Garrard Beeney, Recipient of the 2019 Law Firm Leadership Award

Sanctuary for Families

Each year, at our Annual Benefit, Sanctuary for Families celebrates individuals who have shown time and again, their commitment to ending gender-based violence. This year we are honoring Garrard R. Beeney, partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, for his tireless efforts and pro bono counsel on behalf of Sanctuary’s clients.

Every year, at our Annual Benefit, Sanctuary for Families honors those who have made significant contributions to the movement to end gender-based violence. This year, we are thrilled to present the 2019 Law Firm Leadership Award to Garrard R. Beeney, partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, for his tireless efforts and pro bono counsel on behalf of Sanctuary’s clients.

INTRODUCING GARRARD

Garrard is co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell’s Intellectual Property and Technology group. He is recognized as a leading lawyer for his counsel to clients on intellectual property, licensing transactions, and litigation matters around the world. He has handled patent and intellectual property matters before the U.S. Supreme Court, the International Trade Commission, the U.S. Patent Trademark Office, and federal district and appellate courts.

Beyond litigation, Garrard’s work includes an outstanding trajectory of public and social service. He served as deputy mayor of Irvington, New York, for over a decade, and has served on the board of several non-profits including Graham Windham, Mercado Global, and ProBono.net.  Garrard regularly represents clients in pro bono litigation, including a recent successful First Amendment trial and matters involving child adoptions in Arkansas and Nebraska in which he successfully argued issues before both State Supreme Courts.

Garrard holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Law School. He has taught various trial advocacy courses and served as a member of the faculties of the National Trial Skills Program of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the Cardozo School of Law.

PARTNERING TO END GENDER VIOLENCE

In a recent interview, Garrard spoke to Sanctuary about his pro bono work and overall involvement with the organization. He first learned about Sanctuary through his daughter Carola, a fellow Sanctuary supporter and former Pro Bono Specialist at Simpson Thacher. The two would often discuss strategy for the numerous Sanctuary cases that Carola’s outstanding team was taking on.

Inspired by our clients’ stories of survival, Garrard formally joined Sanctuary’s Legal Advisory Committee in 2016. Since that time, Garrard has become a strong ally in our work to end gender violence by supporting Sanctuary’s legal staff with expert litigation training and by taking on pro bono cases on behalf of Sanctuary clients.

Where does your commitment to Sanctuary’s mission stem from?

A lot of my pro bono activities have included voting rights and LGBTQ+ rights. To me, it’s about trying to help those that the system has neglected and whom others are trying to exploit. Sanctuary’s work certainly aligns with this objective– The organization uplifts the voices of survivors and those who have been left behind.

Another aspect that makes Sanctuary attractive for us, in terms of partnering with a non-profit organization, is that it has an enormous number of talented, passionate staff members and supporters  ̶  it’s the mission, it’s the people who are part of it, and it’s the voices that Sanctuary raises up that make this organization so appealing.

Is there a particular experience, throughout your work with Sanctuary, that has impacted you?

There are a few that really stand out. The first would be when I led a litigation training program for several Sanctuary attorneys. It was an incredibly impressive group of people. Through the course of talking about getting a case to trial, presenting a case to a judge or a jury, and trial strategy, I learned about their particular cases, the issues that they faced, and what they were trying to achieve. It was enormously educational.

I also had the pleasure of working on an appellate brief with some Sanctuary lawyers on a case involving an abused woman’s right to use a record she had created in trying to attain safety from her abusive spouse – something that was denied to her during the divorce proceedings. On another occasion, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Sanctuary in reuniting a sex trafficking survivor with her son, who had been kept in Mexico as retaliation by her trafficker.

These experiences really spoke to me and made me appreciate the organization and its members even more.

What are some of the biggest challenges we collectively face when addressing gender-based violence?

I think one of the biggest challenges is education. I remember reading a U.N. report that found that the most unsafe place for a woman is her home, yet there is still a widespread lack of understanding of the prevalence and impact of domestic violence.

I also think that we don’t provide fair access to the judicial process to those who have not been as fortunate as many of us. We deny survivors the resources they need – resources that are available but not afforded to them without the assistance of organizations like Sanctuary for Families.

