Juneau’s women’s shelter opens doors to men, all genders

Starting next month, Juneau’s domestic violence shelter is going to offer its full services to people of all gender identities.

AWARE, which stands for Aiding Women in Abuse and Rape Emergencies, has historically only given full services to women and children. The organization, which began in the 1970s, does provide limited care for male victims of abuse and sexual violence, but has to work with partner agencies to provide housing or other more permanent services for men.

AWARE Deputy Director Mandy O’Neal Cole said she hopes that being fully inclusive to the whole population results in more people feeling comfortable enough to seek help.

“We may not be able to meet all of their need, but there shouldn’t be anyone who’s experienced harm and fear in their home who thinks, ‘AWARE’s not for me. It’s for someone else.’ We want to change that and make sure everyone knows they are very welcome to seek help here,” Cole said.

The goal is to start providing services to all as soon as Jan. 1, Cole and Executive Director Saralyn Tabachnick said. They’re meeting with around 30 community partners in a meeting today to get feedback and involve the partners in the plans moving forward. They said the feedback, both from partners and from clients, has been positive.

The shift is years in the works, Cole said Monday. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, in its civil rights section, stated that organizations that provide services to just one sex, they should also be able to provide “comparable services” to individuals who did not identify as the sex that the organization serves.

This prompted questions among providers about how to define “comparable services” and how they could provide them. Cole was then at a training session in November 2016 with other shelters and providers around the country where the idea was discussed. She and other AWARE staffers did research into how feasible it would be to “widen the doors,” as Cole said.

“The way it’s always been done is this way,” O’Neal Cole said of serving only women and children, “but that doesn’t mean it has to always be that way.”

They explored various resources and options and determined that they would be able to accommodate anybody. For safety reasons, AWARE staff doesn’t reveal much about the inner-workings of the facility and the organization, but Cole and Tabachnick said they were confident they could safely and effectively accommodate people of all gender identities at AWARE.

There will be quite a few questions in the coming weeks and months, Cole and Tabachnick said, and they want as many of the questions as possible to be directed to them. Cole said she would much rather see people’s questions in her email than on a Facebook page for everybody to see.

Tabachnick agreed, saying that if somebody who’s on the fence about asking for help might see a concern on social media about the shelter and it might scare them away.

“It’s never easy for someone to reach out, I don’t think, to ask for help or to admit that they’re in a relationship that’s abusive,” Tabachnick said, “so we want to make that as easy as possible.”

Cole said she was confident that opening the shelter to everybody would not result in any safety problems. The biggest concern she has at this point, she said, is whether the facility and the staff will have to expand because of this change. They aren’t sure how many new clients will come in as a result of this change, and Cole said the shelter is almost always at or near capacity.

“The wider we open the doors, the more we’re going to have to gauge, ‘How much more help do we need?’” Cole said. “I suspect, if we need help, Juneau will provide. It always has.”

Where to direct questions

Mandy O’Neal Cole, Deputy Director

Phone: 586-6623

Email: mandyoc@awareak.org

Saralyn Tabachnick, Executive Director

Phone: 586-6623

Email: saralynt@awareak.org


• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.


More in News

The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Ships in port for the week of May 18

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2024 schedule.… Continue reading

Legislators and staff huddle to discuss adjustments to a final compromise spending plan during a budget conference committee meeting on Sunday at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
$1,000 PFD approved by legislative conference committee as part of final compromise state budget

Lower-than-expected oil prices results in lowest inflation-adjusted dividend since payouts began in 1982.

Juneau Assembly members hear a report from Eaglecrest Ski Area leaders during a Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at City Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Juneau Assembly taking on pretty much the entire town with 59-item agenda Monday night

Items include mutitude of projects, faster release of police bodycams, stopping Mendenhall Glacier from being sold.

The Alaska House of Representatives is seen in action on Monday, May 5, 2025. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Republican opposition kills bill intended to fix Alaska’s absentee voting problems

Senate Bill 64 passed the Senate this week, but the House doesn’t have enough time to address it, legislators said.

Fu Bao Hartle (center), a Juneau Special Olympics athlete, crosses a bridge with family and supporters during the annual Alaska Law Enforcement Torch Run on Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Ellie Ruel / Juneau Empire)
Community spirit shines at Juneau’s Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics

Energy was high at race to fundraise to send Juneau’s athletes to Anchorage Summer Games.

The Alaska State Capitol is seen behind a curtain of blooming branches on Saturday, May 17, 2025. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Most state services will see no new funding in final Alaska state budget draft

Flat funding, combined with inflation, will mean service cuts in many places across the state.

Steve Whitney (left) is sworn in as a Juneau Board of Education member by Superior Court Judge Amy Mead in the library at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Saturday, May 17, 2025, after five candidates were interviewed by the other board members to fill the seat vacated when Will Muldoon resigned last month. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Steve Whitney returns to Juneau school board six years after departure to temporarily fill vacant seat

Fisheries manager and parent selected from among five candidates to serve until October’s election.

A used gondola purchased from an Austrian ski resort is seen as the key to Eaglecrest Ski Area’s year-round operations and a secure financial future. (Eaglecrest Ski Area photo)
Board chair: Eaglecrest’s gondola pushing limits of 2028 completion deadline under Goldbelt agreement

Company can nix $10M deal if work not finished on project ski area calls vital to its financial future.

Two spawning pink salmon head upstream in shallow water in Cove Creek in Whittier on Aug. 5, 2024. While last year’s pink salmon runs and harvests were weak, big increases are expected this year. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska officials forecast improvements for the state’s commercial salmon harvest

Total catch is projected to be twice the size of last year’s weak harvest.

Most Read