INDIANAPOLIS — The Domestic Violence Network is launching a new three-year, community wide plan focusing on Black and African American women who have experienced domestic violence.
On Sunday afternoon, Jimmie Bridges is sitting in her living room, sharing her story.
"I want women of color to know that they do have a voice," said Bridges.
Bridges says for more than a decade, she experienced verbal and physical abuse by her then husband.
"Maybe he'd come home drunk — on drugs and alcohol — and just start a fight. Beat me up out of my sleep," said Bridges. "Then, the next day he would never remember. He would be like, 'Who did that to you?'"
Bridges is a mom of five and says she hit a point where enough was enough; she had to choose herself.
"I had to choose my children, also. I didn’t want them to keep growing up in the environment of abuse because it trickles on down. It had to end somewhere, and it had to start with me," said Bridges.
The Domestic Violence Network is looking at how to break that generational trauma. They've been speaking to Black women, trans-women, students at Arsenal Tech High School and community members and organizations.
With their findings, DVN created their newest plan, "Beyond Equity." The plan focuses on Black and African American women.
DVN says Black women experience violence at a rate 2.5 times more than white women. According to the CDC, about 29% of Black women are victimized by an intimate partner in their life.
"Really looking at, not just that now we know these are disproportionate rates, but why this is is happening, what might the culture be like, what might society be like to create those issues," said Rebecca Berry, Director of Strategic Initiatives with DVN.
Berry says the plan takes a family approach, focusing on healing and having access to the right resources. They'll hold support groups and training opportunities for service providers and community members.
The plan includes a restorative justice program that will offer support groups to those who have been harmed and those who have done the harm.
"This is something the survivors have asked for, like 'I want to find my own justice, I want to speak my own truth, I want to find my own healing,' and they weren't finding that in the ways the criminal justice system is structured," said Berry.
The pilot program will launch in March.
