I think that having what we in the sector know—that gender-based violence is an epidemic—said publicly to the people who don't work in our field and aren't part of this work is very important. It normalizes it. It makes it not just happening behind closed doors or to “those women” or “those people”. It's happening to everyone. It's happening to every social demographic. I think that's very important for people to hear. It also brings different people to the table. Oftentimes, at our tables, it's us. It's the women doing this work, and we are talking to each other over and over and saying the same things. It's about bringing different people to the table.
I'm on several regional tables in Durham, and we have different people at the table now. It's not just the people who are doing only gender-based violence work, because now people realize that if you're doing work in employment or you're doing work in health care, you are doing work with intimate partner violence survivors. You need to come together to talk with us so we can help you. That's not to teach you, necessarily, but to help you do your work better. I think that declaration was very important.