Downtown Women's Action Coalition (DWAC)

DWAC’s mission is to empower women who live and work downtown to influence public policy change that promotes health, safety, and economic and social justice for women through collective action, public education, community building, advocacy and leadership opportunities.

Historically, Central City East (“Skid Row”) was developed to assist single men in search of employment or just down on their luck. The multiplicity of service programs mirror that fact but, more importantly, the pervasive mindset that continues to prevail is that “this community is for men only.” The male-dominated nature of our community is clearly illustrated by the leadership composition of the many organizations: 95 percent of Central City East organizations are led by white men. However, the community is made up of 90 percent people of color and women have grown to approximately 35 percent of the population in recent years. The explosion of women and families living in Central City East, the threats to women and children’s health and safety in the area, the shortage of housing and services, and the lack of leadership and attention to women’s issues led to the formation of the Downtown Women’s Action Coalition (DWAC) in April 2001.

DWAC consists of service providers, advocates and residents in the downtown area. We are working to: 1) create strong leadership that reflects the changing demographics of the community; 2) organize a diverse base of stakeholders to advocate for public policy and other public decisions that specifically benefits and addresses the needs of women in our community; and 3) eliminate gender-bias which is inherent in the service delivery models in the area, historically designed to meet the needs of single men. LA CAN provides the home organization and coordination of DWAC and shares leadership in the Coalition with Downtown Women’s Center and SRO Housing. DWAC’s work includes the 7 out of 10 Campaign, community-based research, leadership development, community-based trainings on women-specific issues, and community events.

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The 7 out of 10 Campaign was named due to our recent research showing that over 70% of downtown women residents have experience violence during their lifetimes, including domestic violence and sexual assault. The campaign is working to raise awareness about the unacceptable levels of violence, as well as build infrastructure within the community to prevent violence and provide appropriate services to survivors of violence. Recent “7 out of 10” events have included two performances of the 7 out of 10 Stories and a community-wide celebration of White Ribbon Day.

Click here to view and download the 2004 Needs Assessment Report* (500KB)
Click here to view and download the 2001 Needs Assessment Report* (350KB*)

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