Next Step goes to D.C.

Well, Laurie and I (Leslie) braved the wilds of D.C. to attend the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) annual conference. It was quite a trip!

As usual with a big conference like that, it was pretty overwhelming. We struggled to pick daily workshops from a program as thick as the Sears Catalog. I went to several good ones. Here's a sample:

* A teen dating abuse peer education group from the Bronx showed us their video
* A documentary about the history of the domestic violence movement was screened for us (very good!)
* Two advocates from different DV agencies in San Francisco (one serving primarily Asian women and one serving primarily the GLBTQ community) talked collaboratively about challenging sexim, heterosexism, and racism at our agencies when it occurs amongst clients OR amongst staff.
* Staff from Amnesty International and the DOJ talked about the IVAWA (International Violence Against Women Act) - what it will do and why we should lobby for it
* Advocates from the US Women hotline, who specialize in US women who are being abused by their partner and are in other countries (due to marrying abroad or being held hostage during a holiday, etc.) & need legal advocacy across international jurisdictions.

Wow! It was a lot. And then we took a whole day to go to the Capitol as state groups (so we Mainers went together) to thank our reps and to lobby for full re-funding of VAWA. We Mainers had it easier than some other state groups because our reps all have great voting records in regards to VAWA. So the worst we faced were our Biblical-level blisters and shin-splints after racing all over Capitol Hill all day, from building to building and meeting to meeting in NOT SENSIBLE SHOES. But it was a great experience (I can say now that my feet have healed)!

Plus I have to admit we did a fair amount of sight seeing, including several buildings at the Smithsonian (the Native American Museum is great) plus the National Art Gallery and the National Zoo.

All in all, we were very glad to get home but it was a very good trip. Thanks again, NCADV!

ljl