Blogs

Jul 11, 2021 by María Limón

“Excuse me, María, may I say something?” said A, a high school senior who oozes compassion as a way of living the teachings of her faith. “It’s not okay for you to say you hate yourself. That’s not alright.” I stopped in my tracks, and I lost it.

May 7, 2021

I am the oldest of six kids. Growing up, we celebrated Mother’s Day by making my mom breakfast in bed. This started as some cereal and milk; then grew into something more extravagant like pancakes and eggs. As a kid, that felt like a lot. But as I got older, I questioned if some scrambled eggs in bed was really an acceptable gift for my mother. This was a woman who managed and loved six very different humans and their schedules. Each day wasn’t perfect but we were all very happy.

Mar 4, 2021

The #MeToo movement is descending upon the walls of the ivory tower. The day of reckoning has come for academia to end teaching staff sexual misconduct. As women of public and third sector education, we demand to be heard.

Feb 5, 2021 by Barbara Paradiso

I met Brooke Ely-Milen for the first time in the spring of 2001. She was a young woman who had committed herself to providing support for survivors of domestic violence and was looking to better prepare herself for leadership through education. She had applied to enroll in the Program on Gender-based Violence (PGV - then PDV, Program on Domestic Violence) and our interview together took place with her in the passenger seat of a car driving home from a conference through the mountains.

Aug 6, 2020

Doris Buffett died yesterday. She was surrounded by family and friends and listening to the music of Billie Holiday. At 92, Doris had changed the lives of hundreds of people through her philanthropy and established the Center on Domestic Violence. Doris believed in seeing people as individuals, believing in their capacity to overcome adversity and in her own ability to provide a critical “hand up” as opposed to a “hand out” to people in need. I first met Doris when I became director of the safehouse for victims of domestic violence in Boulder, Colorado. Though she had since moved to the east coast, Doris had been a volunteer for Safehouse for several years. She had continued her commitment to battered women, sitting on the board, and working to create comfortable living spaces at shelters in a number of communities. She would call me occasionally, with a question, “How does Boulder County Safehouse handle staffing issues or How does Safehouse maintain a 24/7 crisis line?” We became long distance colleagues and friends.

Aug 6, 2020

Over the last decade a focus on brain injury and concussion related to sporting activities and military service has gained popular attention. Only recently, have we also begun to talk about the prevalence of brain injury in relation to domestic violence (DV). A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one that affects the normal functioning of the brain, and can result in negative consequences to physical, emotional, and cognitive health. TBIs can be difficult to detect, and multiple TBIs, potentially caused by a pattern of physical assault, can have compounding impacts on the life and health of a survivor of domestic violence.

Jun 5, 2020

The Center on Domestic Violence staff and volunteers are outraged over the Black lives recently lost to racism, white supremacy, and police brutality and grieve their deaths. We honor them in a tradition of solidarity; as we say their names, we claim their presence. We vow to continue our work to end violence in their names and in the name of all people of color lost to police brutality.

Apr 29, 2020

María Limón, Rural Technical Assistance Manager with the Center on Domestic Violence (CDV) (pictured far left) conducted a week-long consultation and training with the staff at the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence (CASFV) in El Paso.

May 15, 2020

The scope of domestic violence is always difficult to measure and it is increasingly hard during the COVID-19 pandemic when families are isolated to their homes. Domestic violence increases with times of crisis, loss of power, and close proximity - all of which the virus has made common. The circumstances of COVID-19 have compelled the Center of Domestic Violence to adapt to continue to serve survivors.

Oct 19, 2019 by Barbara Paradiso

Welcome to the Center on Domestic Violence and our New Website! We’re so glad you're here. We’ve been busy working to achieve our mission to end gender-based violence and the website was ignored for years, but now we’re back.