COURAGE in Policing Project - Human Rights Clinic

The project builds upon the work of human rights frameworks and structures at the local level, such as municipalities that have passed resolutions declaring that “Freedom from Domestic Violence is a Fundamental Human Right” as well as “CEDAW Cities,” to engage them in efforts to work with police departments in their local jurisdictions to implement the key principles of the DOJ Guidance. It also builds upon the promising practices in jurisdictions that are developing pilot projects to implement the DOJ Guidance through grants from the DOJ Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) and the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC).

• Develop model community assessments and climate surveys, to assess how law enforcement is responding to domestic violence and sexual assault at the community level, and to identify priority issues for local advocates;

• Provide tools for use of research and data monitoring in order to identify and prevent gender bias in law enforcement responses to domestic violence and sexual assault;

• Develop a repository of information and resources through a special COURAGE webpage, to assist organizations and communities with implementation of the DOJ Guidance through improved trainings, policies, supervision protocols, and systems of accountability;

• Develop a community toolkit to complement the impact campaign associated with HOME TRUTH, a documentary that focuses on the life and activism of Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzales), whose case to compel greater law enforcement accountability in enforcing orders of protection went to the U.S. Supreme Court and ultimately the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights;

• Bring an intersectional gender lens to this initiative to identify resources and promising practices for improving law enforcement responses to better serve survivors from marginalized populations who face additional barriers, including women of color, immigrant women, disabled women, indigenous women, LGBTQI individuals, and other underserved populations;

• Facilitate ongoing engagement between communities and police departments, through the use of the tools described above; and

• Facilitate a national conversation among local communities to foster innovation, enhance coordinated community responses, and support peer learning to advance national and local momentum on improving the law enforcement response to gender violence.