What We Believe

DVIS Vision
Communities where ALL relationships are free from violence and oppression.

  • All includes but not limited to people of color, low-income, LGBTQ2+, Deaf and hard of hearing, people with disabilities, documented and undocumented immigrants, those with limited English proficiency.

DVIS Mission
Advancing physical and emotional safety by reducing the impact and occurrence of sexual and domestic violence, human trafficking and stalking through inclusive intervention and prevention services for children, youth and adults.

  • Services include safe housing; counseling for children youth and adults; legal advocacy and representation; court advocacy; law enforcement advocacy; education and outreach; hospital advocacy; childcare; batterers intervention.

DVIS Values

1. Partnership and Collaboration

  • We value collaboration and partnership with clients and work together as an agency to meet their needs. We value collaboration and partnership with community partners and work to influence and change the systems that harm or stigmatize clients.

2. Anti-Oppression, Equity and Inclusion

  • We value social justice because we recognize that systems of oppression enable violence. Systems of oppression include, but are not limited to sexism, racism, ableism, audism, heterosexism, and cissexism.* We believe clients need services that recognize and treat the whole person, including the many intersecting parts of their identity.

3. Curiosity, Empathy, and Compassion

  • We believe curiosity, empathy, and compassion are crucial practices in our work to end all forms of violence. We value self-compassion and building individual and community resilience against all forms of violence.

4. Trust, Respect, Integrity

  • We believe in the inherent dignity and worth of each and every person (survivors and offenders of all ages including children, youth, and adults).

*Additional systems of oppression include, but are not limited to classism, ageism, adultism, xenophobia, anti-immigration, and religious oppression.

DVIS Philosophy:

The philosophy of DVIS is that all people have the right to live free from domestic and sexual violence.

What We Believe:

  • People experiencing violence and/or abuse have the potential to control their own lives and can be helped in doing so through support, information and encouragement
  • DVIS has the responsibility of modeling behavior that is non-violent, using power responsibly for personal and organizational action and growth
  • All persons have the right to live without fear, abuse, oppression and violence
  • There should be equality in relationships and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking should be helped to assume power over their own lives
  • No one deserves to be victimized by assaultive or abusive behavior
  • Survivors should be treated with dignity and respect
  • All people involved in violent crimes are affected—victims, children, families, partners, friends, the community, and offenders
  • Offending is a choice, and offenders of domestic violence sexual assault and stalking are solely responsible for their behavior
  • Offenders must be held accountable for their behavior
  • A coordinated community response is the best approach to eliminating domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in Oklahoma