Welcome to Policy Matters: A quarterly presentation from Maitri Policy Advocacy, where we discuss public policies that are at the heart of shaping the way prevention, intervention, and overall attention to domestic
violence within our communities. In our first presentation, we look at the medical mandate of reporting domestic violence that has been in the minds of
survivors and advocates alike for a long time seeking to change the law.
Joining us for the conversation, are Chris Negris, the Associate Director of Public Policy Strategies at the California Partnership to End Domestic
Violence, and Anisa Ali, Program Manager of Health at Futures without Violence.
This discussion was led by Smitha Chandrasekhar, Smitha
Chandrasekhar is a senior at the University of Washington majoring in Biology. She is currently on the pre-med track and intends to focus on a career in women’s reproductive health and oncology. Smitha has been volunteering with
Maitri for almost a year and is deeply invested in promoting the rights of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to their own bodies and autonomy.
Chris Negri (he/him) is the Associate Director of Public Policy Strategies at the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. Working with Partnership staff, members, and allied organizations, he hopes to contribute to policy victories that fund prevention work, improve the lives of survivors, and address critical problems such as the financial and housing insecurity that survivors often face. He is particularly passionate about and dedicated to
working on child welfare issues, mindful of the harm that the child welfare system often inflicts on children and families affected by domestic violence, particularly youth of color and LGBTQ+ young people.
More About Chris :https://www.cpedv.org/profile/chris-negri
Anisa Ali believes that all survivors deserve access to
trauma-informed, culturally responsive health care and that health settings can be an important place of support for survivors. As a Program Manager at FUTURES, Anisa provides training and technical assistance for the National
Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence, including on the Campus Leadership Program, the Survivor Leadership Cohort, and California state policy work. She
was a fellow for the Solís Policy Institute-State, through the Women’s Foundation of California. Anisa earned her MA in Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her undergraduate degrees in
International Studies and Spanish from Virginia Tech.
More About Anisa: https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/anisa-ali-14/
Resources from the Episode:
AB 3127 Factsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFlrrOX3bbmuM8BqwFaMTN5UvjsNNYDN/view
Should California doctors report domestic abuse to the police?
Here’s how physician lawmakers voted: https://calmatters.org/health/2024/05/california-doctor-domestic-violence-reporting/
