Continuing its efforts to combat gender-based violence, county supervisors voted Tuesday to formalize the establishment of a Gender-Based Violence Work Group for policy development, coordination, and implementation of prevention programs.
The board also expanded the county’s formal definition of gender-based violence as “violent acts or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuses that are used to harm, punish, or frighten due to a person’s identified or perceived gender or sexual identity. GBV includes, but is not limited to, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, gendered cyber abuses, sexual harassment, sexual assault and exploitation, trafficking, homophobic and transphobic abuses.”
At the board’s direction earlier this year, the county CEO developed a report on establishing a GBV Work Group. Working with community groups, academic experts and public organizations, the group will work toward assessing existing gaps in county programs, outreach and education strategies and resources to support residents experiencing abuse.
Board Chair Lindsey Horvath noted that Tuesday’s vote was the latest in a series of actions taken by the board to address the issue of gender violence.
“Although some progress has been made, there is certainly more work that needs to be done,” she said. “We need to better understand the gaps in gender-based violence prevention services that currently exist throughout or county delivery system.”
The prevention efforts will be led by the Department of Public Health’s Office of Violence Prevention, along with the County Domestic Violence Council, the Los Angeles County Office of Women’s Health, the Los Angeles County Sexual Assault Council and the Los Angeles County LGBTQ+ Commission.
The group’s work will be assisted by two new staff positions that were included in the county’s recently adopted budget.