Marilyn J. Smith, Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services

"To watch these brave women survive against great odds, to witness their courage and healing process is an honor. And to know that my work provides an environment that helps abused women change their lives keeps me continually focused."
- Marilyn J. Smith, Executive Director, Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services, Seattle, WA

Read transcript from November 21, 2003 Leadership Talks Archive

Join Leadership Talks on Friday, November 21, 2003 at 1 pm EST for a live, online interview with 2003 Leadership for a Changing World awardee Marilyn Smith, Executive Director of Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services (ADWAS), in Seattle, WA. Through ADWAS, Smith provides critical education and training for organizations dealing with domestic violence/sexual assault in the Deaf community.

Smith, who is herself Deaf and a survivor of rape, was moved to act by the murder of another Deaf woman in Seattle in the early 1980’s. The city’s Deaf community had known that the woman was being abused, but lacked any organized way to intercede or support her and others like her. “To be raped or beaten is horrible; but then to not have any place to go for help is an injustice that is too great to ignore,” says Smith.

As a leader, Smith has shined a powerful spotlight on the social problems of her city’s Deaf and Deaf-blind community, which, besides women abused by men, also includes children, gays and lesbians. She began organizing Seattle’s Deaf community in 1983 by bringing together a group of Deaf women to discuss the issue of abuse, planning a conference on abuse in the Deaf community, and founding ADWAS in 1986. Smith has spoken about domestic violence and sexual assault to both adults and children in Deaf communities around the country since 1993, and in 1998 she created the Justice for Deaf Victims National Training Project, leading to the founding of 15 domestic violence/sexual assault Deaf organizations nationwide. Using the ADWAS model, Smith today works with these 15 agencies nationwide on organizational development, fund-raising, leadership training, and non-profit management. Smith’s organization also works for legislative and policy change at the state and local levels, confronting systemic biases against Deaf and Deaf-Blind victims of violence.

The result has been a growing national awareness of the issues that the Deaf and Deaf-Blind face, and an increase in accessibility, evidenced by a greater availability of text telephones, a wider use of American Sign Language interpreters, and improved relationships with public protection agencies and hospitals. Smith has formed a national coalition to ensure that the issue of violence against the Deaf and the Deaf-Blind will be seen and heard.

For more information

Marilyn Smith Leadership for a Changing World profile

ADWAS website