Yolanda Bako (born 1946) is an American feminist and activist against

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

Early life

Yolanda Bako was born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

; both of her parents were born in Hungary. Her father was a bouncer at a bar. She graduated from

Evander Childs High School Evander is a masculine given name. It is an anglicization of the Greek name Εὔανδρος (lit. "good man", Latinized ''Evandrus''). It has also been adopted as an anglicization of the Gaelic name Iomhar (the Gaelic variant of the name Ivor ...

. "When I think of the universe, the Bronx is at its center," she commented about her origins, in 1978.

Career

Bako worked as secretary and at the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

as a young woman. She became coordinator of the Center for the Elimination of Violence in the Family, and in 1977 co-founded Women's Survival Space in Brooklyn, the city's first state-funded shelter for battered women. She was a rape prevention educator at

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a research-intensive medical school located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein operates as an independent degree-granting institution as part of t ...

, and a founding member of the Mayor's Task Force on Rape. She was active in the New York City chapter of the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

, and with the

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission to be the voice of victims and survivors of domestic violence. Based in Denver, Colorado. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence's ...

. She coordinated the 1976 Women's Walk Against Rape in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, telling the ''New York Times'', "We have the right to use the world at night." In 1978, she testified at Congressional hearings on domestic violence and sexual assault. She was the author of ''How to start a county-wide task force on family violence'' (1980), a booklet for the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...

. In the 1980s she worked at the Bronx State Psychiatric Hospital as a mental health therapy aide, and in 1995 she attended the

Fourth World Conference on Women The Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace was the name given for a conference convened by the United Nations during 4–15 September 1995 in Beijing, China. At this conference, governments from around the ...

in Beijing. In 2017, Bako spoke at "a reunion of second-wave feminists" held by the

Veteran Feminists of America Veteran Feminists of America (VFA) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization for supporters and veterans of the second-wave feminist movement. Founded by Jacqueline Ceballos in 1992, Veteran Feminists of America regularly hosts reunions for secon ...

in New York."Report on the Feminist Reunion, June 10, 2017"
Veteran Feminists of America.

Personal life

Over six feet tall, Bako was a striking presence in feminist activism in the 1970s New York. Her papers are in the

Schlesinger Library The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America is a research library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. According to Nancy F. Cott, the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Director, ...

at Harvard.Papers of Yolanda Bako, 1970-1995
Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

References

External links

*
Papers of Yolanda Bako 1970-1995.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bako, Yolanda 1946 births People from the Bronx American feminists Domestic violence in the United States Domestic violence awareness Living people