We have to raise awareness in our communities about the effects of gender violence and the resources available to survivors. We also have to raise awareness about how individuals can take action and support organizations like Sanctuary for Families, whether that be through volunteering, providing pro bono services, or by making financial contributions.  We must all speak up when it comes to these issues.

The theme for this year’s Annual Benefit is #WeAreSanctuary. What does being a part of Sanctuary mean to you?

I think of #WeAreSanctuary in terms of belonging to a community that strives to improve the broader communities of which it is part. Through its work, Sanctuary goes beyond helping survivors – it makes our Sanctuary city better, and many New Yorkers prouder.

In a sense, we are all Sanctuary – not only clients, staff, and board members – because Sanctuary addresses one of the most basic forms of evil that affects all of us. Whether or not we are directly impacted by it, I think we all ought to live in a world free from all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination.

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To purchase tickets to our 2019 Annual Benefit, click here.

Laura Mannix Spring, Recipient of the 2019 Zero Tolerance Award

Sanctuary for Families

Each year, at our Annual Benefit, Sanctuary for Families celebrates individuals who have shown time and again, their commitment to ending gender-based violence. This year we are honoring Laura Mannix Spring, Director of Studio Services at Barneys New York and Co-Chair of the Barneys New York Foundation.

Each year, at our Annual Benefit, Sanctuary for Families celebrates individuals who have shown time and again, their commitment to ending gender-based violence. This year we are honoring Laura Mannix Spring, Director of Studio Services at Barneys New York and Co-Chair of the Barneys New York Foundation.

Sanctuary will present Laura with the Zero Tolerance Award for her long involvement with the Mother’s Council, the work she has done to build a partnership between Barneys and Sanctuary, and her passion for supporting gender violence survivors.

INTRODUCING LAURA

Laura is well-known for her expertise across multiple areas, from retail sales to community advocacy and development. Since taking on her current role in 1995, she has turned Studio Services into the premier sales area for Barneys New York.

Laura is an outstanding community advocate and philanthropist. Her charities include The Kevin Frawley Foundation, a scholarship on behalf of a close friend who perished on September 11th, and The Nick Traina Foundation, which fights for awareness of mental illness. Laura has also demonstrated her serious commitment to the revitalization of Yonkers, her hometown — She does tireless fundraising for St. Joseph School in Bronxville, is involved with various local businesses, and has served on many committees and boards of the Amackassin Club.

A LONG-STANDING ALLY

Laura and Sanctuary ED Judy H. Kluger, at a Barneys New York Foundation event in support of Sanctuary for Families.

Laura has been a part of the Sanctuary family for over a decade. In a recent interview, she told us about how she first learned about Sanctuary and discussed the reasons for which she is so passionate about our work with survivors of gender-based violence.

Laura was introduced to the organization by her friends Catherine Shanahan and Stephanie Ferdman, who invited her to attend a Mother’s Council breakfast. Laura vividly recalls the impact that the speaker’s testimony had on her that morning – “His name was Paul, and he was there to represent his sister who couldn’t be there because she was murdered in front of her three children by her abuser.” Being a new mother herself, Laura could not believe that this could happen to someone:

“I was so profoundly moved and thought to myself ‘This is something that needs to change.'”

INTERVIEW

Is there any particular program or project at Sanctuary that you are most passionate about? 

I am definitely moved and inspired by Sanctuary’s Economic Empowerment Program [EEP] and the impact that it has across generations. It has inspired me to advocate for more opportunities within businesses and companies for women who have been traumatized, women who are raising children and teaching them what it means to be strong, what it means to be a warrior.

I think EEP’s impact is two-fold: It provides survivors with the technical skills needed to secure career-track jobs and build the financial resources that are so essential to families that have suffered from violence. It also gives survivors a whole new level of confidence and satisfaction, making them feel viable and capable of lending themselves to greater things, of changing the direction of their children’s lives for the better.

My favorite events are, obviously, the EEP graduation ceremonies. Harvard valedictorians have nothing on our graduates, nothing. They are unbelievable. They are a force, and so is Sanctuary.

