Building Strong Futures for Domestic Violence Survivors - Time Magazine

Advocates and business leaders gathered on Oct. 1 in Chicago for the TIME Impact Dinner presented by The Allstate Foundation to bring the issue of domestic violence into a wider conversation about workplaces and communities. The evening considered two connected needs: access to financial resources and workplaces that support employees experiencing abuse. It also underscored that neither nonprofits nor employers can address those needs alone.

TIME Chief Brand Officer Maya Draisin moderated a conversation with Sharisse Kimbro, Relationship Abuse Program Officer at The Allstate Foundation, and Sonya Passi, Founder and CEO of FreeFrom. “The number one obstacle to safety for survivors is money,” Passi said. Debt, damaged credit and lost work can limit a person’s options, even when they are ready to leave an abusive situation.

Passi described FreeFrom’s work providing cash to survivors without strings attached. Kimbro turned to the role employers can play, citing an estimated 8 million workdays lost to domestic violence each year. Paid leave, paycheck flexibility, workplace accommodations and emergency cash assistance can help employees seek safety without sacrificing livelihoods.

Those responses require more than awareness. They call for businesses, advocates and community organizations to work together, listen to survivors and make support available when it is needed. The dinner invited corporate leaders to see survivor-supportive policies as part of building independence and resilience. “We all have a part to play,” Kimbro said.