The South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SDCADVSA) is dedicated to the empowerment of battered women and their children and therefore is committed to the elimination of personal and societal violence in the lives of women and their children.

SDCADVSA believes violence against women and their children results from the use of force or threat to achieve and maintain control over others in intimate relationships and societal abuses of power and domination in the forms of sexism, racism, homophobia, classism, anti-semitism, ablebodyism, ageism, and other oppressions.  SDCADVSA recognizes the abuse of power in society fosters battering by perpetuating conditions that condone violence against women and children. Therefore, it is the mission of SDCADVSA to work for the major societal changes necessary to eliminate both personal and societal violence against all women and their children.

SDCADVSA�s work includes: Coalition building at the state, local, regional, tribal and national levels; support for the community-based nonviolent alternatives, such as safe home and shelter programs for battered women and their children; public education and technical assistance; policy development and innovative legislation; focus on the leadership of SDCADVSA�s caucuses and task forces developed to represent the concerns of organizationally under represented groups; and efforts to eradicate societal conditions which contribute to violence against women and children.

The SDCADVSA comprise people dealing with concerns of battered women and their children. We represent both rural and urban areas. Our programs support and involve battered women of all racial, ethnic, religious and economic groups, ages and lifestyles. We oppose the use of violence as a means of control over others, and support equality in relationships and the concept of helping women assume power over their own lives. We strive towards becoming independent community-based groups in which women make major policy and program decisions.

In recognizing that hierarchy is the root cause of violence against women, we are committed to maintaining and nurturing grassroots programs, organizations and communities. We must never lose sight that this movement was born through grassroots women who have been victimized by violence. We strive to ensure grassroots leadership and involvement in all matters, especially, policy-making and governance.