By: Arezoo Shahbazi Roa, MSW, Sr. Prevention & Strategic Partnerships Director
Women’s History Month always invites me to pause, breathe, and reflect on those brave women who have helped pave the pathway for people to get help and support. In the work of relationship violence prevention and advocacy, this month carries a particular weight and meaning. So much of what we do today, every conversation, every safety plan, every partnership, every moment of belief, exists because women before us refused to accept silence as the status quo. If you are a survivor reading this, I want to say this clearly at the outset: your presence here matters. Your survival matters. Whether your story is something you share openly or something you carry quietly, it is worthy of care and respect.
For generations, domestic or relationship violence was treated as a private matter, something to be hidden behind closed doors and absorbed in isolation. Women were told to endure, to adjust, to stay quiet for the sake of family or reputation. The turning point came when women began to name what was happening, not as personal failure, but as a social injustice. By connecting individual experiences to larger systems of power, women transformed shame into shared understanding and action. Abuse was no longer a secret; it was a public issue that required a response.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, women gathered in informal spaces to speak honestly about their lives, helping one another name abuse and realize they were not alone. From these conversations came some of the first responses to domestic violence, including volunteer-run hotlines and early crisis lines that centered on belief and support. Women also created safety where none existed, opening their own homes and establishing the first shelters, including La Casa de las Madres, founded in 1976 by women of color to serve their communities. At the same time, women formed coalitions that pushed domestic violence out of the shadows and into a public, systemic response.
As the Sr. Prevention & Strategic Partnerships Director today at Human Options, I feel the legacy of these women in every part of my work. Prevention is rooted in the same belief that guided those early organizers: that violence is not inevitable, and that communities can be shaped to support safety, dignity, and healthy relationships. I have learned, again and again, that no single organization or system can do this work alone. Change happens when we listen deeply and commit to collective responsibility.
Some of the greatest teachers in my work have been survivors. They remind me that strength does not look one way, that leaving is not the only measure of courage, and that survival itself is an act of resistance. History tells us that many of the women who built this movement were survivors themselves, even when they did not use that word. Their choices, to speak, to organize, to open doors, created pathways that did not exist before.
As we honor Women’s History Month, we invite you to see this work not only as something that happened in the past, but as something unfolding right now. Learn about the history of the domestic and relationship violence movement. Practice everyday advocacy by challenging harmful norms, modeling healthy relationships, and believing survivors when they speak.
The women who came before us did not have a roadmap. They built one by listening, acting, and trusting in collective power. Because of them, we know change is possible, not all at once, and not without struggle, but through steady, shared commitment. Wherever you are on this journey, you are not alone.
At Human Options, we carry this legacy forward every day. Our services, crisis support, shelter, counseling, legal advocacy, and prevention education, are rooted in the same belief that survivors deserve options, dignity, and community care. Through partnerships and prevention work, we continue what women before us began: building a future where safety is possible and no one has to face relationship violence alone. If you or someone you know is in an abusive or unhealthy relationship, please call our 24/7 hotline at 877-854-3594 or visit humanoptions.org.
