When people in our community hear the name "Project Safeguard", most think of the support we provide to survivors of gender-based violence who are seeking protection orders and/or assistance with divorce and custody processes. These pieces are at the core of the what our advocates and attorneys provide, but our work goes beyond direct services.

Project Safeguard also works to change and improve the systems that survivors interact with, through participation in multidisciplinary committees and task forces, and through legislative advocacy. For instance, our Executive Director is a member of Mandatory Reporting Task Force that began meeting last winter, our Legal Director serves as Vice Chair of Colorado's Human Trafficking Council, and our Legal Advocacy Program Director participates in the Consulado General de México en Denver's Working Group Against Gender Violence. Collaborations like these ensure that we are able to advocate for the needs of the survivors we serve in places where decisions are being made.

Our leadership and advocates participate in public policy committees for Violence Free Colorado and the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, lending expertise to help shape laws and policies that impact survivors of gender-based violence across the state. Below are some of the bills we weighed in on that passed during this year's legislative session:

• HB23-1199 Forensic Medical Evidence Process Improvements: prohibits medical facilities from charging survivors for forensic medical exams (FME) and associated costs; creates statewide system for survivors to track status of their FMEs.

• HB23-1107 Funding for Crime Victim Services: authorized $15 million in one-time funding that originated from federal coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund to be allocated to the state Department of Human Services Domestic Violence Program, Division of Criminal Justice Office for Victims Programs, and local Victim Assistance and Law Enforcement boards, to distribute to victim services programs.

• HB23-1077 Informed Consent for Intimate Patient Examinations: prohibits medical professionals from performing intimate exams on sedated or unconscious patients without patients’ specific, informed consent.

• HB23-1108 Victim And Survivor Training For Judicial Personnel: creates a task force in the Division of Criminal Justice Office for Victims Programs to study victim and survivor awareness and responsiveness training requirements for judicial personnel.

• HB23-1178 Court Personnel and Domestic Violence Awareness (“Kayden’s Law”): requires compliance with the federal "Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act", by ensuring that experts testifying in proceedings concerning the allocation of parental responsibilities involving domestic violence or child abuse demonstrate expertise and experience working with this population, and directs the task force created in House Bill 23-1108 to study victim and survivor awareness and responsiveness training requirements required by the federal act for any judge or magistrate who presides over parental responsibility proceedings.

• HB23-1222 Cases Of Domestic Violence In Municipal Court: requires a municipal court criminalizing acts of domestic violence to comply with the same requirements that county and district court are required to follow, including adhering to the Victim Rights Act, issuing a protection order and requiring relinquishment of firearms, reporting cases to state and federal databases, and searching those databases for a history of domestic violence by the accused.

While providing direct services to survivors is our primary focus, we know that we must also work to address the roots causes and systemic inequities that create barriers and block people impacted by gender-based violence from meaningful access to safety and justice. Many of the government grants that fund our work are not able to fund this aspect of what we do, so we are incredibly grateful to the foundations and individuals who support us so that we can address the issue of gender-based violence from a holistic perspective. We couldn't do it without you!

Earlier this year, Project Safeguard formed an internal committee to focus on helping the organization embody our values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. With support from Be Brave, this committee and members of leadership spent two days this week engaged in learning, planning, and idea generation to help us continue to work toward making our services accessible to those who need us most, while also considering how we can best support our staff and work within our capacity. It was, and will continue to be, hard work but we are proud of the progress we made and humbled to have had the opportunity to thoughtfully approach this conversation. We know that we will never be done and are committed to the ongoing effort of recognizing the ways systems of oppressions impact our work, and pushing back against them to envision new ways of reaching survivors, learning from our community, and caring for ourselves and each other. We look forward to sharing more as we move forward.