Two Days in May

Alexandria Ruden, Esq., is a senior attorney at The Legal Aid Society in Cleveland who has helped more than 5,000 survivors since beginning her legal career in 1980 at the Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland. She dedicates herself to providing her clients the support they need during the most difficult time of their lives. Known across the state as an expert on laws deal-ing with domestic violence, stalking and juvenile protection, Ruden also has been tapped to improve services in partnership with the Ohio Supreme Court, Cuyahoga County Juvenile and Domestic Relations courts, state legislators and many boards and committees. All the while, she makes time to mentor law students and raise public awareness about the rights and needs of crime victims.

Since 2018, Women Helping Women, a Cincinnati organization that provides services in response to gender-based violence, has run the Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team. DVERT advocates work with law enforcement to provide immediate trauma-informed support for victims at crime scenes, where they create emergency 24-hour safety plans and offer follow-up services. Police have called in the advocates, who are available 24 hours a day, on more than 90% of cases with a domestic violence aspect in Cincinnati’s five jurisdictions. As the model has proved successful, the service has been expanded to Norwood, Delhi Township and North College Hill.

Kathy Mull is executive director of The Cocoon, Wood County’s only domestic and sexual violence agency, where her staff says her knowledge, passion, commitment and solution-focused drive serve as constant motivation. In more than 17 years working with survivors, she has pushed to build a community that brings in police, courts, hospitals and social services and focuses them around the beliefs that victim blaming must end, everyone deserves to live violence-free, and domestic and sexual violence can be eradicated. As director of The Cocoon, Mull, a licensed social worker, has made tough decisions without sacrificing the mission or her values and integrity. Her team members say they are supported by her practicality and inspired by her passion.

John Martin supervises the claims investigation team that handles the most challenging cases (homicide and police-involved ones) received by the Attorney General’s Crime Victims Services Section. He excels at encouraging his colleagues and guiding them to efficient and effective results. Martin honestly answers victims’ questions, providing them with facts, and reassures them that the office is working diligently on their behalf. In addition, he was instrumental in the launch of an upgraded claims management system and in coordinating the section’s coronavirus-mandated work-from-home methods to ensure the victim compensation program never faltered. A generous volunteer, Martin goes out of his way to help with any office event, such as Two Days in May, or charitable activity.