Blog - AVDA

October Is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

by AVDA | Sep 30, 2019 | Uncategorized

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. One in four women and one seven in men experience domestic violence in this country. Unfortunately, reports of family violence are on the rise in Houston. The Houston Police Department reported that in 2018, domestic...

Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence

by AVDA | Apr 25, 2019 | Uncategorized

In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we wanted to share the facts on sexual assault as a form of domestic violence. Perpetrators who are physically violent toward their intimate partners are often sexually abusive as well. Intimate partner sexual assault...

Let’s Keep Our Teens Safe: Understanding Dating Violence

by AVDA | Feb 27, 2019 | Uncategorized

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM), a national effort to raise awareness about abuse in teen and 20-something relationships and promote programs that prevent it. Locally, AVDA (Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse) works with schools, programs for...

Overcoming Tragedy to Begin Again

by AVDA | Nov 28, 2018 | Uncategorized

In November of 2015, Andrea Thibodeaux came to AVDA seeking legal custody of her then two-year-old granddaughter, Audrey. Several months earlier, Audrey’s father had brutally murdered Audrey’s mother. Audrey’s mother had tried to protect herself and her daughter by...

AVDA Attorney Spotlight

by AVDA | Sep 19, 2018 | Uncategorized

AVDA’s Legal Advocacy Program provides free legal representation in family law matters to victims of domestic violence in Harris and Fort Bend County courts. We have attorneys who are dedicated to obtaining protective orders, and others who focus on divorce,...

AVDA Summer Interns: Law Students with Eyes on the Future

by AVDA | Jan 18, 2018 | Uncategorized

Since 2006, AVDA has actively recruited summer Legal Interns from ABA-accredited law schools for clerkships in family-law litigation. They work side-by-side AVDA’s eight trauma-informed attorneys and eight paralegals, aiding with legal research, drafting...

Domestic Violence: Private Violence or Public Health Crisis?

by AVDA | Jun 21, 2018 | Uncategorized

AVDA stands with other Houston-area, nonprofit organizations that serve family violence victims in opposition to the recent ruling that disallows the asylum requests of victims of domestic violence. This one decision has turned back the clock on four decades of...

Get the Facts on Teen Dating Abuse

by AVDA | Feb 22, 2018 | Uncategorized

Did you know that one in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence? Throughout the month of February, AVDA (Aid to Victims of...

AVDA Partners with METRO to Reach Abuse Victims

by AVDA | Oct 4, 2018 | Uncategorized

AVDA recently partnered with METRO to build awareness of its transformational, life-saving services for victims of domestic violence. Thanks to METRO, there are 1,900 “Domestic Abuse Hurts Everyone” (950 in English and 950 in Spanish) bus cards on the METRO...

AVDA expands free legal services into Fort Bend County

by AVDA | Dec 7, 2017 | Uncategorized

For 37 years, AVDA has served an important need in our city by providing free legal advocacy and representation to survivors of domestic abuse. As needs rise and societal and environmental changes occur, AVDA remains nimble, flexible, and responsive. In the aftermath...