What changes would you like to see in how we, as a society, address gender-based violence?

I’d like to see it be less stigmatized and to have more opportunities for survivors to speak out as soon as they begin to experience abuse. We need to reach out to communities and talk about these issues in our companies, in our families, because isolation is one of the biggest problems when it comes to domestic violence.  

I also think there is little awareness of the barriers that survivors face. Leaving their abusers is simply the first step in an arduous journey – Here you are, jumping from a traumatizing situation into another daunting, uphill battle, and it seems like you might never reach the top.

Finally, we need to improve the services available to child survivors of violence. Although they have been traumatized at such a young age, hopefully, with the right treatment, they will be able to alter the course of their lives and become empowered. It is especially vital for them to understand that they are not deserving of such violence, that they are not to blame for what they have had to endure.

The theme for this year’s Annual Benefit is #WeAreSanctuary. What does being a part of Sanctuary mean to you?

What I love most about Sanctuary is that it recognizes the individual challenges faced by each survivor and addresses them accordingly – I have never been a part of an organization that was so hands-on in adapting every one of its services to fit their clients’ specific needs. #WeAreSanctuary means being a part of this community of empowered, smart, and incredible individuals who are committed to serving anyone who crosses its threshold.  #WeAreSanctuary captures that passion that I have yet to see anywhere else.

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To purchase tickets to our 2019 Annual Benefit, click here.

Gloria Steinem and Advocates Applaud NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson for His Commitment to Criminal Justice Reform

Sanctuary for Families

Our joint statement on Speaker Johnson’s Call for the Equality Model

Speaker Johnson’s Call for the Equality Model is the right step to protect and promote the well-being of those who are sex trafficked and individuals in the sex trade while holding accountable those who harm them.

As leading direct service providers, women’s rights, anti-trafficking and youth activists, immigrant, gender and racial justice advocates, child welfare advocates, and sex trade survivors, we applaud City Council Speaker Corey Johnson for his leadership in calling for meaningful criminal justice reform in New York City.

In particular, we commend the Speaker’s support for the repeal of the “loitering for purposes of engaging in prostitution” offense, which permits law enforcement to make often arbitrary arrests based on untenable suspicions of prostitution. These arrests have been used as a discriminatory tactic and reports show that the law’s usage disproportionately targets women and girls of color as well as transwomen and girls.

Speaker Johnson also declared his support for the Equality Model (also known as the Nordic Model) and called for urgent action in addressing prostitution and sex trafficking. This legal framework solely decriminalizes people in prostitution while only targeting those who harm them, including pimps and sex buyers.

Key to the Equality Model is its directive to create and implement comprehensive services, including trauma-informed medical and mental health services, housing, education, and job training, for all people in prostitution. Speaker Johnson’s announcement concerning his commitment to opening a center that will provide wrap-around services to individuals in the sex trade is an important step in the right direction.

New York City prides itself in being at the forefront of protecting human rights, especially those of the most marginalized populations among us. The overwhelming majority of those in prostitution are marginalized women, girls, transwomen and girls, especially of color. In our city, most of these individuals are New Yorkers; others are undocumented immigrants who have likely been sex trafficked. Many of us are part of and all of us work with these communities.

The Equality Model’s goal is to promote and protect the economic security, health and social equality of the most disenfranchised women and transwomen while safeguarding them from violence and discrimination. In tandem with providing comprehensive services, the City must also invest in education and training, and commit to changes in policy and practice to eradicate discrimination and mistreatment by law enforcement and the judicial system. Already, due to grassroots efforts, we’ve seen improvements. Through training and engagement with law enforcement, arrests of pimps and traffickers have slowly increased since 2016 when the NYPD committed to targeting “pimps and johns” and investing in long-term investigations, while arrests of individuals selling sex have steadily decreased each year.

The sex trade is where sex trafficking happens. Every dollar that feeds the multi-billion dollar sex trade comes from sex buyers who treat people in the sex trade like commodities and cause immense, long-term harm. The Speaker courageously recognized that the sex trade is inherently antithetical to equality for all and affirmed that we have the power to fight it.

The Equality Model must be part of New York’s toolkit of laws and policies to reform the criminal justice system and promote gender, racial, economic and immigration justice.

