Survivor Listening Project

The goal of this project is to ensure that the voices of survivors remain central to, and continue to inform the work of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV).

A central theme of this project is the understanding that the insight provided by survivors is crucial to our work and the Battered Women's Movement. With this as our focus, FCADV will continue to provide opportunities for battered/formerly battered women to share their successes, challenges, and lessons learned from their encounters on the road to safety.

FCADV heard the voices of 106 females and 1 male survivor of domestic violence representing rural (27%), urban (39%) and suburban (24%) communities across the state. We heard from young, middle age, and elder survivors. 55% of those who completed our demographic survey had children living in the home. 31% were single, 25% of the women were separated, 20% were divorced and 18% married. 48% were unemployed and looking for work, 4% were retired, and only 18% were employed full time.

Survivors told us over and over that their two most pressing needs are for affordable housing and for a fair, better educated and sensitive justice system: judges, family law attorneys, law enforcement and prosecution, including immigration laws and enforcement. We were also told that the next most pressing needs were for jobs that paid a living wage, and quality and affordable childcare.

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