In an effort to improve interventions, services and public understanding, Albuquerque is launching the Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
The city council on Monday unanimously approved creation of the panel, heeding a key recommendation from a task force Mayor Tim Keller convened in 2019 to study the issues.
“I just want to say that domestic violence is real and it affects everyone,” Councilor Renee Grout said prior to Monday’s vote.
Grout joined Tammy Fiebelkorn, Trudy Jones and Klarissa Peña to co-sponsor the legislation establishing the commission.
The commission’s objectives include facilitating “an effective and community-wide system of prevention and intervention,” training law enforcement and the judicial branch on related laws, and providing survivors and the general public with a forum for discussing and learning about the issues.
The mayor, with the council’s consent, will appoint the commission’s seven voting members — two from the general public who have lived experience with domestic violence or sexual assault and five from prevention organizations, including at least two who offer their services in multiple languages.
Various public entities, such as the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department and the Albuquerque Police Department, will be represented among nine advisory members.
“I have high hopes that this new entity will provide a space for representatives from different agencies, institutions and people with lived experience to coordinate efforts to eradicate these problems in our communities,” Claudia Medina, a member of the Mayor’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Task Force, said in a statement.