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Gloria Steinem

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

Covenant House

ECPAT-USA

Equality Now

Graham Windham

Mentari

National Organization for Women – New York City

New York Alliance Against the Legalization of Prostitution

New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition

Not On My Watch

Sanctuary for Families

Our 2019 New York State Legislative Agenda

Sanctuary for Families

In preparation for our Advocacy Day on April 30, we’re releasing our agenda.

In preparation for Sanctuary Advocacy Day on April 30, we’re unveiling our 2019 legislative agenda. Tomorrow, we’ll thank State lawmakers in Albany for their support of important bills like the Cyber Sexual Abuse law and the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act which passed earlier this session and urge them to enact additional measures that would offer increased legal protections to survivors of domestic violence and sex trafficking and people in prostitution, as well as immigrants who seek assistance from our courts.

Among the key measures on our legislative agenda are:

Rape Shield Law
A.2240 Rosenthal / S.5070 Parker

Sanctuary for Families strongly supports bill A. 2240 / S. 5070 which would expand the rape shield law to include protections for individuals who have a history of trafficking or prostitution. New York’s rape shield law currently protects most victims of sex offenses by limiting introduction of evidence pertaining to the survivor’s sexual history. However, survivors of sex trafficking or prostitution are exempt from these protections. Consequently, survivors of rape or other sexual offenses are at high risk of being portrayed as less credible if they have ever been prostituted or sex trafficked, making it harder to prosecute the offenders.  They are also more likely to suffer greater re-traumatization.

Anywhere from 60% to 90% of people in prostitution are raped, not always by johns or pimps. These survivors should have the same legal protections as other sexual assault survivors.

 Vacatur
A.982 Gottfried  / S.3181 Lanza

In 2010, New York State became a national leader when it allowed survivors of trafficking to vacate their prostitution-related convictions.  This law has helped many whose criminal convictions have had devastating consequences on their ability to reintegrate into society.

While laudable, this remedy falls short. Too often, victims of human trafficking are criminally prosecuted for many acts – like drug possession, theft and fraud – that they were forced to commit by abusive pimps. This measure would allow the court to vacate certain convictions under these circumstances. This relief would be life-changing for survivors who continue to bear the burden of a criminal record for acts in which they were compelled to engage.

 Loitering
A.0654 Paulin  / S.2253 Hoylman

Sanctuary for Families strongly supports this measure which would repeal Penal Law § 240.37, Loitering for the Purpose of Engaging in a Prostitution Offense.  In their direct work, Sanctuary has seen how this statute has been used as a discriminatory tactic, enforced arbitrarily and targeting marginalized and mostly minority communities at risk of abuse and exploitation. The repercussions of arrest and conviction, even for a seemingly low-level offense, can be devastating. Convictions can prevent an individual from obtaining employment or housing. For immigrant survivors of sex trafficking, even an arrest that is dismissed can negatively impact immigration status, and subject the person to risk of deportation. The current loitering statute causes irreparable harm and its repeal would send a strong signal that New York State values civil rights, dignity and due process.

Protect Our Courts Act
A.02176 Solages / S.00425 Hoylman

This bill would prohibit Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents from making civil arrests in and around New York State courthouses without a judicial warrant or court order.

75% of the gender violence and sex trafficking survivors served at Sanctuary for Families are immigrants who rely on the courts for orders of protection, child custody and other support.  Some are witnesses in criminal cases against their abusers. ICE’s presence in New York’s courthouses and the mere threat of detention and deportation spreads fear and deters many immigrants from seeking the protections that are rightfully theirs.

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“New York has been a leader in its response to sex trafficking, gender violence and harsh immigration policies. By passing these measures, we will continue to set the benchmark for other states.  We applaud the effort of Assemblymembers Rosenthal, Gottfried, Paulin and Solages, and Senators Parker, Lanza and Hoylman – and so many of their colleagues for the courage and insight they have shown concerning the needs of gender violence survivors and members of our immigrant communities.  We urge the legislature and Governor Cuomo to make sure these measures become law this session.”

Hon. Judy Kluger
Executive Director, Sanctuary for Families