Down the Rabbit Hole

This episode contains discussions of domestic violence and its impact on children and families. Listeners are encouraged to pause and care for themselves as needed.In this episode of Down the Rabbit Hole, the Prevention team is joined once again by a favorite returning guest, Barbara, for an honest conversation about the realities domestic violence survivors and families face. Together, they explore the lasting impact of abuse on family dynamics, parenting, children, and support systems, while challenging the oversimplified question of why survivors do not “just leave.”The discussion also highlights protective parenting, barriers survivors navigate within community and institutional systems, and the emotional toll these experiences can have on families. In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we also start with a candid conversation about personal wellness practices and the importance of making space for rest and care in difficult times.Resources:The National Domestic Violence HotlineTexas Council on Family Violence (TCFV)Lundy BancroftSafe & Together InstituteChild Welfare Information Gateway

Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual violence, survivor experiences, and navigating the reporting and legal system. Please listen with care. What keeps you going when you’re young, feeling overwhelmed, and trying to be heard in a system that seems bigger than you? In this episode, we begin with an open letter from young survivor Vivian Sanchez and then delve into her experiences navigating reporting and legal processes as a minor and later as a young adult. Vivian discusses self-advocacy during moments of powerlessness, how her voice and choices were perceived differently at various ages, and what kind of support actually helps instead of taking control away. She also offers guidance for educators and advocates on fostering safer spaces, respecting boundaries, and empowering young people to speak for themselves. Tune in for an honest survivor-led perspective on support, agency, and healing. Resources Mentioned in Today’s Episode: TCFVlove is respect

Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of domestic violence, trauma, and homicide. Please listen with care and step away if you need a break.Behind every statistic is a life. In this episode of Down the Rabbit Hole, William sits down with Tracie and Samantha, and guest Wendy Arias, Coordinated Community Response Coordinator for the Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV), to discuss the Honoring Texas Victims (HTV) 2024 Intimate Partner Fatality Report. Wendy walks us through how the report is created, from reviewing homicide cases to working with partners across Texas to ensure accuracy and accountability. The conversation covers key findings from the 2024 data, including trends related to firearms, age ranges, and the broader impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on families and communities. We also discuss why victim narratives are central to the report, keeping the focus on people rather than statistics. Wendy reflects on the emotional toll of working with fatality data and the importance of community care for advocates and prevention workers. Listen in for a grounded, compassionate conversation about violence, prevention, and the human cost behind the data.

Trigger warning: This episode includes discussion of domestic violence, trauma, and healing from abuse. Please listen with care and step away if you need a break. What does healing look like beyond the therapy room? In this episode of Down the Rabbit Hole, William and Samantha sit down with their colleague and public policy coordinator, Krista Varney, to explore how nature, community, and non-traditional practices can support survivors of domestic violence. Krista shares her journey into the movement, her current work in policy, and how becoming a Texas Master Naturalist and her interest in native plants, trees, and wildlife reshaped her own healing and her approach to advocacy. They unpack why nature can be such a powerful complement to traditional counseling, how simple experiences can calm the nervous system, and why access to green space is deeply tied to equity, history, and environmental justice. They also discuss integrating food access and mutual aid into programming, honoring Indigenous knowledge of land and ecosystems, and creating communities that function like healthy forests. Join us to learn new ways to weave nature into advocacy, prevention, and healing journeys for survivors and their families. Tune in now!

We're getting ready for our annual Town Hall! Join William and Roy, along with special guests Gloria Aguilera Terry, our CEO, and Tommi Vincent, a thought leader and passionate advocate, to hear more about this year's Town Hall. We will talk about some of the journeys we've been on with this work, what kitchen gadgets are a must-have, we'll hear about the incredible initiatives Tommi has undertaken, and what it's like serving as a board chair for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Together, we delve into deeper discussion on the inception of Town Hall, how the Honoring Texas Victims Report plays a significant role, the powerful impact the event carries, and what we’d love people to experience and walk away with after this year’s event. These conversations are a call to action. Listeners are encouraged to take what they learn and use it to drive the necessary change in their own lives and communities, helping them to ultimately thrive!

