Public Policy Work

MCEDV strives to bring survivors’ voices to discussions of public policy to center our solutions on those most impacted by abuse. To create a world free from domestic abuse and violence, we need to foster a society that values the whole of people’s lives, recognizes complexity, and understands how abuse intersects with peoples’ entire lived experiences, including safety, health, work, parenting, and overall well-being.

In our public policy work, we seek to…

• Advocate for policies and programs that will make survivors safer.  We support federal funding for the Violence Against Women Act, the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, and the Victims Of Crime Act, the core programs that sustain Maine’s response to domestic abuse and violence. MCEDV engages with state-level partners to inform the planning and implementation of programs funded with these resources.
• Foster Accountability. We seek to hold people who use abusive behavior to account for their actions through the civil and criminal justice systems and community-based initiatives and options that, when safe and appropriate, reduce incarceration rates. Accountability efforts are not reserved for the justice systems alone and include efforts in workplaces, schools, and other community spaces to send the message that abusive behavior will not be tolerated. 
• Advance economic justice. Perpetrators of domestic abuse and violence often use finances as a way to keep their partners trapped. Too often, the option of whether to leave the abusive partner is determined by a survivor’s economic outlook, rather than their own internal choice making. Our member advocates work daily with people who are trying to put food on their tables and keep their homes warm while at the same time dealing with the impacts of their partner’s abuse. At MCEDV, we know that helping people escape abuse means making it to they have the option to leave as soon as they begin to feel concerned about their partner’s behavior, rather than remaining trapped by financial circumstances until things get terrible. They might qualify for special resources as a victim. Making our system of public benefits accessible and addressing the systemic gaps in our economic safety net are key parts of creating that option for many in our state.
• Support reproductive rights. A survivor’s reproductive health is often a target for an abuser’s coercive and violent behaviors. MCEDV supports access to birth control, STI screening and treatment, and abortion care. We support these elements of reproductive health care because we must have autonomy over our own bodies for individuals to live free from coercion and control. Because a survivor’s ability to choose whether or not she gets pregnant is foundational to her long-term safety and economic stability.
• Work on behalf of children impacted by abuse. Our longtime partnership with Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services places a domestic violence advocate in child welfare offices across the state, assisting thousands of families each year and helping keep protective parents and their children together. Thanks in large part to the Office on Violence Against Women’s Rural Grant Program, the partnership has shifted how OCFS policy and practice approach complex cases involving domestic abuse.
• Support LGBTQ+ Survivors. LGBTQ+ folks experience abuse at the same, if not greater, rates than the heterosexual population; bisexual and trans-identified folks are at particularly high risk. Yet, many are afraid to reach out for help because of the ways our culture discriminates against and devalues LGBTQ+ people. We cannot separate the realities of transphobia and homophobia, including how these tools are used by perpetrators against their partners from our public policy efforts to end domestic abuse. MCEDV has signed on to opposition to bathroom bills and similar initiatives because we see how the attitudes that foster fear of and contempt for LGBTQ+ people are related to the root causes of domestic abuse and violence.
• Expand access to healthcare. Access to quality, affordable healthcare is crucial for survivors of abuse, many of whom suffer both short and long-term impacts resulting from their partners’ behavior. The survivors with whom we work—many of whom have health conditions related to abuse, including chronic pain, reproductive health concerns, substance use disorders, and mental health diagnoses—need coverage. MCEDV supports efforts to improve the affordability of healthcare. At the same time, guarantee high-quality coverage for all Mainers, ensuring no survivor goes without access to care because of a pre-existing condition.
• Support New Mainers. Many immigrants and refugees have experienced trauma, including domestic and sexual violence before they arrived in Maine. Linguistic and cultural barriers already present challenges to reaching out for support. Now, current immigration enforcement efforts are leaving our neighbors afraid to reach out for help because of deportation fears. MCEDV supports all people’s right, regardless of immigration status, to seek refuge from violence and abuse. No one should feel compelled to endure abuse because they are afraid of what will happen to their family if they call for help.