NIWRC Specialty Institute: Enhancing Indigenous Advocacy for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Impacted by Trauma, Mental Health, and Substance Use.

CCVAP’s OPEC, Anu Watts, had the opportunity to attend the NIWRC Specialty Institute: Enhancing Indigenous Advocacy for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Impacted by Trauma, Mental Health, and Substance Use. This specialty institute brought together various tribal victim advocacy teams to discuss survivor-centered approaches to advocacy.

Day 1 of the specialty institute comprised of several keynote speakers including Christina Love, an Egegik Tribal Member and advocate, Gabriela Zapata-Alma, Associate Director of the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health (NCDVTMH), and Cathy Cave, Senior Training Consultant at NCDVTMH. Christina gave an especially compelling presentation on “Global Misconceptions & Misunderstandings of Substance Use within Indigenous & Targeted Communities” by highlighting the increased vulnerabilities of Indigenous people, especially those in rural communities. Christina also centered the historic subjugation of Native Americans by settlers and how sexual violence and substances were used as tactics for power and control.

An especially profound piece of knowledge shared by Gabriela was that “the opposite of addiction is connection.” They also spoke on the cyclical nature of victimization between the Traumatic Effects of Abuse, Ongoing Coercive Control, Traumatic Legacies of Historical Trauma, and Ongoing Structural Violence.

Some major takeaways from this specialty institute include the importance of indigenizing harm-reduction tactics by ensuring access to Indigenous healing programs, centering the survivor in all decision-making, and continuing to recognize the ongoing effects of generational and historic trauma on tribal communities.