Artificial intelligence is changing how we experience relationships, and not always for the better. In this episode, we are joined by guest Adam Dodge, founder of EndTAB (End Tech-Enabled Abuse), to unpack the growing role of AI and digital tools in gender-based violence and intimate relationships. EndTAB works with victim service providers and community organizations to help them confidently address and prevent technology-facilitated harm. Their work covers everything from image-based abuse and tech safety planning to digital breakups and healthy masculinity in the age of AI. Today’s conversation gets into the drawbacks and benefits of AI and how to navigate this rapidly changing landscape. We explore how AI companions are influencing relationships, how AI is hypersexualizing girls and women, the impact of algorithm-driven misogyny on young boys, and the need for emotional literacy in both kids and adults. Adam also shares practical steps for advocates and parents to support young people to help them safely navigate these technologies. Join us for this essential conversation on safety, consent, awareness, and what it means to build real relationships in the era of AI.

This episode involves discussions of sensitive topics, including domestic violence. Please take care of yourself as you listen. If you need to take a break, please do so. What does it mean to be a protective parent, especially while navigating trauma, abuse, or the child welfare system? In this episode of Down the Rabbit Hole, Samantha and Tracie are joined by Barbra Grimmer, a policy coordinator with years of experience in both domestic violence advocacy and child welfare. Together, they explore how the definition of protective parenting has evolved beyond checklists and rigid standards, and how survivors are often judged most harshly during their most vulnerable moments. They examine the scrutiny placed on mothers in shelter, the conflicting demands of CPS and family courts, and the deep flaws in "failure to protect" policies. Tune in for a powerful episode on parenting, resilience, and reimagining how systems respond to survivors!

This episode explores the many ways that coercive control is used by unpacking scenarios of intimate partner violence and other forms of abuse. Please listen with care and take breaks as needed. Coercive control is a destructive force that’s embedded in all aspects of relationship violence, but many do not understand what it is and how their lives are impacted by it. To help expose the inner workings of coercive control, TCFV's Prevention team is joined today by Josephine, an advocate and survivor to raise awareness of the many ways coercive control can show up. We learn about her journey with coercive control and how she broke free from it, why great support systems matter, how coercive control plays out in reproductive coercion and other nuances, and how the legal system can sometimes cause harm to survivors. Resources from this episode:Framed: Women in the Family Court Underworld Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) https://www.thehotline.org/ Coercive Control in Children's and Mothers' Lives Reproductive Coercion: Connecting the Dots Between Partner Violence and Unintended Pregnancy Reproductive Abuse and Coercion Reproductive coercion and abuse in intimate relationships: Women’s perceptions of perpetrator motivations

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses sensitive topics, including sex trafficking, child abuse, labor trafficking, and domestic violence. Please listen with care. What does human trafficking really look like in our communities and how can we play a role in prevention? In this powerful episode of Down the Rabbit Hole, we are joined by Ada McCloud, a prevention practitioner with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. In our conversation, Ada sheds light on the complex realities of human trafficking and ways the public can help prevent it. She debunks common human trafficking myths, explains key definitions, and unpacks the importance of building protective factors for vulnerable people. Gain insights into how systemic vulnerabilities contribute to trafficking, how community-focused actions can create meaningful change, and the unseen dynamics of trafficking. Ada also sheds light on actionable ways to support survivors and promote accountability in our communities. Tune in and discover how you can help create safer communities for everyone.

