Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Educates Community to Support Survivors
One Local Sorority Chapter is Working to Educate Community Members
According to the CDC, at least one in three women and one in seven men in the United States will experience intimate partner violence at some point in their lifetimes. Given the magnitude of this public health crisis, it is likely that every member of the Topeka community knows at least one person who has or will experience intimate partner violence. In order to mitigate the effects of domestic violence on survivors and their children, YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment (CSE) and Zeta Phi Beta’s Chi Delta Chapter have established a formal partnership to educate the community on how to respond to loved ones who disclose violence in their relationships. The focus of this partnership is to provide community members with the knowledge and tools necessary to offer:
nonjudgmental support,
safety planning strategies, and
access to community resources that meet the needs of survivors.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., is a historically Black sorority and its purpose is to foster the ideas of service, charity, scholarship, civil and cultural endeavors, sisterhood and finer womanhood. The Chi Delta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., has dedicated its members to eliminating domestic violence and eliminating intimate partner homicide.Through robust community education efforts targeted at individuals and organizations most likely to receive disclosures from survivors (e.g., faith community leaders, social service providers), our goal through this collaboration is to ensure that survivors are surrounded by a community of support, enhancing their resilience and empowering them to make informed choices about options for their safety.
We believe that by offering these training opportunities for leaders within our community, they will possess the knowledge they need to fully support survivors and will teach others how to do the same. YWCA CSE is a program of YWCA Northeast Kansas, an agency dedicated to eliminating racism and empowering women. YWCA CSE serves survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking in Shawnee, Brown, Jackson, and Wabaunsee Counties.