At the core of it all, under all of our evidence, terminology and funding structures: love is the key to ending sexual and intimate partner violence.  In a movement made almost entirely of survivors, we know healthy love will heal our communities and create a world free of violence. The question that remains is "How do we bring love into our-day-to-day, when so much about how our culture and work structures operate challenge the idea of radical love in and of itself?"

Audrey Jordan and Shiree Teng recently came together to speak to our movement about radical love, love of self, of others and of community in a recent PreventConnect Web Conference: Measuring Love. The conversation revealed just how challenging it can be for preventionists to see love in their program structures and outcomes.

For this episode of PreventConnect, I got to chat with two people I really admire in this field: Rosá Beltre, who leads the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence and Ashleigh-Klein-Jimenez, Director of Prevention at VALOR in California.  Rosá and Ashleigh are both women who cultivate love, while remaining fierce leaders in their work to end violence.  We’re talking about where love comes into our work, why it’s challenging for us to talk about, and what it looks like in prevention work.

Resources mentioned in this Podcast:
Measuring Love in the Journey to End Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Part 1
Measuring Love in the Journey to End Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Part 2
Measuring Love in the Journey to End Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Part 3 (Publishes Thursday, May 30.) 
Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence Valor.Us Homeboy Industries
Health Equity in Practice Part 2: Why anti-racism is an integral part of sexual violence prevention