FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office Announces New Program to
Assist LGBTQIA+ Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assaults
KCDA Pride Connect Will Offer Trauma-Informed Support and Community Outreach;
Made Possible Through $50,000 State Grant
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced the launch of a new project called KCDA Pride Connect that is designed to empower and assist LGBTQIA+ survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault to navigate through the criminal justice system by providing culturally competent and trauma-informed support. The initiative, managed by a social worker from the District Attorney’s Victim Services Unit, will also engage in community outreach and training.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Providing assistance to crime victims, especially those from marginalized and overlooked communities, is a crucial mission of my Office. That’s why I’m happy to announce KCDA Pride Connect, which will help us to provide the best support to members of Brooklyn’s LGBTQIA+ community. During Pride Month, we reaffirm our commitment to protect and competently serve everyone in our borough.”
KCDA Pride Connect will provide culturally competent trauma-informed crisis intervention, advocacy, criminal justice support, and referrals to community-based services to victims and survivors while also providing stakeholders and the community with information on the intersection of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and LGBTQIA+ survivors through a newly formed task force focused on these issues.
It will also engage in community outreach and training in partnership with community-based organizations working with the LGBTQIA+ community, aimed at educating professionals and community members about the issues of intimate partner violence and sexual assault as well as best practices when working with the LGBTQIA+ community.
The project is funded through a $50,000 grant from the state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Emmanuel DeJesus has been named Project Coordinator for KCDA Pride Connect. A social worker with several years’ experience at the Victim Services Unit, he has a background in community organizing which he has utilized in a number of important events, such as the annual Crime Victims Vigil, Campus Sexual Assault Symposiums, and Pride events. He has developed many partnerships through participation in the Brooklyn Sexual Assault Task Force and in his work on Common Justice (a restorative justice program for violent felonies). He also has the ability to provide trauma-informed care to vulnerable survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault who identify as LGBTQIA+, come from immigrant communities, and male identified survivors.
KCDA Pride Connect will operate under the supervision of Shibinsky Payne, Director of the District Attorney’s Victim Services Unit.
A video about the program is available here.
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