Sis, before you call him "the one", watch this. It could save your life.
MANY Black women DON'T KNOW WE'VE BEEN VICTIMIZED because abuse is often normalized in our culture.
This video is to help you understand how coercive control is the key that holds all the abusive behaviors securely in place - not something separate.
If you see yourself in this video, you need help!
Adults: contact The National Domestic Violence Hotline 24/7
Chat Online: https://www.thehotline.org/
Call: 800-799-7233
Under 18, this resource was created for you: Love Is Respect 24/7
Text LOVEIS to 22522
Chat Online: https://www.loveisrespect.org/
Call: 866-331-9474
#Permission #Access
For Sistahs Currently Experiencing DV
If you are currently experiencing domestic violence - or think you may be - please do the following:
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Find a secure device (one that you KNOW is not being monitored by the perpetrator)
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Reach out 24/7 to the experts at the National Domestic Violence Hotline at that link and chat OR
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Reach out 24/7 to those same experts by calling 800-799-7233
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They can help you:
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accurately identify all types of violence you are experiencing
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get information on the closest help/supports to you
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create or update a safety plan
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IF YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF BEING HURT, KIDNAPPED, OR WORSE, CALL 911.
Who We Are
OUR FOUNDING MISSION: To provide holistic supportive services to Black women survivors and their children survivors - as well as information regarding resources for Black women survivors and their children who have experienced domestic violence/intimate partner violence/teen dating violence; promoting pathways of healing through self-reliance and healthy legacy.
OUR HISTORY: Courageous Access began its work in 2020 with the first cohorts for Black women survivors of domestic violence and officially opened its doors in 2021. Since then, we’ve built a model that centers Black women’s voices and experiences, creating spaces for safety, recovery, and growth.
WHAT WE DO:
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Empowerment through the Arts Cohorts: Supporting Black women survivors of DV with an 80% success rate in preventing future cycles of violence.
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Youth Health & Relationship Cohorts: Teaching children of color (ages 11–17) how to build safe, healthy relationships—breaking generational cycles of abuse.
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On-site HIV/STI testing & harm reduction tools: Partnering with The Project Iowa PHC to serve women facing overlapping health and safety risks.
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State-specific Resources: We are currently building this right now! We have served Black women in NY, MO, FL, TX, OH, and Puerto Rico. We want Black women in every state to know where to find vetted resources during crisis and rebuild as it relates to DV. We are building the foundational information regarding national hotline resources, state-specific DV and SA coalitions, and other survivor resources. We will always add to that information talking to our volunteer lived experience Black women DV survivor experts who sign up to tell us the places they found safe and effective for them as a Black woman to utilize during crisis and recovery regarding domestic violence. If you want to join our volunteer team of lived experience experts, click here: SIGN UP
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Self-service survivor resources: Brochures and tools in our lobby to support women who may not be ready to ask for help.
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Annual program participant events: Ongoing opportunities for reflection, connection, and healing.
In other words, Black women - across our entire and beautiful diaspora, all across the United States, we are STILL here for YOU - #Permission
Our Channel
Courageous Access Channel
DV Can Be Disrupted - Know the Timeline
8-Stage DV Homicide Timeline
Our Philosophy
Foundation Matters. Our adult decisions are based on what we learn as we build our developmental foundation in childhood. If a Black woman can identify where poisonous relationship expectations were falsely set up as normal and healthy, she and her therapist can disarm those predispositions, recognizing and rejecting future toxic advances in all relationships - intimate partner, family, work, church, and friendships.
CO-Survivors Matter. At Courageous Access, we are committed to always incorporating the latest research into the care of our clients. Our Founding Executive Director attended a conference where the work of Dr. Emma Katz (a non-Black woman in the UK with brilliant, breakthrough interviews of DV survivors) came to her attention. We always knew the DV didn't swerve past the children, but now we have the language to prove it! Children of DV survivors are ALSO co-survivors. Coercive control, physical violence, verbal violence, and sexual violence committed by the perpetrator against the children makes the children co-survivors. And they absolutely matter. That's why we have always targeted their needs in this work. Now that we are armed with this language and truth - watch how much more we target them in this work!
Reparations Matter. As a Black woman, you may have daydreamed about your country suddenly deciding to repay you in usable currency for my lifelong suffering at its hands. We teach survivors how to extract currency following an abusive situation; because the most effective revenge is to make abuse pay you back - reparations, Beautiful.
DV Survivors: What to Do at Each Stage
"We're not early or late to life's circumstances; we're prepared in the moment we're due to arrive"