NYPD Teams Up with Strength United at Domestic Violence Conference
NYPD Detective Frances O’Hanlon (left), Lunx Girgado (center) and Deputy Chief Kathleen White (right). Photo courtesy of Girgado.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention month. On Oct. 21, CSUN’s Pride United — a program of Strength United that provides a safe space and affirming services for the LGBTQIA+ population — teamed up with the New York Police Department (NYPD) to speak at the department’s 18th Annual Domestic Violence Training Conference in New York City.
Lunx Girgado, Strength United’s advocacy and outreach specialist, gave a presentation at the conference about the rates of domestic/intimate partner violence in the LGBTQIA+ community, the stigma and discrimination LGBTQIA+ survivors may experience, and how law enforcement can engage with the LGBTQIA+ community in a trauma-informed and affirming way.
“It was an honor and a privilege to advocate for queer survivors of domestic and intimate partner-based violence,” Girgado said. “Through my presentation, Deputy Chief Kathleen White and the NYPD’s Domestic Violence Unit now have vital, affirming skills to work with and understand the community, while protecting their humanity.”
Operating through CSUN’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education, Strength United provides counseling, victim advocacy and prevention education programs to individuals and families affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, child maltreatment and other crimes. It is also the lead agency of the Family Justice Center, the only multidisciplinary violence response system in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.
If you or someone you know has been or is currently being affected by child maltreatment, domestic or sexual violence, please call Strength United’s 24/7 support lines: (818) 886-0453 or (661) 253-0258.
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