October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and we would like to honor both survivors of intimate partner violence and those who have lost their lives, as well as the organizations working to end intimate partner violence. We know that our current criminal legal system does not provide survivors and their loved ones with the safety and support that they deserve. In fact, countless survivors are currently incarcerated for surviving abuse because when they do interact with the criminal legal system, they are punished for acting in self-defense. We are committed to using our power to demand real changes that honor everyone’s right to live free of violence. 

While our opponents weaponize survivors of intimate partner violence as justification to entrench and expand the criminal punishment system, we know that relying on punitive measures like pretrial incarceration have failed to keep people safe and in some cases even exacerbate intimate partner violence. In fact, as we have learned from anti-violence organizers such as Mariame Kaba, the majority of sexual and intimate partner violence is not reported to the police at all. This means that the vast majority of survivors choose to defend themselves alone or rely on community protection instead of turning to the state for help. Survivors deserve so much more than the carceral solutions currently being offered. 

We know that real safety comes when survivors and their families have reliable access to their own affordable housing, economic opportunities, childcare services and more – not policing and incarceration. In their 2020 City of Chicago Budget Ask report, The Network Advocating Against Domestic Violence highlights that in 2020 1,238 survivors were turned away from domestic violence shelters. Re-allocating $35 million from the Chicago Police Department’s budget, as The Network requested, would provide more investments into gender-based violence prevention and intervention services. Pretrial justice reforms like ending money bond and reducing pretrial incarceration create opportunities to divest from violent systems and invest in life-affirming institutions that help our communities thrive. 

We are committed to continue to work with The Network, the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Love & Protect, and other anti-intimate partner violence organizations across the state to protect the Pretrial Fairness Act and its provisions for survivors, and to ensure that people impacted by intimate partner violence receive the support they need.