FISA Foundation

Current Initiatives

Initiatives

Increasing Access to Healthcare for People with Disabilities

Access to Dental Care for People with Disabiliities

Girls Coalition of Southwestern Pennsylvania

Regional Initiative to End Domestic and Sexual Violence

Regional Initiative to End Domestic and Sexual Violence

FISA Foundation recognizes that domestic violence and sexual assault are important but often under-recognized health issues. Over the past five years state and federal funding has decreased significantly for services to victims as well as prevention efforts. The current economic climate has the potential to increase the levels of violence at the very time when victim serving agencies' resources are critically stressed.

In response, FISA Foundation:

• Began convening the sixteen agencies in southwestern Pennsylvania dedicated to assisting women who have been abused or assaulted in 2005. The goals are to raise public awareness and bring attention to this critical problem; to increase the capacity of victim service agencies; to review and advocate for legislative initiatives; and to preserve funding for prevention education initiatives.
• Initiated a new regional effort to engage employers in addressing domestic violence as a workplace issue affecting employees.
• Regularly advocates with other funders and community leaders to ensure that sexual and domestic violence are recognized as critical issues for the region.

Why invest in this issue?

Domestic and sexual violence are among the most serious health issues affecting women today.

• Up to four million^1,2 women experience at least one serious assault by an intimate partner every year.
• Approximately 876,000 rapes are committed against adult American women annually.³
• Approximately 62 percent of women experience emotional, physical, or sexual abuse at some point in their lives. Women with physical disabilities are more likely to experience a longer duration of abuse.⁴