HISTORY

The South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault was incorporated in September of 1978 to eliminate domestic violence and sexual assault in the State of South Dakota; to provide services such as crisis phone counseling; temporary shelter for battered women and their children; to provide peer and professional counseling and advocacy; to provide community resource referral and job search information; to promote quality of services and to provide a state plan for domestic violence; to expose the roots of domestic and sexual violence; to provide a state network for programs; to promote public acknowledgment of the problem; to provide relief for victims; and to distribute funds to eligible programs.


The Coalition has established shelters and related services across the state. Our present members operate 18 autonomous shelter programs and 6 satellite programs under the direction of a mother shelter program. The Coalition has established a shelter for Women of Color in Sioux Falls. Sacred Circle, the National Resource Center to End Violence Against Native Women, is an organizational member and offers technical assistance and training to programs on a national level. Coalition member programs are in operation on all tribal lands in the state.


The Coalition has been instrumental in developing legislative reform including: Protection Orders for domestic violence victims, marriage license surcharge to fund local programs, a victims’ rights package for victims of sexual assault, the payment of rape examination to be the responsibility of the investigating agency, and a revised sexual assault statute.