Room: Sunset IV-V

This session is designed to equip organizations supporting survivors with the knowledge and tools to develop robust collaborative systems and develop effective policy advocacy strategies. By fostering collaboration, sharing best practices, enhancing advocacy efforts, and centering survivor voices, participants will be better positioned to create lasting change for survivors in their communities. Presenters will share insights, learnings, challenges and successes in their efforts to foster collaborative systems and develop winning policy advocacy strategies that support survivors.

Room: Sunset I-III

This session is designed to equip organizations supporting survivors with the knowledge and tools to develop robust collaborative systems and develop effective policy advocacy strategies. By fostering collaboration, sharing best practices, enhancing advocacy efforts, and centering survivor voices, participants will be better positioned to create lasting change for survivors in their communities. Presenters will share insights, learnings, challenges and successes in their efforts to foster collaborative systems and develop winning policy advocacy strategies that support survivors.

Room: Bay View Room

Learn how worker survivors from the janitorial industry integrated principles around community organizing, survivor-centered, trauma-informed, and prevention to transform their industry.

Room: Dockside Room

This interactive presentation will focus on the perspective and lived expertise of currently and formerly incarcerated women and trans people of all genders. It will cover how survivors are often criminalized, which results in women’s prisons full of abuse and trafficking survivors, and how prisons and jails systemically perpetuate further abuse through policy and culture. We’ll also discuss some of the obstacles to providing care for survivors who are incarcerated and lead a group discussion about how service providers can overcome these challenges and better support incarcerated survivors.

Room: Sunset IV-V

The anti-sexual violence movement stemmed from grassroots organizing of survivors and advocates. For decades, survivors have found healing in sharing their stories of strength and resilience to push for our movement’s important work. In this session, you will hear from three survivors who have partnered with VALOR this legislative session who shared their stories and used their collective voice to influence change in California.

Room: Paradise Ballroom

Join us for an enlightening session focused on discussingstrategies for economic security as a protective factor against violence,showcasing local and state examples. This session will featurepresentations from leading experts who have successfully launchedinitiatives to enhance economic security and prevent violence in theircommunities. Attendees will delve into practical aspects of projectimplementation, overcome challenges, and evaluate success, all whileexploring collaborative insights. By highlighting local and state examples,attendees will understand how economic security initiatives havesignificantly impacted California.

Room: Dockside Room

For nearly 30 years the California Coalition for WomenPrisoners (CCWP) has exposed and challenged the systemic abuse thatpeople incarcerated in women’s prisons endure and resist. Sexual violenceat the hands of prison staff remains one of the most persistent issues thatwe tackle through community organizing, public education, advocacy,legal action and policy change. Our collective work with survivors at theDublin women’s prison offers many lessons about building collectivepower to challenge sexual violence behind bars. We will also shareconcrete examples of survivor-led work at other California prisons tointerrupt sexual violence and demand accountability and justice.

Room: Bay View Room

Bringing together organizations and community members from across San Diego County, the LGBTQIA+ Survivor Task Force has been able to take collective action beyond the capacity of each individual organization. Join this session to hear more about the origins, challenges,and work of the Task Force over the past 7 years. Participants will walkaway with inspiration for how to better serve marginalized survivors by organizing their own collective collaboration.

Room: Paradise Ballroom

Dramatic cuts in 2023 to the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding meant drastic changes for sexual assault survivors. It felt like one more level of disrespect toward advocates for justice and healing from harm. California sexual assault workers said not this time: these cuts sparked a flame that mobilized the movement into protest and action, resulting in a successful (albeit insufficient) restoration of resources from an already shrinking California budget. This panel of front line advocates will share their experience of mobilization and action so we’ll be ready for the next fight.

Room: Sunset IV-V

Some communities and agencies still reinforce harmful stereotypes and are not given the opportunity to “decolonize” and “unlearn” critical pieces of what adds to systemic racism which creates barriers and limited access to services. This mindset is also reinforced by laws and policies. The presentation will address the barriers and safety concerns tribal victims come across. The discussion will cover myths & stereotypes, sovereignty and autonomy, culture as healing, and resources. This will include practices and ways your agency or community can be good relatives.

Room: Dockside Room

Rape Crisis Centers have too often been threatened by a lack of funding, forcing employees to spend their dwindling resources on maintaining the status quo. This session aims to provide information about Sure Helpline Center’s (SHC) innovative methods for obtaining funding from a variety of sources that contribute to meeting the agency’s mission while increasing their services and fulfilling the overall goal of “Education, Support, and Prevention of Sexual Violence to All Community Members Regardless of Age, Race, and Economic Status.” SHC will share how Rape Crisis Centers can strengthen and broaden their community services with local, state, and federal grant opportunities. During this session, participants will identify various funding sources, review effective methods for growing population-specific services, and formulate strategies for cross-sector collaboration that will extend agency services for the safety and prevention of Sexual Violence in our communities.

Room: Bay View Room

The mechanisms of the “Me Too” movement (as appropriated from Tarana Burke’s movement) may serve some women well, but in many collectivist cultures, the same language/voice/tools may not translate well and have even further endangered survivors. When the survivors’ community is visibly “different” and marginalized, where the men are often collectively marked by U.S. white supremacist forces as “dangerous,” and where there are no community-specific resources for the women who do begin to identify as “survivors,” how might we do better? Drawing from our experience in a community-based grassroots organization, Sikh Family Center, we will discuss combining ‘traditional’ (e.g., involving current legal systems) and ‘non-traditional’ (e.g., prioritizing grassroots interventions) responses to SA.

Room: Dockside Room

There is an ongoing and increasing need for rape crisis centers to diversify their funding streams and engage in educational partnerships with the private sector. One way to do this is through offering fee-for-service trainings, such as the California state-mandated workplace sexual harassment prevention training. Join VALOR to learn more about a tool and curriculum to simplify implementation of such training, explore options for creating or expanding a fee-for-service structure, and plan outreach to partner with local employers.

Room: Sunset I-III

This session will explore how addressing the conditions where people live, work, and play — such as access to housing, employment, nutritious food, and transportation — can mitigate the factors contributing to sexual and intimate partner violence. We will discuss how inequities rooted in historical and systemic issues create environments where violence is more likely to occur. Attendees will gain practical strategies for developing and implementing prevention efforts that promote health equity, ultimately fostering safer and more resilient communities.

Room: Bay View Room

This session invites participants to consider how trust is fundamental in building collective voice, power, and action. We will discuss the importance of humility when engaging in partnership with currently and formerly incarcerated survivors and community led organizations. We will focus on fostering genuine, respectful collaboration that empowers communities impacted by sexual violence and mass incarceration. By creating a space for open dialogue and shared learning, this session aims to deepen our approach to building trust with partners and highlight the importance of restorative approaches to support and advocacy.

Room: Sunset IV-V

When a Native American survivor of rape seeks assistance outside their tribal community, it’s crucial that they are informed about the tribal victim services available to them. During this traumatic and urgent time, it is essential for providers to offer culturally appropriate resources for advocacy and support. This facilitated conversation will bring together providers to discuss the development of these partnerships, ensuring that mainstream service providers can connect survivors with tribal services if they wish.