but most importantly, when we get through this time, i will also tell you to volunteer at an Emergency Shelter. Spend your time with women who need to hear that there are better days. There is so much you can do. But most importantly, being able to tell your story is incredibly empowering. Its letting them know that there are better days. So i want to thank you for calling in. Host what are you hearing from victims about what they need during this pandemic . Much, one iseed so to know that they are not alone. That there is help. Know that they and their children will be ok. Being able to know that when they come to our shelter, they will be taken care of. Underscore isll letting them know that we too are taking every step possible to ensure their health, so its andjust come to our shelter a lot of misinformation is out there that if you come to an Emergency Shelter you are going to get covid. No, we are taking the highest precaution to make sure that shelter durings situation, that we are making their health as paramount as their safety. That has required us to be very innovative and nimble. Nashville thatin have used rvs to make sure that women are families coming in are either quarantined and monitored , so as to not impact the ones that may be in our Emergency Shelters, and we have others using hotels to make sure that we are housing women during this time. Not onlyking sure that is there safety paramount, but that their health is paramount. Many ywcasng that our overcapacity. And 48 had 28 women children in their facility as of last week. Making sure we can find expanded capacity to house women and children during this time. Theres a lot going on. And we are one of those organizations that will never close our doors. We are here to serve the women and children that we have served for 162 years across the country. Host rodney, in taylor, michigan. Alejandra, is the hotline number the same for men as women . The last 16 years have been glorious to this second wife. Was 34 years of terror. When she found out that i did not hit women it was all downhill. Thank you. ,uest thank you for your call as you may have heard me speak at the beginning of this interview, we talked about genderbased violence and recognition that we have situations where its not just women. We have situations where its , we have situations of qomestic violence across lgtb communities as well. Definitely will provide you services, and take calls and give you guidance. Ywcas thatdo have make sure to house men, but we do it in a different manner because we want to make sure our housing facility is upgraded. So where we have situations with men we would probably make arrangement to provide shelter through hotels or motel arrangements. But we do serve women and men butn all wy ca ywcas, in some of them in recognition that genderbased violence is rampant. I want to thank you for your call, im happy that you have found a loving relationship and you are happy. To joe, in next boston, massachusetts. We are discussing to mystic violence during the pandemic. Caller if were talking about to domesticolence, violence, here in boston we work with a fathers rights group and we find that men are often charged with Domestic Abuse and Domestic Violence and theres no violence involved. Moneymay be issues about and in the violence against womens act, nobody nowhere in that bill is violence defined. So what is must violence . Guest thats an excellent question. Theres a lot of ways that Domestic Violence manifests. Abuse,uation of control, psychological, emotional, financial, and even reproductive abuse. Theres a lot of manifestations of how Domestic Violence presents itself. And you have pointed out, some abusers are very clever not to and arey physical marks very deliberate and how they psychologically and emotionally