The Capitol Action Day Around Violence Protection

 

 

Minnesota is home to six statewide anti-violence coalitions. On March 11, these coalitions gathered in the Saint Paul Capitol rotunda for a sixth annual action day titled “Reimagining Justice Together.” The goal of the day was to communicate to lawmakers the necessity of violence prevention and encourage funding victim support systems.

Multiple organizers endorsed the Survivors Justice Act (SF3002), a bill proposed by Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten (DFL-66) that would give judges greater flexibility to consider a person’s history of domestic abuse, sexual violence, or sex trafficking when sentencing crimes that are connected to their trauma. The bill acknowledges that survivor response to domestic or sexual violence often lead survivors into the criminal justice system — a pipeline advocates want to dismantle.

“This does not mandate reduced sentences. Rather, it allows courts to evaluate the full picture and deliver outcomes that are fair, individualized, and grounded in justice,” said Kissy Coakley, Minnetonka city council member and founder of the nonprofit Kissy Stay Put Services, which advocates for criminal justice reform and safe communities. She noted that at least 69,000 people are booked into a local jail in Minnesota each year, and Black and brown women are increasingly criminalized trying to protect themselves. “We should not be preparing victims for prison. We should be preparing them on how to identify domestic abuse, control, coercion, manipulation, sexual assault — and how to keep themselves and their family safe.

“Many survivors become entangled in the criminal justice system because of the direct abuse from abusers.”

The Coalition

Organizers responsible for the day and call to action included Violence Free Minnesota (VFMN), the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA), Mending the Sacred Hoop (MSH), Minnesota Alliance on Crime (MAC), Minnesota Children’s Alliance (MCA), and the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC). The emcee was Ashley Taylor-Gougé, executive director of MNCASA, who said, “We believe in a Minnesota where survivors are supported, where communities are safe, and where justice is something that we build together.”

Representatives from the organizing groups as well as partners from other crime prevention organizations spoke, including women from Cornerstone, Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, Breaking Free, and Esperanza United. Lawmakers that spoke included Hennepin County Commisioner Irene Fernando and Senator Mary Kunesh, and the families of Ryan Peterson and Sam Nordquist spoke on their behalf, advocating for more fair, supportive, and proactive judicial processes. Other recent victims to violence were named, including Allison Lussier and Mariah Samuels. 

Linda Thompson, of MIWSAC, and Natasha Kingbird from MSH in Duluth, talked about their recent partnership — the Solidarity Red Shawl Project — in which traditional indigenous shawls are made with specific colors to honor victims and survivors. 

Dr. Lori Quist, of Breaking Free — which supports survivors of human trafficking — emphasized that victim services are necessary public safety infrastructure. “Survivors’ lives intersect with law enforcement, healthcare systems, courts, housing providers, child protection, corrections and community organizations,” Quist said. “When those systems are fragmented, survivors fall through the cracks.

“Collective commitment means we stop asking, ‘Whose responsibility is this?’ And we start saying, ‘This is ours.’”

Quist discussed the need for long term pathways that support survivor’s journey to healing and independence. “Let us commit to stable funding for victim services. Let us commit to long-term housing solutions that allow survivors to rebuild their lives. Let us commit to trauma-informed systems that support healing and accountability.”

Janet and Kurt Peterson, mother and brother to Ryan Peterson, shared the story about Ryan’s death in 2022; he was stabbed to death in his home protecting his wife from a former high school acquaintance who had driven from Ohio to kidnap her. “My family and I are still suffering from the trauma of losing our beloved Ryan so violently and suddenly,” Janet said. “We’ve also been persistently traumatized by a complicated and irrational justice system that dragged the case out for three years and ended in civil commitment at the state hospital for an undetermined amount of time. We don’t know how long we’ll be safe from him.”

Peterson stated the family found resources to help them through the difficult process, but added that “the system of help is billed for privilege. Several times we were not told of hearing changes or cancelations until we were in the courthouse.”  She called on policymakers to invest in more stable support structures, saying that “the idea to cut funding for crime victim support is laughable, because the real answer is to increase it and provide swift, simple, and humane services.”

Kurt added: “Victims are left to navigate the long, exhausting, expensive aftermath. They’re left with trauma, physical, emotional, life-altering. They’re left trying to rebuild their lives while the system moves on to the next case.” Peterson stressed the importance of funding victim resources as a moral obligation. “It is imperative to act. It is the bridge between surviving, living, and healing.”

Former North Dakota State Representative Ruth Buffalo donned an honorary shawl from MIWSAC and Sacred Hoop and said: “We want to say this clearly: a 20 percent cut to Office of Justice Programs funding will hurt real people. It will hurt the people who call in crisis, the people trying to flee violence, the people searching for safety and legal support.”

The Impact of Operation Metro Surge

Angie Medina from Esperanza United echoed similar calls for funding and emphasized the value of culturally specific services. “When we invest in victim services, we invest in prevention, healing, and long term public safety. Yet in 2018, funding for Victim Services and Prevention have been declining. Those cuts have had real consequences for organizations across our state, and now with Operation Metro Surge, these problems have been magnified.”

Medina noted that the full impacts of Operation Metro Surge have yet to be seen, with many families still afraid to leave their homes. “Calls to our bilingual crisis line have decreased, but let me be clear: this does not mean that there is less violence. It means that survivors are facing greater barriers to seeking help.”

In partnership with the Alliance of Immigrant Survivors, Esperanza United conducted a study of advocates, who indicated that 70 percent of their immigrant survivors are concerned about contacting law enforcement or going to court. Half of these individuals choose not to seek help at all. “When survivors have access to culturally specific services, when they have trusted advocates, when they have language and interpretation services, and when they have safe pathways to support, they can rebuild their lives and strengthen their communities, and our communities.”

Calls to Action 

Artika Roller, executive director of Cornerstone, spoke of the deep resistance advocates currently face: “Fraud dominates the headlines and impacts the services that we provide. We hear confusing narratives that tell us to believe in survivors, but also treat domestic violence as a family matter. Black and brown survivors, as Kizzy [Coakley] so eloquently stated, are prosecuted for crimes tied to their own victimization. Reproductive health is politicized and weaponized against us.”

Though funding is at an all time low, Roller said showing up locally and supporting the work of advocates is vital to strengthening the network of violence prevention. “Volunteer, start conversations — and we have to vote. We are here to build a future that’s worthy for every survivor. Demand full funding. Refuse to let violence defund us.”

Elena Lee Anderson Eggers, chair of the MNCASA board, announced that they hosted writing workshops in partnership with VFMN. Advocates, survivors and community partners across the state attended, including a group of survivors staying in shelter together. “Eleven themes emerged from those stories shared,” said Eggers. One of them was about how “cuts to funding for advocacy are detrimental to the entire community.”

Eggers shared a cento — a poem composed entirely of lines from other written works — written by one of the workshop attendees, called “Patchwork.”

I was stuck and I needed to get out / You are in the right place / We all need each other /  People come to us with their past carried along / I came to see how their stories were my stories / I am breaking the generational cycle / It is passion, it is commitment /  It is a part of who I am /  I have overcome a lot, and I have something to give /  It’s shown me that healing is possible /  Let our stories be known so we can show the world that we are stronger together.

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