Women’s Advocates - Champions for Domestic Assault Survivors

Women Road Warriors

According to Domestic Shelters.org one in four women in the U.S. will be targeted by an abusive partner in their lifetime. Nearly one in five murder victims in the U.S. was killed by an intimate partner. Shocking stats, aren’t they? We have a long way to go. Thousands of women every year seek refuge in domestic assault shelters. Believe it or not, it has only been 50 years since the first domestic shelter opened. Women’s Advocates in St. Paul, Minnesota was the very first. It always has been a major advocate for change. The shelter founders helped establish legal protection for victim survivors and their children in Minnesota as well as some of the first domestic violence legislation in the United States. This shelter sets the bar for helping abuse survivors and stopping the cycle of violence. Learn what they are doing now and how you can help in this episode of Women Road Warriors when Shelley Johnson and Kathy Tuccaro talk to Executive Director Holly Henning and Grants/Evaluation Manager Mary Beth Becker-Lauth.

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About our guests:

Holly Henning/ Gimiwanaabo-Ikwe is an enrolled member of Marten Falls Anishinaabe First Nation and has paternal ties to Constance Lake Oji-Cree First Nation in Ontario, Canada. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Women’s Advocates, a respected nonprofit founded as the first shelter in the nation for victim-survivors of domestic violence. She is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, and homelessness. Prior to her role at Women’s Advocates for the past 15+ years, she worked at Ain Dah Yung Center and Division of Indian Work leading culturally based street outreach, shelter, and housing efforts.

Mary Beth Becker-Lauth serves as Grants and Evaluation Manager for Women's Advocates domestic violence shelter in Saint Paul. She is a survivor of intimate partner violence and sexual assault. Prior to taking on a grant writing role, Mary Beth managed WA's Outreach and Education department, where she developed a core curriculum for domestic violence education. In 2021, she created Pop-Up Advocacy, a community-based program offering domestic violence education and advocacy services to victim-survivors unable to access services through an emergency shelter. She has hosted online support groups, journaling workshops, and storytelling sessions focused on using the power of personal narrative as a step toward healing.