Bilingual Newsletter
- Dan Esparza: Working for a world without violence
This
month we feature an interview with Dan Esparza, who has over 8-years of experience
in the rape crisis field. Dan has worked as a rape crisis counselor, volunteer
and operations coordinator, and interim Co-Director of the Rape Crisis Center
at the Center for Community Solutions (CCS) in San Diego, CA. Dan is currently
involved with Amnesty International USA’s Women’s Human Rights Program
as the Western Region Representative on the National Women’s Steering
Committee, and is also on the Western Region Human Right Education Advisory
Committee.
Why are you involved with the Amnesty International’s 700 women campaign?
The 700 women campaign... I have been involved in the Women’s human right program for a couple of years and I work for the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault. So it seemed good to be involved in the 700 women campaign because the campaign is about the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). And the reauthorization of VAWA is what basically runs what we do in this line of work in California and across the United States. So, without the reauthorization of VAWA we wouldn’t be able to sufficiently provide services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
You’re been working on issues of domestic violence and sexual assault issues for almost eight years, what prompted you to work in a rape crisis center?
Good question. I actually was involved in some mental health before that then job came up and I felt this what I should be doing and it felt right. And the more people I talked to the more I realized that sexual assault and domestic violence affected them and I was astonished to think the amount of people actually either themselves or someone they knew had been affected by sexually assaulted or survivor of domestic violence.
What are some of the challenges you face doing this type of work in the community?
Some of the challenges I think are that some people don’t feel it affects them directly; that it is happening to somebody else so there is no personalization there. But when you start talking to them then you ask “Do you know somebody?” and they may say “No” but more than likely they do know someone. When you personalize it in the sense that it's important for them to be part of this because these are our sisters, our mothers & our partners, and they slowly start to realize how it can affect the people that we care about.
Why is it important to have allies involved in this effort?
The importance of allies involved is because the majority of sexual assault are unfortunately are committed men so if we have men as allies we can involve them in ending sexual violence. We can get people to think that its an issue that affects society versus a women’s issue, so that we can become more involved in ending sexual violence.
How do you see the Latino community being affected by violence against women?
Unfortunately violence doesn’t know any type of gender or domestic background so it affects every community, every person regardless of their social status, regardless of origin of birth. It affects us all. Its one thing that our society can band together and try to prevent once you realize it affects all of us.
What can be done to ensure people affected feel empowered and can speak out against violence? And what can people do to get involved with the 700 women campaign?
One of the first things that people can do to feel empowered is by believing them that it happened. Never questioning why somebody stays in a relationship. Instead of asking them, “Why don’t you just leave?” it’s a matter of when you’re ready to leave, and I’ll be here to support you. Or “I believe that that happened,” and it doesn’t matter what happened, whether there was alcohol involved or anything like that. That they feel empowered enough to be believed. That’s the first step in speaking out against violence: realizing that somebody believes them.
As far as being involved in the 700 women campaign, there’s a website: 700women.org and on it you can sign a petition to help with the reauthorization of VAWA, which is coming up at the end of September. It’s completely important because it affects basically anybody that’s working on violence against women. If it’s not reauthorized, they pretty much will be without a job or it will affect them directly in a sense as in some people will be laid off. So one of the things people can do is fill out the petition. And they can do actually more by writing letters to their senators or congress people and asking them to support the VAWA reauthorization.
Sign the petition to reauthorize legislation to end sexual violence. »