North Dakota Domestic and Sexual Violence Coalition

About Us The North Dakota Domestic & Sexual Violence Coalition (NDDSVC) supports and serves as a unified voice for 18 domestic violence/sexual assault (DV/SA) victim advocacy centers across North Dakota. Our Story Before 1970, incidents of domestic and sexual violence were mostly ignored. If they were talked about, it was only in hushed tones and private conversations. For many women, being beaten by their partner or being forced to have sex was accepted by society, and the legal system provided little protection for victims of abuse. Women who wanted to escape the violence often had nowhere to turn. But they did have each other. Across the country, survivors of violence and feminist activists banded together to raise awareness of violence against women. They advocated to change the society and systems that had failed them for so many years, forming the movement that would come to be known as the Battered Women’s Movement of the 1970s. In 1978, The North Dakota Council on Abused Women’s Services (NDCAWS) began as an informal gathering of advocates from five crisis intervention centers across the state. Each crisis center provided shelter and support to victims of domestic violence, and much like the voices of the Battered Women’s Movement, the advocates realized their collective voice was stronger than any individual effort. Through NDCAWS, they problem-solved, shared resources, and discussed ways to improve support systems for victims and survivors. At the same time, The Coalition Against Sexual Assault in North Dakota (CASAND) was formed out of the need for statewide education, networking, and legislative change surrounding sexual assault. Like NDCAWS, advocates at CASAND worked with victims of sexual assault and collectively initiated statewide change. In 1992, CASAND began working closely with NDCAWS, and the two organizations eventually merged, joining the efforts of local domestic and sexual violence services. Through this joint coalition, what was once an informal group of feminists and activists was now an organized network of advocates and change-makers fighting to end violence against women in North Dakota. While abuse continued to occur, the systems and institutions designed to help victims and bring them justice improved. Through proactive training and education, survivors received trauma-informed support from service providers who truly understood the complex dynamics of abusive relationships. Through improved laws and policies, there was a better support system for victims who sought justice and liberation from abuse. And through networking and simply talking about abuse in their communities, survivors and advocates brought conversations about domestic and sexual violence out of those hushed tones and into public conversation. Today, as the North Dakota Domestic & Sexual Violence Coalition, we continue the work of the pioneering women and grassroots organizations that formed our coalition, holding on to the same beliefs that we had in 1978: that abuse cannot be tolerated, and that everyone deserves to live a life free from violence. Our Mission Ending domestic and sexual violence in North Dakota. Our Vision A violence-free North Dakota.