T.A.G. Team

Members: Angie Rosa, Tess Blaylock, Griffin Coates

When this semester started, Team 2 had no idea what was going to happen in the coming months. During the second week of school, we began our journey by meeting with AFAB and being introduced to the staff we would be working with for the semester, Carline and Regine. They laid out our tasks for the coming weeks and months: First, we would be running the technical aspect of two separate events for AFAB (The Domestic Violence Prevention Forum and their 32nd Annual Celebration). We were tasked with being the hosts for their electronic platform (Zoom), and this entailed managing the waiting and breakout rooms, screen sharing, recording, dealing with any technical difficulties, and summarizing the events in both reports and videos. On top of this, AFAB wanted for us to expand the reach of each event through social media, word of mouth, and contacting other schools in the greater Boston area. Secondly, AFAB, desired a compact report on the relation between COVID-19 and Gender Violence. Such a report will be used as a resource for domestic violence and sexual assault victims/survivors.

AFAB DV Forum Recap Video.mp4

AFAB Domestic Violence Prevention Forum

The AFAB Domestic Violence Forum was meant to educate AFAB clients and supporters about how domestic violence has changed in the face of the pandemic and strategies for self-care and seeking help. We heard from a panel of women who specialize in different areas involved in the overall theme of domestic violence. The first panelist was Elizabeth Conward who is a licenced clinical social worker who goes into depth about mental health and the effects the pandemic has had on domestic violence. Next was Lorraine Lafata, a clinical consultant and therapist, who discussed self-care for survivors and those who work with survivors. After Lorraine came Genet Bekele, a domestic violence unit regional coordiantor, who talked about the increase of domestic violence and sexual assault and service accessibility during the pandemic. Lastly we heard from Regine Jean-Charles, a professor at Boston College, who discussed the importance of the Say Her Name movement and acknowledged how women killed by domestic violence aren’t spoken about and their names are not said. The event concluded with a conversation between the panelists about mental health and support services during the pandemic.

My Movie - Small.mov

AFAB Annual Celebration & Fundraiser

AFAB’s Annual Celebration brought together their clients and donors to raise awareness of the work AFAB does and to encourage people to donate to their cause. Melissa Gaelle Jean, the host of the event, gave welcoming remarks as well as introduced the speakers. She also reminded people to bid on auction items throughout the event, which included three paintings and two purses. AFAB played a welcome video of Mayor Walsh, and then a video of a poetry reading by Josette Teneus. Afterwards they played a song called Clown, sung by Cindy Dieujuste. We then heard a PSA about the AFAB roundtable, describing their work and AFAB’s role in bringing different organizations involved in domestic violence together. Carline Desire then introduced the keynote speaker of the celebration, City Councilor Gerly Adrien. She discussed the importance of her success for her community and how, despite being constantly put down, she proved to the world and herself that she is strong and capable enough to accomplish anything she sets her mind to. After her inspiring words, Cindy Dieujuste sings, “Imagine all the People” by John Lennon. At the end of the event, Carline and Carmelle give special thanks to people and organizations who have continued to support AFAB.

Domestic Violence & Covid - 19 Research Project

Angie

Our work with AFAB further solidifies the importance of advocating for survivors of gender-based bias. Meeting survivors and hearing their stories through zoom, was a lot more impactful and drove home the significance of AFAB as a grassroots organization.

I loved being part of something that had a direct positive impact on survivors.

One thing I took away from our work with AFAB was is that one small action can go a long way. Some of the guests that attended the virtual events where from different countries. They had a strong community in London, Canada, Haiti and a few other places. Even though AFAB is a small organization, their dedication and their reach goes far beyond Boston.

Tess

The process of working with AFAB taught me about the important work done behind the scenes to help victims of domestic violence. It helped me form the connection between what we learn in class about gender-based violence, and how that has changed due to the pandemic.

My favorite part was being able to attend these events and seeing all their work brought together.

One thing I took away from this experience was how crucial these local organizations are to their community and how important it is to raise awareness and volunteer time and resources to help their organization grow.

Griffin

What we did, as Team 2, to help AFAB was not the flashiest and most exciting work, yet it was work that needed to be done. Similar to a lot of activism, it is not necessarily a fun and exciting thing to do, but that does not mean the work being done isn't important and impactful.

I love the behind the scenes work, and I felt very accomplished having helped each event have its maximum impact.

One thing I took away was how small AFAB was for the amount of impact they have. We always think of the biggest organizations having the greatest effect, yet small, underfunded, understaffed organizations, like AFAB, will be the ones in getting their hands dirty and providing relief for their local communities.

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