Angelina Rosado testifies as survivor and Sisters in Purple co-founder

Good morning.

I'm sorry, y'all.

Good morning, members of our committee.

My name is Angelina Rosado.

I am not only speaking to you as the co-founder and executive director of Sisters in Purple, but I am speaking to you as a survivor.

A survivor who knows what it feels like

to need safety while being forced to navigate disconnected systems.

Today, I stand beside other survivors facing the same barriers.

I know where the systems break because I lived it.

And because survivors show us every day what these breaks are.

Domestic violence cannot go reorganized without public view.

Stripped of specialized leadership and treated as one issue amongst many without clear authority, staffing, funding, and accountability.

When the government changed the structure,

Response for survivor safety, survivors deserve more than just silence.

We deserve to know who's in charge, what resources remain protected, and how is this change going to make us feel safer.

As Sisters in Purple, we walk beside...

Survivor Studios, we walk beside survivors after they disclose everything.

So that means it's including police precincts, family and criminal court, ACS, HRA, emergency shelters, mental health care, employment, education, and long-time healing.

We see survivors getting handed a list instead of a warm connection.

We see agency fail to communicate eligibility rules that don't match the danger and trusted community organization excluded when the referrals are made.

Fragmentation is not a minor inconvenience.

It is for it is.

For survivors in danger.

We understand that the promise of a whole of a government approach, domestic violence is connected to housing instability, poverty, child safety, welfare, mental health, gun violence, and community violence.

Coordinating this.

Coordinating this can save lives.

I'm sorry.

I'm so nervous, y'all.

Okay.

Just asking for it to not buzz while you were testifying.

You can finish.

I'm so sorry, y'all.

Don't be nervous.

This is a safe space.

But coordination without specialized power can create indivisibility.

If NGB remains under the Office of Community Safety, it must be recognized, fully staffed, and equipped with funding.

And make sure the leaders are experts, continue to work with direct decision makers, and empower the agencies as a whole.

New York City, I'm just going to speak from the heart.

I'm not even going to lie.

New York City must really create a system where we're not just responding to domestic violence, right?

Like we're actually making a pathway for prevention.

Sisters in Purple does propose a 12-month domestic violence management system pilot that is built around survivor-led community hubs.

This way, it is more than just not having police interaction because we do understand the survivors always do not want to walk into precincts.

And they also don't always want to go to where the services are because they are connected to where family courts are, other court systems that can put fear amongst them.

while they're trying to receive services.

We ask that

We're not asking the city to pick between domestic violence and community safety.

Domestic violence is community safety.

And a restructure should not be judged by the new organizational charts or new titles, but it should be judged by whether survivors are safe.

Help is easy to reach.

And agencies are accountable and fewer families experience devastating losses.

I don't want us to wait for another homicide to happen, another public tragedy to happen, or another oversight hearing for government to act.

You have the authority right now to demand transparency, protect specialized survivor leadership.

And invest in prevention now.

Thank you.

I have this for you.

Thank you.

Perfect.

You can begin.