BWJP is the national legal resource for gender-based violence. Our projects provide some of the nation’s leading specialized policy and practice initiatives on improving survivor safety.
Our work addresses the many facets of gender-based violence, such as complex family dynamics, the importance of protection orders, the risk of firearms, and how to prevent the violence in the first place. It’s through our many programs and partnerships that we’re able to think systemically and at a community level.
We’re at the forefront of the movement to create systemic change, and we take that responsibility seriously. We know that it’s critical to maintain an intersectional lens that prevents further harm for historically marginalized communities. We will continue this critical work to keep survivors safe and support thriving families and communities.
Our History
The Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) started in 1993 as a part of the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) under the visionary leadership of Ellen Pence—one of the “Mothers” of the domestic violence movement. This Minnesota program was an international leader; producing such industry standards as the “Power and Control Wheel” and “Coordinated Community Response”, both of which are still widely used throughout the world today. BWJP further developed as the legal project of DAIP and the national legal resource center through a designation from the Department of Health and Human Services. Its Project Director, Ms. Denise Gamache was its leader in 1993 and by 2015 this legal project of DAIP had grown into its own organization. Therefore, in 2015, the Battered Women’s Justice Project was formally established as its own 501(c)(3) non-profit. In 2020, Ms. Gamache retired, and Amy J. Sánchez was hired as the CEO of BWJP to develop and implement a new vision at the nexus of gender-based violence and systems change.
