When a volunteer commits to NYJL’s Crisis Intervention project, she goes all in. These volunteers are first responders, on call twice a month to support survivors of violence when they arrive at New York Presbyterian Hospital, as part of its Domestic and Other Violence Emergencies (DOVE) program. Certified as rape crisis counselors by the New York State Department of Health, NYJL volunteers listen to clients’ stories, recommend resources, and present options so survivors can make informed decisions. They also clarify medical procedures and help survivors create a safety plan–all while ensuring patients’ rights to information, confidentiality, and privacy are protected. NYJL volunteers are problem solvers, working with law enforcement, medical staff, social workers, and direct service providers to help survivors get the care they need.

Violence appears in many forms: sexual, physical, emotional, economic, and psychological. Not only impacting survivors, violence can have reverberating effects on families and communities as well. Long after the abuse ends, survivors may continue to grapple with trauma, often resulting in learning disabilities, poor health, mental health challenges, substance abuse, and juvenile and adult crime. Violence breaks up families and ultimately costs taxpayers, while offenders, and the institutions that cover for them, escape this burden. 

NYJL has a longstanding history of city and state-level advocacy, working directly with communities to address these social challenges and to advance the health and well-being of women and children in the long term. 

In 2007, the NYJL partnered with the National Organization of Women (NOW) NYC to advocate for New York State’s first comprehensive anti-human trafficking legislation. The Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act (TVPJA), placing greater accountability on traffickers and purchasers and strengthening the defence for survivors of trafficking from prosecution for sex work. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the TVPJA into law in late 2015.

In 2008, the NYJL successfully advocated for New York State funding to support shelters for survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.

In 2010, Alongside the Women in Prison Project, the NYJL began advocating for the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) to grant judges discretion when issuing sentences to survivors of violence who are convicted of crimes related to their abuse. Under this law, judges may order lesser sentences or send survivors to community-based programs instead of prison. Governor Cuomo signed this bill into law in May 2019.

And most recently, in February 2019, Governor Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act into law,  extending the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits. 

Join us Thursday evening, December 5, 2019, as we recognized the work of Crisis Intervention and four other community projects at Golden Tree, an annual, three-day holiday shopping and entertainment event. Golden Tree is among NYJL’s signature fundraisers to support our community projects, like Crisis Intervention, and ongoing advocacy for women and children.