Talking Up Peace with Patricia Castillo

Patricia Castillo has worked for 40 years to end violence against women and within families. She is the co-founder of the P.E.A.C.E. Initiative based in San Antonio, Texas. PEACE stands for Putting an End to Abuse through Community Efforts. Using collaboration and community organizing she has served as an advocate, educator, and technical assistance resource to communities and organizations across San Antonio and around the world.

San Antonio has the highest rate of intimate partner violence compared to every other large metropolitan area in Texas. Thirty-five people died of domestic violence in San Antonio in 2018. From 2012 to 2017, the number of women killed by male intimate partners tripled in Bexar County. And yet, too often we avoid talking about it. It’s shameful. It’s private. It’s something kept behind closed doors. But not talking about it isn’t working. For the last year the Martinez Street Women’s Center has partnered with the PEACE Initiative, working on abuse prevention through education. We talk with women, families, couples. We explore behavior and underlying beliefs that contribute to violence as well as what healthy relationship looks like. This show is a new piece of that work. Together we’ll take a deep look at domestic violence, beliefs, causes, history, and what we can do to put an end to it. I’m Jenny Castro, and in each episode, I’ll interview Patricia Castillo, as we dig into the work and explore how we carry it forward together.