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Current Initiatives

Current Initiatives

Arts-Based Initiatives & Partnerships

We celebrate the powerful role the arts can play in addressing domestic and gender-based violence. We believe in the power of art therapy to heal, of arts-related prevention programming, and for the arts to be a catalyst for raising awareness and supporting communities in responding to violence. In our mission to support the advocacy community and collaborate with the arts community over the years, we have engaged in myriad partnerships with the arts community. Learn more

Coordinated Approach to Preventing Stalking (CAPS)

The Coordinated Approach to Preventing Stalking (CAPS) program is an initiative of the Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV), in collaboration with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and local District Attorney's offices, to increase the identification and reporting of intimate partner stalking cases, enhance both stalking arrests and prosecutions and link victims to critical services. The CAPS model is a homicide prevention program aimed at identifying intimate partner stalking cases and providing appropriate criminal justice and social services interventions before stalking behavior escalates to physical injury, serious physical injury or fatality. As part of the CAPS program, specialized training is conducted for NYPD police officers, members of the District Attorney's office, and community partners to identify stalking behavior, better understand the New York State stalking statutes, recognize the use of technology in a stalking context, engage in risk assessment and safety planning, and work with victims to document and preserve evidence of stalking incidents.
Read CAPS factsheet

Interrupting Violence at Home

Working with people who cause harm is a critical component in our efforts to interrupt violence between intimate partners, to support survivors, and to foster healthy relationships and communities. Recognizing the need to develop effective programming for this population, the City launched the Interrupting Violence at Home initiative to develop evidence- and trauma-informed intervention models that address abusive behavior, and to reduce future abuse in intimate partner relationships. The non-mandated, community-based programming for people causing harm in their relationships created through the Interrupting Violence at Home initiative is part of the City's commitment to the creation of innovative tools and strategies to end violence.

NYC Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan: Domestic and Gender-Based Violence

During the aftermath of George Floyd’s police-involved 2020 murder in Minnesota, American citizens took to the streets to demand justice for his death. A national movement to reform policing was born inspiring New York Governor Cuomo to create Executive Order 203, the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. EO203 requires each New York state municipality to develop policing reforms informed through a culturally-sensitive and trauma-informed lens in order to further enhance public safety and to create opportunities to grow public trust of local law enforcement.

New York City’s “NYPD Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan” was released publicly in March of 2021. It was created by listening to the experiences and insights of hundreds of residents of neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs. The plan’s citywide, interagency recommendations were designed to better protect and serve New Yorkers, including survivors of domestic and gender-based violence. 

Below are several areas of work specifically aimed at how the police and other systems respond to domestic and gender-based violence: 

  • Consolidate the coordination of all crime victim service programs into one agency to better support crime victims.
  • The City will invest in community-based resources and supports for addressing family violence.
  • NYPD will mandate training for officers to provide advanced skills to support survivors of and communities affected by domestic-and gender-based violence.
  • Strengthen community partnerships with domestic and gender-based violence providers.
  • The City will review services for survivors with a view to decoupling them from the criminal justice system.
  • The City will develop new policies and approaches to combatting sex trafficking which focus on the traffickers and do not entangle victims or those selling sex in the criminal justice system.

Respect and Responsibility: An Abusive Partner Intervention Program

Program Overview

Respect and Responsibility (R&R) is a free, non-mandated, city-wide demonstration initiative for adults who have caused harm, have been abusive, or are abusive in their relationship(s). The City is partnering with three providers to implement the initiative: Urban Resource Institute, the RISE Project at Center for Court Innovation, and STEPS to End Family Violence, a program of Rising Ground. Providers utilize a curriculum rooted in trauma informed healing, reflection, and accountability. The program model includes a multi-week intervention and individualized assessments, case management, counseling, and other supportive services for program participants.

