About NCADV

NCADV Board of Directors

NCADV Offices and Staff

Mission Statement and Purpose

The Mission of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) is to organize for collective power by advancing transformative work, thinking and leadership of communities and individuals working to end the violence in our lives.

NCADV believes violence against women and children results from the use of force or threat to achieve and maintain control over others in intimate relationships, and from societal abuse of power and domination in the forms of sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, anti-Semitism, able-bodyism, ageism and other oppressions. NCADV recognizes that the abuses of power in society foster battering by perpetuating conditions, which condone violence against women and children. Therefore, it is the mission of NCADV to work for major societal changes necessary to eliminate both personal and societal violence against all women and children.

NCADV's work includes coalition building at the local, state, regional and national levels; support for the provision of community-based, non-violent alternatives - such as safe home and shelter programs - for battered women and their children; public education and technical assistance; policy development and innovative legislation; focus on the leadership of NCADV's caucuses and task forces developed to represent the concerns of organizationally under represented groups; and efforts to eradicate social conditions which contribute to violence against women and children.

Principles of Unity

NCADV is comprised of people dealing with the concerns of battered women and their families. We represent both rural and urban areas. Our programs support and involve battered women of all racial, social, religious and economic groups, ages and lifestyles. We oppose the use of violence as a means of control over others and support equality in relationships and the concept of helping women assume power over their own lives. We strive toward becoming independent, community-based groups in which women make major policy and program decisions.

Summary of Organization's History

NCADV was formally organized in January, 1978 when over 100 battered women's advocates from all parts of the nation attended the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights hearing on battered women in Washington, DC, hoping to address common problems these programs usually faced in isolation. NCADV, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2008, remains the only national organization of grassroots shelter and service programs for battered women.

In 1970, there was no such thing as a shelter for battered women. Today there are over 2,000 shelter and service programs, forming a national movement based on the belief that women and their children are entitled to a safe environment free from violence and the threat of violence.

Originally located in Washington, DC, NCADV opened a new office in Denver, Colorado in January, 1992. The Colorado office now serves as the central office, while NCADV maintains a public policy office in Washington, DC.

Currently, a working board of directors comprised of caucus representatives and at-large members across the U.S. who are themselves active in domestic violence programs in their own communities govern NCADV. NCADV represents both rural and urban areas of the nation. Our programs involve and support battered women of all social, racial, ethnic, religious and economic groups, ages and lifestyles. Active caucuses include Battered/Formerly Battered Women, Women of Color, Rainbow Pride, Jewish Women, Child and Youth Advocacy, Rural Women and Queer Persons of Color.

NCADV serves as a national information and referral center for the general public, media, battered women and their children, allied and member agencies and organizations. NCADV has a strong track record of providing programs with information and technical assistance, and has promoted the development of innovative programs, which address the special needs of all battered women, and the battered women's programs. NCADV has sponsored twelve national conferences on domestic violence, which provide a unique forum within the battered women's movement for networking, dialogue, debate, leadership development and celebration.

NCADV also serves to impact public policy and legislation, which affects battered women and their children. NCADV organized testimony for the Attorney General's Task Force hearings on Family Violence; worked with federal legislators to develop priorities for Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds for battered women's programs; supported the development and passage of the Violence Against Women Act (1994); and was active in the passage of the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban (1996).