Elevating the Voices of Survivors 2022

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Family Justice Center Alliance and the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, two programs of Alliance for HOPE International, collaborated on a 90-minute webinar.

Strangulation assaults in domestic violence are front and center in the national consciousness with the strangulation murder of Gabby Petito. During this webinar, Alliance for HOPE International CEO Gael Strack and FJC National Director Ken Shetter will join our panelists Dr. Jackie Campbell, Michelle Morgan, Karyn J. Johnson, and Joyce Bilyeu, in a conversation about the dangerousness of stranglers, the results of our recent survivor survey on criminal justice reform, how Family Justice Centers can play a critical role in criminal justice reform and the need to DO MORE advocacy for survivors. They will also share a new Safety Plan for strangulation survivors developed by the Advocacy Committee of the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention, a program of the Alliance.

“The most dangerous domestic violence offenders strangle their victims. The most violent rapists strangle their victims. We used to think all abusers were equal. They are not. Our research has now made clear that when a man puts his hands around a woman’s neck, he has just raised his hand and said, “I’M A KILLER.” Stranglers are more likely to kill police officers, to kill children and to later kill their partners. When you hear: “He choked me,” now you know – You are at the edge of a homicide.” – Casey Gwinn, President of Alliance for Hope International.