Provider Information


Urban Resource Institute RISE Project STEPS to End Family Violence
Contact Name and Information

Nilda Lopez
rrinfo@urinyc.org

Julie Taylor
taylorj@courtinnovation.org
Alvaro Pinzon
apinzon@risingground.org
Program Eligibility*
  • 18 +
  • NYC Resident
  • Non-mandated
  • 18 +
  • NYC Resident
  • Non-mandated
  • 18 +
  • NYC Resident
  • Non-mandated
Language(s) English English English, Spanish
Referral sources
  • Self-referred/ Voluntary
  • Community Based Organizations
  • ACS
  • Family support and planning services
  • Faith based communities
  • Self-referred/ Voluntary
  • Community Based Organizations
  • ACS
  • Family support and planning services
  • Faith based communities
  • Self-referred/ Voluntary
  • Community Based Organizations
  • ACS
  • Family support and planning services
  • Faith based communities
Exclusion Criteria: Prospective participants cannot be legally required to attend.


Program Background

Engaging abusive partners in non-mandated programming is a critical opportunity to provide interventions in relationships where there is intimate partner violence. Recognizing that the vast majority of intimate partner violence is not reported to law enforcement, the City developed the Interrupting Violence at Home (IVAH) initiative, to implement abusive partner intervention programming (APIP) in communities. A key program of IVAH is Respect and Responsibility (R&R), the City’s first non-mandated program for adult abusive partners in intimate partner relationships. The Respect and Responsibility (R&R) demonstration project seeks to establish an evidence-base and ensure a program design that maintains a focus on survivor safety and survivors’ experiences while being tailored to the needs of abusive partners to optimize voluntary engagement in the program.

Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Logo
Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Logo
URI NYC Logo
Urban Resource Institute NYC Logo
Rising Group Logo
Rising Group Logo
Steps Logo
Steps To End Family Violence Logo
RISE Logo
RISE Logo

Street Harassment Prevention Advisory Board

The Street Harassment Prevention Advisory Board was established by Local Law 46 of 2022. The Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) and the NYC Commission on Gender Equity (CGE) co-chair this advisory board. The goals of the advisory board are to:

(1) study the occurrence of street harassment in New York City;

(2) identify people and communities most at risk of and most impacted by street harassment via a citywide survey;

(3) develop programming, training, and a resource guide to prevent and respond to street harassment; and

(4) promote public awareness of street harassment, including supportive services and resources for those who have experienced harassment

In 2023, the Street Harassment Prevention Advisory Board released the City’s first “End Street Harassment Resource Guide.” Check out the Resource Guide here

The advisory board’s 2022-2024 members include:

  • Cecile Noel, Co-Chair, Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence
  • Jacqueline Ebanks, Co-Chair, Executive Director of the New York City Commission on Gender Equity
  • Nathalie Arzu, Public Advocate Appointee, Program Manager at RISE at the Center for Court Innovation
  • Julie Bero, Chief Strategy Officer at the New York City Department of Transportation
  • Quadira Coles, Mayoral Appointee, Director of Policy at Girls for Gender Equity
  • Saba Hazel, Chief of Staff at the New York City Commission on Human Rights
  • Emily May, Mayoral Appointee, President and Co-Founder of Right to Be
  • Sarah Milner-Barry, Policy and Programs Analyst for Safety at the New York City Commission on Gender Equity
  • Jose Soegaard, Deputy Director at the New York City Office of Night Life
  • Melissa Paquette, Director of Policy at the New York City Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence
  • Nathaly Rubio-Torio, Mayoral Appointee, Executive Director at Voces Latinas
  • Jean Son, Mayoral Appointee, Community Advocate
  • Melanie Weniger, Deputy Executive Director of Policy and Programs at the New York City Commission on Gender Equity


Voices Committee

ENDGBV’s Voices Committee is a survivor-led group that aims to serve as a voice of hope and change for survivors of intimate partner violence throughout New York City. PLEASE NOTE: We are currently accepting new applications for the VOICES Committee. Please submit your application here by January 20, 2023. Learn more about ENDGBV’s Voices Committee