"I'm excited about using this video as an inspiring model and tool for the Sheila Wellstone Institute trainings on social action."
                 Connie Lewis, former executive director,
                 Sheila Wellstone Institute

"We are desperately in need of this video for use in national trainings for shelter advocates."
                 Char Thompson, former staff/leader
                 MN Coalition for Battered Women

Why is this video needed?

This time is right for We Will Harbor You. In the early 21st century, battered women’s programs face compromises that could roll back 30 years of humanitarian struggle. Some great and heartbreaking films about battered women have been produced - documentaries, dramatizations of actual experiences, educational programs that give people valuable warnings, statistics and step by step advice. Though we have found early broadcast moments highlighting the most visible aspects, we haven’t found much media that takes seriously the early history of the development of the battered women's movement or anything charting the amazing systems changes that have occurred because of it.

Fascinating material continues to turn up in our research and interviews. By simply listening to the women who came to them for help, the founders uncovered a millenniums old problem. By listening and naming what they heard - women being battered by the men closest to them - the founders of this movement created a radical new order of operating social services. Their voices need to be recorded so that these innovative philosophies and methods are not lost and are available for reflection by current and future workers and participants of the battered women's movement and other interested in social change.

Who is our audience?

Because Minnesota has provided national and international leadership, we are confident this documentary would be welcomed not just in Minnesota, but would be screened, broadcast and used across the county to inform general and community audiences, because there is a role for every single one of us in challenging our fellow citizens to end violence against women.

We Will Harbor You would naturally interest all those working in battered women's programs and shelters today, including Hospital/Clinic Advocacy Programs, Community Advocacy Programs, Safe Homes, Batterers Re-education/Treatment Programs, and Criminal Justice Intervention Projects.

Another large audience would be professionals who work in related fields, such as public policy, legislation, law enforcement, civil or criminal law, and court systems. With advanced DVD programming, it will be possible to access certain sections of the video for a particular use or training.

Students and teachers in those fields and in other areas such as history, political science, women's studies, leadership studies, violence prevention, human services, sociology and social work—all would find this historical rendering of the movement a useful and compatible tool.

What this program will offer:

We Will Harbor You will offer viewers new insights into domestic violence by examining the amazing history of the movement. The women who created the battered women’s movement in Minnesota will tell you their stories, the hard lessons, and their view of the progress over 30 years of work. Their struggles are full of passion, daring, humor, wisdom, and great compassion. We want to make this history accessible to large numbers of people over the next decades, so many can learn from it and continue the struggle to grow a society that does not allow violence against women. We hope to give our audiences a better awareness of what violence against women is, and why women's empowerment and social activism are the ongoing answers. This is especially needed now, as much of what this movement achieved is still in constant jeopardy, due to sexism, racism, economic and political forces, ignorance, and fiscal cutbacks.