Are you an advocate or other professional working with survivors of domestic violence or sexual violence? Chances are you have, or will, work with a survivor who was criminalized or justice-involved at some point. This is your call to action to deepen your knowledge of the criminalization of survivorship while enhancing your advocacy skillset. We are partnering with STEPS/Rising Ground for a three-part foundational training series offering a wide overview of invisibilized survivors and those disparately impacted by the criminal legal system. Although encouraged, it is not required that participants attend all parts of the series.

Part 1: Identifying and Supporting Criminalized Survivors
January 9, 2023 2:30-4pm
- Dynamics of gender-based violence and systems of dominance and oppression.
- Nuanced and context-driven assessment of IPV, with a focus on criminalized and other invisibilized survivors.
- Differentiating between coercive controlling violence and survival violence.

Part 2: Neurobiology of Trauma
January 23, 2023 2:30-4pm
- Examining one's own power and privilege as a service provider.
- Advocacy-based counseling.
- Additional resources for criminalized survivors and people who provide services or interact with criminalized survivors.

Part 3: Assessment Training and Case Studies
January 30, 2023 2:30-4pm
- Best practices for assessments.
- Case studies.

Who should attend: All are welcome to attend space permitting. NYSCADV members and allied organizations will be prioritized as a benefit of membership. Domestic violence program staff, sexual violence program staff, advocates, and other professionals working with people who are or were justice-involved are highly encouraged to attend.

Meet the Trainers

Patrice D. James is a licensed social worker, certified field instructor and a certified restorative justice facilitator. She serves as the Director of Criminalized Survivors Program within STEPS to End Family Violence, a program of Rising Ground. This program is the first in the nation to provide clinical support and legal advocacy specifically to survivors of gender-based violence who have been criminalized due to their resistance to violence and their interdisciplinary survival. Patrice is also a Subject Matter Expert with the LOVE Project, a national collaboration between National Crittenton, National Black Women’s Justice Institute, Young Womens Freedom Center and the National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls. Patrice has presented at the city, state, and national level regarding the complex nature of incarceration, criminalization, gender-based violence and survival. Patrice is also a member of the Intimate Partner Violence network within NCAVP, which seeks to provide responsive technical assistance for LGBTQIA+ victim service programs across New York State.

Soraya Palmer is a Flatbush-born-and-raised writer and licensed social worker who advocates for survivors of gender-based violence who are facing criminal charges related to their abuse. Her role involves leading trainings for attorneys, prosecutors, judges, and social service providers on how to better support criminalized survivors and how to conduct trauma-informed and healing-centered engagement with clients. Previously, she worked at the Center for Court Innovation for over four years and worked as the youth organizing and leadership program coordinator for systems impacted youth. As a self-identified abolitionist, pleasure activist, and Queer Caribbean feminist, she believes that the principles of healing, transformative justice, and grassroots organizing should be employed across all social justice organizations. As a lead organizer for Equality for Flatbush for four years, she led community forums on the adverse effects of gentrification on poor communities of color. She has been interviewed for her work against police brutality, anti-gentrification, and violence in The New York Times and BuzzFeed News. She has been awarded an artist residency at Blue Mountain Center, a residency that supports artists committed to social justice practices. Her debut novel, The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts, centers around young girls growing up in Flatbush and navigating violence, illness, and oppression, is forthcoming from Catapult (NA) and Serpent’s Tail (UK) in Spring, 2023.