Southwest PA Says NO MORE: More than twenty-five groups collaborate to end domestic and sexual violence

A diverse array of 25 organizations from across the region have joined together with a singular focus: to end violence against women. Partners include domestic violence shelters, rape crisis programs and human service organizations like the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. FISA Foundation—in partnership with The Heinz Endowments and United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania—developed Southwest PA Says No More to showcase this work and to make it easier for individuals and organizations to take action to stop gender-based violence.
More than three women every single day are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the U.S.¹ Nearly one in four women reports experiencing violence by a current or former spouse or boyfriend at some point in her life,² and young women are at the greatest risk of experiencing partner violence.³
Pennsylvania has been a leader in developing domestic violence shelters and rape crisis programs, improving police response, pioneering best practices in the courts, and providing counseling and advocacy: “that work is critically important, but it’s not sufficient—we cannot build enough women’s shelters to end violence against women,” said Kristy Trautmann, Executive Director of the FISA Foundation. “We cannot focus only on helping girls and women reduce their risk of being raped and beaten. We must do more to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place.”
The CDC and other national experts have long recommended that to be effective, prevention efforts need to address individuals, families, communities and culture over a long period of time. No one group has the capacity to do this, but through collaboration much more becomes possible. Southwest PA Says No More connects the dots and illustrates the movement that is building as more individuals and organizations focus on prevention.
Southwest PA Says No More will serve as a resource and provide opportunities to take meaningful action. Any organization or individual engaged in primary prevention is encouraged to join this initiative.