YWCA of Spokane

Alternatives To Domestic Violence Program

We are Spokane's state-recognized domestic violence program.

Our services are free and confidential. Our services are only for victims/survivors. Having a domestic violence charge against you doesn't mean you can't access ADVP. See our definition of domestic violence below.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence means different things depending on who you're working with: for us, it is a process by which one person in an intimate relationship tries to maintain power and control over the other person in the relationship. The person who the controlling behavior is aimed at we call the survivor. Our services are restricted to survivors only.

Tools For Survivors

A top priority for many survivors is safety, and safety for their children. Since the dangers a survivor faces are not just physical, safety planning with an advocate is different than you might think.

Power & Control Wheel

A tool developed originally in Duluth, Minnesota. It is the result of candid and honest conversations with domestic violence survivors; the obvious things we see on TV or hear about on the news are on the outside of the wheel. The things on the inside are common tactics (the non-obvious things) people who abuse use against their partners. This is not a test, not everyone's experience of domestic violence will be represented on this wheel.

Safety Planning

What We Do

Our program supports and advocates for victims who are experiencing abuse and violence in their relationships.  

We have many individual components.     

• Confidential safe shelter for victims and children
  
• Transitional housing for 20 families
• Individual and group (advocacy based) counseling 
• Legal representation and advocacy, and a 24-hour help line: 326-CALL (326-2255). 

   

Prevalence

• One in four Spokane women will have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime               
• Domestic violence happens with about the same frequency in gay and lesbian relationships (National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs: National Report on LGBTQ Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence)
  
• Washington State has had 755 domestic violence related fatalities between January 1, 1997 and June 30, 2010 (Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence: Up To Us)
  
• Our crisis line is answered about 10,000 times per year, and in that year we help about 7,000 women and their kids