Iman Ghad testifies for Girls for Gender Equity
Ghad says Girls for Gender Equity fears the restructuring will deprioritize gender-based violence and survivors. She recommends survivor-centered policymaking, timely contract payments, increased funding for youth survivors, and the mayor speaking publicly against gender-based violence.
Thank you.
Good morning, fellow advocates, Chair Farias, and members of the committee.
My name is Iman Gad, and I'm the manager of policy and advocacy at Girls for Gender Equity, an organization that works intergenerationally through a Black feminist lens to center the leadership of Black girls
and gender expansive young people of color.
As part of our efforts to bring the voices of youth to the forefront of the city, GGE played a vital role in launching the Commission on Gender Equity and has members serving on the Street Harassment Prevention Advisory Board and the NGBV Advisory Council.
I'm testifying today on behalf of our organization, our Sisters in Strength youth survivors, and in alignment with the NGBV Advisory Council, where our CEO serves as a member.
While there is no denial that addressing GBV is a vital part of community safety, we still hold the fear that the recent restructuring of the mayor's office to NGBV under OCS will deprioritize GBV and ultimately survivors'needs.
We hold this belief because although we have had positive meetings and correspondence,
From this administration as a collective, we simply are not hearing enough public discourse and surrounding the administration's positions and plans to eradicate GBV across the city since assuming office.
In order to combat the deprioritization of survivors'needs, we pose five recommendations, of which I will read three due to time constraints.
First, the Office to End GBV should commit to survivor-centered and survivor-led policymaking and programming and follow this commitment by recruiting and consulting survivors, including youth survivors, to work on these issues.
This framework is essential as the city has not made any significant progress towards reducing the prevalence of intimate partner violence since the pandemic.
The city must make timely contract payments to maintain program viability and the survivor safety network.
We also need increased funding to properly respond to more youth survivors and sustain that growth.
Third, the mayor should speak out publicly against GBV and create public discourse surrounding the issue, especially as it pertains to community safety.
These recommendations stem from a recent short survey of our fellow ending GBV colleagues following two specific communications with the administration.
Was that the two?
We shared these recommendations to inform a New York City community safety plan, and they responded with their commitments.
Our original recommendations to the administration, however, came from a more comprehensive December 2025 survey, which included addressing survivors'unmet needs for permanent housing, cash assistance, and access to affordable housing.
immigration-related legal support, child care, and services for the person causing harm, as well as culturally specific services.
We hope this council and mayoral administration will consider these suggestions as we envision the future of the office to NGPV and see GGE as a resource throughout this transition, especially when it comes to centering the perspectives of youth survivors.
Thank you.