UNIDOS Vigil against Domestic Violence
Remembering the fallen
Remembering the fallen
| Clockwise from upper left: Community members gather at the vigil; Keiko Nemoto-VanderBerg, UNIDOS program evaluator (l-r), Juana Facundo, UNIDOS advocate and Alice Hampton, UNIDOS advocate; Rosa Serrato, UNIDOS board president (l-r), David Duran, UNIDOS treasurer and founding member and Laura Martinez, UNIDOS adovcate; Julie Andersen, UNIDOS interim director (l) and Dora Fabian, UNIDOS advocate; Hector Laguna and Graciela Laguna |
violence is. We have a choice. We have a choice to not teach our children to be violent. We have a choice to not live with violence. We need to work together
on that. We’re not going to change with just a couple of people working on it. We’re not going to change it by just working on it during Domestic Violence
Awareness Month. We need to work together on it, all of us, all of the time.”
“Viviana Tellez-Guiron and Yuliana Hernandez could be our neighbor, our sister, our daughter, our friend,” said Graciela Laguana, a former UNIDOS staffer
who now works for the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “Please say no to domestic violence. We don’t want to have more kids without fathers or
kids learning from this kind of insane environment.”
David Duran, a co-founder of UNIDOS and its current treasurer, issued a challenge to the men in the audience. “Men need to work together with women to
create methods of equal and respectful collaboration and working relationships that can serve as a blueprint for our current work to address domestic violence
and sexual abuse for our next generation of Latinos and Latinas in our community,” Duran emphasized. “More research is needed to help us understand the root
causes of domestic violence and sexual assault within our communities if we are to develop appropriate methods to address and eliminate family violence. We
as professionals and non-professionals who are working within our Latino communities need to reeducate ourselves and to help to dispel the misconceptions
and false teachings behind the gender imbalance and that violence and abuse can never be justified. We as men must make every effort with other men to
engage in ongoing self-reflection regarding our attitudes, our superiority based on gender and the devaluing of women. The safety and well-being of women and
children is prominent in our joint work.”
“We recognize that the Latinos who batter are in turn oppressors and victimizers who need to be held accountable, sometimes through the criminal justice
system,” Duran continued. “We need to develop and promote services and programs that help men stabilize their lives and enhance their chances for remaining
non-violent. We need to go beyond viewing them only as perpetrators. They are part of our families and communities, men who need help being with women,
elders or even children. Through healing and recovering positive aspects of our cultural tradition, men can find real balance in their lives and recapture a sense
or belonging and become productive members of their communities. The eradication of violence against women in general and domestic violence in particular
requires that we move beyond criminalization and punitive measures against men who batter. We need to understand how abuse has happened in our families
in the context of multiple oppressions in order to move forward with the right steps to heal and to change. There are a number of Latino cultural traditions and
values that support and celebrate respectful and healthy relationships that need to be emphasized and encouraged and can be employed to eliminate domestic
violence using an asset-based approach.”
Rosa Serratos, president of UNIDOS, pleaded with those present to work together to prevent domestic violence. “Together, we can fight domestic violence,”
Serratos said. “Keep supporting all of the programs. Remember what happened today and remember that this can happen to your children, to your sister, to your
daughter. By supporting the programs, you can prevent this from happening. We can give a better life to our society and our future generations. So please
support these programs.”
While the vigil ended with a moment of silence to honor Viviana and Yuliana, in the end, it is a chorus of voices that must be raised against domestic
violence. “Speaking out against domestic violence is important,” Anderson emphasized. “If you know someone who is in a domestic violence situation, tell them
you care about them and they are the ones who have to make the decision on whether or not they are going to leave that situation. Give them resources of
where they can go. It’s their choice and you are there to support them.”
Ending domestic violence begins with all of us.
on that. We’re not going to change with just a couple of people working on it. We’re not going to change it by just working on it during Domestic Violence
Awareness Month. We need to work together on it, all of us, all of the time.”
“Viviana Tellez-Guiron and Yuliana Hernandez could be our neighbor, our sister, our daughter, our friend,” said Graciela Laguana, a former UNIDOS staffer
who now works for the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “Please say no to domestic violence. We don’t want to have more kids without fathers or
kids learning from this kind of insane environment.”
