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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Aditi Bhattacharya, Director of Client Services at New York City Anti Violence Project
4:26:59
ยท
3 min
Aditi Bhattacharya, Director of Client Services at the New York City Anti Violence Project (AVP), testified about the urgent need for support for LGBTQ New Yorkers, particularly in areas of safety, mental health, and social services. She highlighted the unique challenges faced by the LGBTQ community and requested prioritization of their needs by the General Welfare Committee.
- AVP has seen a 20% increase in hotline calls in January and February compared to the previous year
- The organization is the only state-recognized LGBTQ-specific rape crisis center and the only queer-specific agency funded by HRA since 2003 for non-residential support
- Bhattacharya shared a personal experience of helping a suicidal caller facing homophobic threats, emphasizing the critical nature of AVP's work
Aditi Bhattacharya
4:26:59
Good afternoon Chair Ayala and the members of the General Welfare Committee.
4:27:03
My name is Aditi Bhattacharya.
4:27:06
I use she and her pronouns.
4:27:07
I am the Director of Client Services at the New York City Anti Violence Project, AVP.
4:27:13
For forty four years, AVP has served LGBTQ and HIV affected adult survivors of violence citywide with counseling, advocacy, and legal support.
4:27:23
Alongside, we have organized and rallied the voices of allies, including city council members such as yourselves, to end all forms of violence against all LGBTQ New Yorkers.
4:27:34
I'm here today to ask that the General Welfare Committee prioritize the needs of queer and trans LGBTQ New Yorkers as a whole, as a uniquely and multiply marginalized population in desperate need of support, especially now, to keep afloat and to and to feel safe.
4:27:53
LGBTQ New Yorkers are poorer than their cisgendered peers.
4:27:57
Transgender and bisexual New Yorkers, especially folks of color, face exponentially higher levels of sexualized violence, pernicious hate violence, than their cisgendered heterosexual peers.
4:28:10
LGBTQ New Yorkers are disproportionately dependent industries that do not promise either income security or health security.
4:28:19
They have little to survive on.
4:28:21
Many have no family that they can feel safe with.
4:28:24
They are alone, and now their identities are open game to be reviled, canceled, and rendered invisible by federal order.
4:28:33
AVP's hotline calls have spiked by 20% just in January and February alone compared to last year.
4:28:40
Our clients need identity affirming therapy, safe and affordable housing, support with benefits navigation with minimal risk of misgendering, confusion, or other forms of erasure, what my colleague next to me actually spoke an example.
4:28:55
They need to feel trust in reporting their experiences of hate and stalking without their experience being minimized or ignored.
4:29:02
They need to feel safe talking about how they cope with poverty and grief without the terror of being forcefully institutionalized.
4:29:09
My team, our counselors and advocates, and our legal colleagues in AVP offer exactly this kind of support.
4:29:15
I'll be done soon.
4:29:17
We are the only state recognized LGBTQ specific rape crisis center that delivers these services effectively and expensively.
4:29:25
We are the only queer specific agency funded by the HRA since 02/2003 to offer non res supports to LGBTQ New Yorkers.
4:29:34
There is literally nobody else like us in New York City that shepherd our community through crisis upon crisis just to be safe and actually to stay alive.
4:29:43
I have personally walked a caller last week contacting the hotline.
4:29:48
I walked them off the ledge of suicidality because they are afraid to step out and walk their little dog because they get homophobic epithets at them from a neighbor upstairs.
4:29:58
It makes their dog bark, and when their dog barks, then the neighbor threatens not only to hurt them, but to kill their dog.
4:30:05
They have reported this to the police, and the police have effectively said that they need more identifiable hate violence before they can step in and take any kind of action.
4:30:15
These stories are getting worse, and we at AVP are doing everything we can valiantly to protect our survivor siblings and the LGBTQ community.
4:30:24
But we need dedicated and dependable city support to sustain our work.
4:30:29
I respectfully ask you at the committee to work with us and to promote HRA to support our lifesaving work.
4:30:35
Thank you so much for your time.