This podcast contains discussions of intimate partner violence, domestic violence, homicide, and harm to adults, children, and families. Please listen with care. If you need to pause or step away, feel free to do so and return when you’re ready. When leaving doesn’t guarantee safety, how do we protect survivors? In this episode of Down the Rabbit Hole, we’re joined by our TCFV colleague Tabetha Harrison to break down the data from the Honoring Texas Victims (HTV) report. This year’s findings reveal the heartbreaking loss of 205 Texans to intimate partner homicide, emphasizing that no age, gender, or community is immune. From the challenges survivors face when exiting abusive relationships to the role that firearms play in these tragedies, this conversation highlights the urgent need for community-driven solutions, survivor-led responses, and system-wide change. Join us as we uncover the human stories behind the data and discuss how we can all work together to create safer, more hopeful futures for survivors and their communities. HTV full report: https://tcfv.org/wp-content/uploads/2023-HTV-Full-Report.pdf HTV victim narratives: https://tcfv.org/wp-content/uploads/2023-HTV-Narratives.pdf HTV fact sheet (English): https://tcfv.org/wp-content/uploads/Fact-Sheet-English-HTV-2023.pdf HTV fact sheet (Spanish): https://tcfv.org/wp-content/uploads/Fact-Sheet-Spanish-HTV-2023.pdf HTV fact sheet (Vietnamese): https://tcfv.org/wp-content/uploads/Fact-Sheet-Vietnamese-HTV-2023.pdf

DVAM, IPV, DVHRT, PPC, SANE – If you’re not entrenched in the domestic violence movement, or if you're new to the movement, you might struggle to decode some of these acronyms. And even if you’re already playing your part in the movement, the learning curve can be real! Today, as we begin a new season, in Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), we will be taking a closer look at all the language within the movement. We discuss the language used here at TCFV, common acronyms that can be found across the movement, and important terminologies for survivors to understand. We also unpack how language can be isolating, how language evolves, specific terms to be aware of that may have more than one meaning, and why asking for clarification is always okay. This podcast explores topics of intimate partner violence, abuse, and other forms of trauma. While listening, please do so with care. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Down The Rabbit Hole | ‘Domestic Violence High-Risk Teams’ ‘Honoring Texas Victims 2023’ ‘OIM - Essentials of Advocacy in Practice’ Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV)

Texas State Representative, Christian Manuel, has been involved in politics for over two decades, and today, we are chatting about how his family's background in education and leadership influenced his passion for serving others to make the world a better place. Rep. Manuel begins today's conversation by explaining the significance of Juneteenth for Americans before detailing his early entry into public office and his team's commitment to supporting survivors. Rep. Manuel shares how he turns the concerns of the public into actionable policies, the achievements that he's most proud of from his time in office, how his position as an out, black man affects the way he works, and how he stays motivated in a profession riddled with fresh daily challenges. We also discuss why it's important for policymakers to listen to young voices, why we need to understand the intersectionality of the issues that we address, the role of education in achieving gender and socioeconomic balance, and how newly elected officials can go about being the best champions for their constituents. Please note that this episode carries a trigger warning for domestic violence, transphobia/homophobia, and violence against the LGBTQ+ community and may be sensitive to some listeners. Please listen with care. Please see the resources below: Representative Manuel https://www.equalitytexas.org/ https://www.transtexas.org/

In December 2023, after three decades in office and as the longest-serving member of the Texas Senate, Senator Judith Zaffirini became the first-ever woman elected as Dean of the Senate! However, this was not her first time breaking new ground, as she was also the first-ever Mexican-American woman to become a senator in Texas. Incredibly, Senator Zaffirini is also an award-winning communications specialist and Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development (and more!), and she joins us today to unpack the great work she’s done in her decades-long service to the people of Texas. Senator Zaffirini explains what motivated her to run for office, why she remains persistent to persevere in this work, why she reveres her close relationship with survivors and other constituents, and the standout achievements from her esteemed career. We learn about her methods for ensuring that her bills are passed, how she navigates her daily challenges, what elected officials in Texas need to be doing more of for survivors, how to improve the quality of community engagement (even without a vote), and why young voices are the ones that matter the most. To end, we explore Texas’ prevention angle, how gender roles in public office have evolved, how motherhood made Senator Zaffirini a better senator and leader, how she became an honorary nun, and her parting words of wisdom for listeners. This podcast explores topics of intimate partner violence, abuse, and other forms of trauma. As you are listening, please do so with care.