That organization announced on Sept. 17 that they are moving forward with a new identity, one that identifies the end goal rather than the problem they are fighting against: Violence Free Iowa: The Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.
“It really, truly reflects the future that we want for every individual in Iowa,” said Maria Corona, the organization’s CEO. “We want to put the goal first.”
Violence Free Iowa provides education, training, technical assistance and advocacy for its coalition of 25 member organizations. Those member organizations, which have increased from 22 to 25 since ICADV absorbed IowaCASA, provide direct services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
Corona emphasized that the rebrand has not changed anything with how survivors receive support from these organizations through 24/7 crisis support, safe housing and medical and legal advocacy. These organizations serve all 99 Iowa counties.
Violence Free Iowa will be the centralized organization that these member groups will be able to utilize.
“For 40 years, the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault worked in partnership to elevate victim service providers,” Corona said. “But many of these service providers have dual issue services, so they were already part of both of our memberships. The transition has been really emphasizing the needs of those victim service programs.”
Violence Free Iowa will continue the legal services that IowaCASA provided to sexual assault victims. Corona said they ensured there was little to no disruption to these services during the transition.
The organization brought in consultants that conferred with the service provider agencies and survivors from different backgrounds to ensure the new organization reflected what survivors across the state needed. They collaborated with subject matter experts who could ensure their new policies and procedures would address the separate forms of violence in the particular way their survivors need.
Leaders wanted to emphasize the importance of each lane of violence prevention in their work.
“Since the transition happened back in January, we have been very mindful that sexual violence services are not an add-on to this work,” said Lindsay Pingel, chief communications officer for Violence Free Iowa. “They stand as an equal pillar to the work we were doing prior with domestic violence.”
Corona said the organization hopes to continue the legacy IowaCASA had built helping to prevent and address sexual violence in Iowa and the country.
“Our goal is to really honor and carry forward the legacy of IowaCASA because the work that they’ve done to strengthen sexual violence victim services across Iowa also had a national impact,” Corona said. “They brought together organizations, partners and policy makers, and while we partnered, they really did elevate that work at the national level. We want to use some of that work as our foundation and make sure that sexual assault service providers are elevated through this transition.”
Violence Free Iowa offers education to the public around issues related to sexual assault and domestic violence. Corona hopes the public utilizes them as a resource and learns more about their public policy priorities.
Ultimately, she hopes all Iowans recognize their part in preventing violence.
“Violence impacts all of us,” she said. “It affects communities across Iowa. And while awareness is important, we also need to take action. I think in this new way forward as we transition to Violence Free Iowa, we want to make sure folks feel that they can be part of this movement, that they can be part of the action to eradicate, prevent and end sexual and domestic violence.”
