Lawless grew up in Owensboro and came to Lexington in 1969 to attend UK. After graduating with a degree in Business Administration she work as an accountant. In 1977, while being a stay at home mom, she started on a path she says changed her life forever. “I became a volunteer with the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center,” she says. “As a volunteer I had my first success with grassroots lobbying with the passage of Kentucky’s Rape Shield law in 1978. In 1979 I became the Executive Director of BRCC. I returned to UK and earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work and continued on to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.”
“I became a passionate agent for change by lobbying for funding and laws at the local, state and national level,” she says. “As a member of the Legislative Committee for the National Coalition Against Rape, I helped draft and lobbied for the Victims of Crime Act of 1984. Later we were successful in passing the Violence Against Women Act. Both of these have been critical Federal Laws that provide rights for victims and funding for services.”
Lawless was a founding member of the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs and was the chair of the legislative committee for almost 15 years. Through lobbying efforts, she says, “much ground was gained. There was passage of state laws and increased funding for victims of child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence. I retired from BRCC after being the Director for 26 years. Under my leadership BRCC grew from a small, mostly volunteer agency, with a budget of $30,000 to over a million dollars a year and serving 17 counties with eight offices.”
Lawless has volunteered for various arts organizations, The Red Cross, AVOL, The Health Department, and the United Way. “I have continued my political work and recently helped start Lexington Yellow Bikes, the Kentucky Classical Theatre Conservatory and am serving on the strategic planning committee for the Lexington Art League.”
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