Mission Statement


The SDCEDSV believes violence against women and their children results from the use of force or threat to achieve and maintain control over others in intimate relationships and societal abuses of power and domination in the forms of sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, anti-semitism, ablebodyism, ageism, and other oppressions.  The SDCEDSV recognizes the abuse of power in society fosters battering and rape by perpetuating conditions that condone violence. Therefore, it is the mission of SDCEDSV to work for the major societal changes necessary to eliminate all forms of oppression, particularly those aimed at women and their children.

The SDCEDSV’s work includes:  Coalition building at the state, local, regional, tribal and national levels; support for the community-based nonviolent alternatives, such as safe home and shelter programs for women who are battered/raped and their children; public education and technical assistance; policy development and innovative legislation; focus on the leadership of SDCEDSV’s caucuses and task forces developed to represent the concerns of organizationally under represented groups; and efforts to eradicate societal conditions which contribute to violence against women and children.