Name: Wyeth Zeff
Social Justice Group: 2020-2021, Violence Against Women
Date of Fieldwork: February 9, 2021
Person (people) with whom you met and their title(s) & Name of Organization: Ruth Glenn
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
After having the privilege to talk to Ruth Glenn, the head of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Margot and I learned many things about her experience as a DV victim, domestic cultural abuse, physiological trauma, and what needs more attention within the system. The NCADV has been in existence for 40 years and is the only grassroots organization working on domestic violence and not taking funding from the government. This organization is funded by advocates for change within domestic abuse to aid victims and survivors and those who cause harm and their accountability. The NCADV operates with policies, projects, and programs to ensure that everyone is aware of domestic violence can do something about domestic violence and provides the best for victims and advocates. While the NCADV does not directly work with survivors, this organization works with congress, lawmakers, congressional staffers, allies, and partners to ensure that introduced or existing policies always have the best interest of survivors. That can be anything from housing to education. The NCADV also strongly focuses on prevention projects like teen relationship programs to make a constant change. We learned a lot about the NCADV and what they do to end domestic violence against women. However, Margot and I were also inspired by Ruth Glenn, a woman of color, and her story of how she became an advocate and voice were women nationally after being a victim of severe domestic abuse in the past. This goes to show how much a person let alone a society, can make a change with just determination.
