The Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse (Casda) recognizes that to carry out our mission, we must also work to dismantle racism and other forms of systemic oppression. Racism intersects with domestic and sexual violence, and often compounds its effects on victims. Our organization apologizes for the harm we have caused to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in our Community through historic failures on our part to recognize the ways systemic racism and oppression have informed our policies and practices.

Therefore, as we strive to empower individual survivors of abuse, we will actively work toward achieving equity for all Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in our community. Casda commits to further educating ourselves, recognizing and understanding our own privilege and the harm we have caused, and examining our biases, while acknowledging and validating the history and lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

We would like to acknowledge that we are on the land of the Anishinaabe Nation. Northwestern Wisconsin was built on Anishinaabe lands that were ceded under federal treaties in the mid-1800’s. We make this acknowledgement as a first step in fulfilling our responsibility to critically look at colonial histories and their present-day ramifications. We commit to dismantling racism and invite you to do the same.