David Duran, a co-founder of UNIDOS and its current treasurer, issued a challenge to the men in the audience. “Men need to work together with women to
create methods of equal and respectful collaboration and working relationships that can serve as a blueprint for our current work to address domestic violence
and sexual abuse for our next generation of Latinos and Latinas in our community,” Duran emphasized. “More research is needed to help us understand the root
causes of domestic violence and sexual assault within our communities if we are to develop appropriate methods to address and eliminate family violence. We
as professionals and non-professionals who are working within our Latino communities need to reeducate ourselves and to help to dispel the misconceptions
and false teachings behind the gender imbalance and that violence and abuse can never be justified. We as men must make every effort with other men to
engage in ongoing self-reflection regarding our attitudes, our superiority based on gender and the devaluing of women. The safety and well-being of women and
children is prominent in our joint work.”
“We recognize that the Latinos who batter are in turn oppressors and victimizers who need to be held accountable, sometimes through the criminal justice
system,” Duran continued. “We need to develop and promote services and programs that help men stabilize their lives and enhance their chances for remaining
non-violent. We need to go beyond viewing them only as perpetrators. They are part of our families and communities, men who need help being with women,
elders or even children. Through healing and recovering positive aspects of our cultural tradition, men can find real balance in their lives and recapture a sense
or belonging and become productive members of their communities. The eradication of violence against women in general and domestic violence in particular
requires that we move beyond criminalization and punitive measures against men who batter. We need to understand how abuse has happened in our families
in the context of multiple oppressions in order to move forward with the right steps to heal and to change. There are a number of Latino cultural traditions and
values that support and celebrate respectful and healthy relationships that need to be emphasized and encouraged and can be employed to eliminate domestic
violence using an asset-based approach.”
Rosa Serratos, president of UNIDOS, pleaded with those present to work together to prevent domestic violence. “Together, we can fight domestic violence,”
Serratos said. “Keep supporting all of the programs. Remember what happened today and remember that this can happen to your children, to your sister, to your
daughter. By supporting the programs, you can prevent this from happening. We can give a better life to our society and our future generations. So please
support these programs.”
While the vigil ended with a moment of silence to honor Viviana and Yuliana, in the end, it is a chorus of voices that must be raised against domestic
violence. “Speaking out against domestic violence is important,” Anderson emphasized. “If you know someone who is in a domestic violence situation, tell them
you care about them and they are the ones who have to make the decision on whether or not they are going to leave that situation. Give them resources of
where they can go. It’s their choice and you are there to support them.”
Ending domestic violence begins with all of us.
By Jonathan Gramling
There is no stratum of society that is exempt from domestic
violence. It is an equal opportunity source of violence that happens
regardless of race, income level, age, sexual orientation and even
gender, although the vast majority of victims are women. It can
happen anywhere, at anytime. It can even happen to people who
work to fight against domestic violence.
Earlier this month, the Latino community was struck by domestic
violence — for the second year during October, Domestic Violence
Awareness Month — when Viviana Tellez-Guiron, a volunteer with
UNIDOS Against Domestic Violence, was murdered. On October 10,
UNIDOS held a candle-light vigil at the Madison Labor Temple to
remember Viviana and Yuliana Hernandez and to reflect on the issue
of domestic violence. The event was a solemn affair attended by
approximately 100 people as the sky turned to dusk.
“Domestic violence is so painful,” emphasized Julie Anderson,
interim executive director of UNIDOS. “It really affects community. It
is important to remember that the blame lies with the perpetrator and
only with the perpetrator. It’s important that we all come together now
and take responsibility for supporting each other and for teaching
each other about what a healthy relationship is and what domestic
There is no stratum of society that is exempt from domestic
violence. It is an equal opportunity source of violence that happens
regardless of race, income level, age, sexual orientation and even
gender, although the vast majority of victims are women. It can
happen anywhere, at anytime. It can even happen to people who
work to fight against domestic violence.
Earlier this month, the Latino community was struck by domestic
violence — for the second year during October, Domestic Violence
Awareness Month — when Viviana Tellez-Guiron, a volunteer with
UNIDOS Against Domestic Violence, was murdered. On October 10,
UNIDOS held a candle-light vigil at the Madison Labor Temple to
remember Viviana and Yuliana Hernandez and to reflect on the issue
of domestic violence. The event was a solemn affair attended by
approximately 100 people as the sky turned to dusk.
“Domestic violence is so painful,” emphasized Julie Anderson,
interim executive director of UNIDOS. “It really affects community. It
is important to remember that the blame lies with the perpetrator and
only with the perpetrator. It’s important that we all come together now
and take responsibility for supporting each other and for teaching
each other about what a healthy relationship is and what domestic