Ruthven Darlene, founder and executive director of Los Altos-based WomenSV, recently received accolades – and financial support – for her work combating domestic violence.
Darlene and her nonprofit organization earned DomesticShelters.org’s National Program/Shelter of the Year and Executive of the Year awards and the Midpeninsula Media Center’s Local Hero recognition, as well as a $250,000 grant from Santa Clara County.
WomenSV helps women in the throes of abusive relationships. Darlene was honored for her efforts to raise awareness of covert abuse and coercive control by training police officers, therapists, physicians, legal counsel and others within the judicial system.
Along with an emphasis on training and education, WomenSV assists women facing all forms of abuse, including nonphysical violence such as financial, legal, emotional and technological manipulation.
According to Darlene, there are victims of “hidden” abuse in every socioeconomic demographic of the Bay Area. The recent passage of State Senate Bill 1141 incorporates coercive control into the definition of domestic violence.
For more information, visit womensv.org.
