Willpowered Woman focuses on empowering women. We educate at high schools, universities, colleges and businesses to prevent intimate partner abuse and support women who have been affected.

We were founded in October 2015 and in that time, with the help of many volunteers, we were able to accomplish a lot. Read our 2016 Impact Report HERE

HEAR WHAT WILLPOWERED WOMAN CLIENTS (Survivors) ARE SAYING

• "The most powerful thing I got from working with Willpowered Woman was consistency and validation."

• "Coming from an abusive and traumatic upbringing into personal relationships without safe boundaries and respectful human engagements to support me has left me quite vulnerable and susceptible to further trauma. Working with Willpowereed Woman has helped me identify that these patterns of relating are unhealthy and that I deserve much better."

• "With the consistency and overall uplifting of Willpowered Woman, it allowed for the safe space through counsel and planning, to grow at my pace and realize the journey I am on."

• “When I first heard about VAWA, I wasn't sure if it would apply to my situation as I couldn't see that I was in an abusive relationship. I was confused and afraid of letting my partner down if I allowed myself to even think about leaving him. However, being told by Willpowered Woman that I had a way out of a relationship where I lived in constant fear did plant a seed in my head and gave me hope of a better future without him.”

• “My fear for him was stronger at first but through working with Willpowered Woman, I realized he never really cared about what I wanted, but only had his selfish reasons for exercising control over my life.”

• “Working with Willpowered Woman made me realize that he wanted to be in control of everything even if that meant I was suffering.”

• “When I realized I no longer had any control of my own life I thought about looking for my legal rights and sharing my story with legal professionals. I heard about VAWA from Willpowered Woman for the second time and I felt like I had to trust it was the right thing to do. I felt supported by Willpowered Woman and the legal professionals they referred me to, who made me see the law was on my side. I felt empowered to exercise my legal rights and hopeful I will no longer have to live in fear and can take back the control of my own life.”

HEAR WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR EMPOWERMENT AND AWARENESS TALKS AND WORKSHOPS

• "As a Hispanic female, I am looked down upon and expected to 'meet' certain standards, now I know that these oppressing opinions are just that."

• "Knowing the signs to an abusive relationship whether in any state of being has put me in a higher position of knowledge, not only for myself, but to help others."

• "Meeting someone as powerful as Caitlin, willing to give her story from her change of living to her own experiences, has truly opened my eyes and made me realize that I'm not alone and by talking and sharing, more people can be impacted in a positive way just like I have."

• "I really appreciated the information Caitlin shared with us. It helped me realize how unhealthy my previous relationship was and made me have higher standards and know what to look out for in the future."

The CEO, Caitlin D'Aprano has been working on Willpowered Woman full-time since October 2015 and has decided it's time to expand! We want two full-time staff so we can have an even bigger impact and start to put our future plans into action.

We are raising $34,000 to hire a second full-time person. The person will be the Impact Development Director and will focus on outreach, creating partnerships in the education sector and creating more community impact. The $34,000 will cover part of their salary and office space.

Our Founder Caitlin D’Aprano is an intimate partner abuse survivor.

After only 4 weeks of marriage, her husband strangled her 3 times. She left with nothing; no visa, nowhere to live and no job. She had escaped to an emergency shelter and was looking for temporary housing. When she contacted nonprofits, the first question she received was, “Do you have children?” When her answer was no, 98% of nonprofits said they couldn’t help her. There was every reason to go back to her husband: love, family, a roof over her head, but she prevailed against all odds. The amount of willpower it took her to persevere was tremendous, it felt like a force of nature. That’s when Willpowered Woman was born.

It's important to help women without children because 1 in 4 women in abusive relationships become pregnant against their will (forced pregnancy). Willpowered Woman wants to prevent a woman from having to go back to her abusive partner, which increases her risk of forced pregnancy.

This starts with awareness. No one knows about forced pregnancy. No one actually talks about it. When we spread awareness and women know to look out for it, they can protect themselves from pregnancy (using birth control they can hide from their partners). Caitlin only came across the problem from her own personal experience and listening to other women’s stories in support groups. Forced Pregnancy traps the woman in the relationship and she will stay on average 3-5 years longer because she has the welfare of her child/children to consider. This has negative effects on the child and the woman's mental and physical health, especially if her life is in physical danger.

Addressing forced pregnancy can have a huge ripple on effect. 15 million children witness intimate partner abuse each year. 3.5 million of these children were born as a result of forced pregnancy. If every woman can identify forced pregnancy when it’s happening and take preventative measures, this gives the woman time to figure out how she is going to leave and further down the line, find a healthy relationship. This means that 3.5M children can be brought into a healthy family without violence. Abuse is a learned behavior: young boys can have healthy male role models and grow to be authentic, empathetic men.

Thank you for supporting Willpowered Woman: without you, our mission would not be possible.