2022 Theme: Centering Survivors

YWCA’s 2022 Week Without Violence campaign:  Centering Survivors, focuses on how today’s most divisive issues and headlines are impacting victims and survivors of gender-based violence.

Supreme Court decisions, state legislation, and a rising wave of hate and violence have created a chilling landscape for survivors. From gun violence and mass shootings to reproductive health restrictions, anti-LGBTQ+ laws, and police violence, some of our nation’s most contentious issues directly impact the safety and well-being of survivors in unique and especially harmful ways. Too often these impacts are unknown, overlooked, or actively ignored — leaving many survivors of gender-based violence unsupported in their efforts to find safety, healing, and pathways forward, free from further violence.

As our nation heads to the polls in November amidst the increasingly contentious rhetoric and political division surrounding abortion bans, “don’t say gay” laws, access to firearms, and more, voters will decide the outcomes of more than 7,000 local, state, and federal offices. To ensure the voices and needs of all survivors are addressed, it is critical that we center survivors in these discussions and in our voter education and GOTV (Get Out The Vote) efforts. By raising awareness of the ways polarizing issues impact survivors, we can bridge divides and build support among voters, candidates, and policymakers for the services and solutions survivors need.

Join us from October 17-22, 2022 as we raise awareness, elevate survivor voices, talk with policymakers, and more with a common goal: centering survivors so that together, we can end gender-based violence.