Georgia Advocates for Battered Women and Children records

The Georgia Advocates for Battered Women and Children began as an all-volunteer feminist agency in the early 1980s. The first coalition of all Georgia shelters for abused women, the organization was originally known as the Georgia Network Against Domestic Violence (GNADV). The GNADV functioned in a variety of ways: It dispersed state funds to the Georgia shelters, it provided training and other resources for the shelters, and it acted as an advocacy group for abused women and children, including legislation and legal advocacy for dealing with the problem. During the late 1980s the organization also worked extensively with individuals and groups that were interested in starting shelters in their own communities.

The organization changed its name to the Georgia Advocates for Battered Women and Children (GABWC) in the early 1990s, following the division of the organization into two separate groups. One of these two groups developed into the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, an organization that continues to operate in Georgia. The GABWC ceased to receive state funds, but it continued as an advocacy group for battered women and children until the organization closed its doors in 2000.

Margo Smith served as Director of the GNADV from about 1985 to 1990. Qiyamah Rahman was also on the staff as Organizational Developer between 1987 and June 1989. Cutbacks resulting from the loss of GNADV's state monies eliminated this position as well as that of the Administrative Assistant. In addition to staff members, during the 1980s the organization also had a Board of Directors composed of an Executive Committee (President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer), Task Forces (Battered and Formerly Battered Women, Women of Color), and Committees (including Development, Finance, and Membership). B. J. Bryson was associated with GNADV when she served as the co-chair of the Women of Color Task Force (1987) and as Georgia Representative and Steering Committee member of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) until about 1991.

After a period during which the organization functioned without a Director, Suzannah Pogue took over the newly named Georgia Advocates for Battered Women and Children from about 1993 to 1997. Diane Winters became a member of the staff beginning in about 1997. During the final year of GABWC, Catherine Hires served as President of the Board of Directors, and Wendy Lipshutz, who had been associated with the organization since 1993, acted as Vice-President.