• Fire Company Uses Purple Truck to Focus on Domestic Violence: “A central Pennsylvania volunteer fire company is using a purple fire truck to raise awareness of domestic violence. The Newburg Fire Company in Logan Township uses the truck in parades and other public events, but it's no longer used to fight fires”…Read more
• Purple Goes With Your Pink Ribbon: Domestic Violence Is a Women's Health Issue: “The negative effects of abuse reach far beyond visible injuries. Verbal and emotional abuse affect the psychological and physical health of victims; economic abuse forces dependence on the abuser, limiting access to money and outside support. Reproductive coercion restricts women’s reproductive health choices. Rape and sexual abuse deprive victims of their right to sexual agency. These forms of abuse, which leave no mark and are easily disguised by the abusers, can nonetheless be as difficult to escape as physical violence and, moreover, have a statistically significant effect on women’s health”…Read more
• NFL’s Problem Isn’t Too Many Abusers; It’s Too Few Terry Bradshaws Speaking Out: “Bradshaw gets what so many around the league don’t: that the NFL doesn’t have a woman problem, it has a man problem, and it’s going to take famous men shunning other men to change it…That’s why what Bradshaw did on ‘Fox NFL Sunday’ was so important: In a searing rant, the Hall of Famer tore into Hardy for his apparent lack of remorse for assaulting a woman, and also laid into owner Jones as an ‘enabler’”…Read more
• Florida Judge Jails Domestic Abuse Victim for Not Testifying: “The judge asked the woman to explain herself during a contempt of court hearing on July 30 for failing to appear to testify against Brennan the week before. The woman apologized, saying she had been ‘dealing with depression’ and anxiety since the abuse incident. But the judge responds, ‘You think you have anxiety now? You haven't seen anxiety.’ The woman said she took a domestic abuse class and had asked that the charges be dropped. ‘I'm trying to move on with my life,’ she said. ‘I'm homeless now. I'm living with my parents. I'm just not in a good place right now.’ After a bit of back and forth, Collins found the woman in contempt of court and sentenced her to three days in county jail. ‘I have a 1-year-old son and I'm trying to care of him by myself,’ the victim said, sobbing. ‘I'm begging you, please, please don't’”…Read more
• CHVRCHES Lead Singer Lauren Mayberry Opens Up about Abusive Relationships, and How She Got Out: “I would have been the first person to tell a friend she needed to end that relationship if the roles had been reversed, but I always made excuses and didn't view what was happening to me as 'abuse' because he had never physically hurt me — only those few times where it seemed like he was hinting at it but then took it back”…Read more

• NNEDV Appalled by NFL Decision to Fine Player for Raising Awareness about Domestic Violence: “‘While we understand the need for standard player uniforms, a nearly $6,000 fine seems excessive,’ said Kim Gandy, NNEDV President & CEO. ‘This amount could help a local program put up nearly 30 victims in a hotel if their shelter was full. It could serve as the down payment on a new, safe apartment for a dozen survivors. It is unconscionable that the NFL would choose to further line its pockets when all William Gay did was wear purple shoes to honor his mother, who was tragically killed by Gay’s stepfather’”…Read more
• After Ray Rice, The NFL Pledged Millions To Fight Domestic Violence. Here’s How The Money Was Spent: “One year later, ThinkProgress checked up on these initiatives, and confirmed that the NFL has indeed devoted millions of dollars and a significant amount of time to trying to figure out how to address domestic violence, both within the league and among the public. But while that money and time is being put to good use on a national scale, the local domestic violence and sexual assault centers that provide direct service work — the ones that the national groups rely on for the on-the-ground assistance — are still struggling to stay afloat. And while the NFL is trying to address its internal issues through training and regulations, changing the culture of the league is far easier said than done, particularly with the same leadership intact”…Read more
• Woman Says She Was Fired For Getting Beat Up By Her Boyfriend. She’s Not Alone: “While the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) gives any employee at a company with 50 or more employees the right to take unpaid leave for a medical issue, which victims can use to recover from injuries, they often need to take leave for a much wider number of issues: going to court appearances, meeting with lawyers or the police, getting counseling, switching locks or even moving locations to stay safe. None of that is covered by the FMLA, and only 15 states require leave for victims to take care of those needs”…Read more
• Rihanna Wants You to Stop Reminding Her about Chris Brown’s Domestic Abuse Against Her: “Speaking to Vanity Fair magazine, Rihanna explained that she felt that victims of abuse are being continually punished every time the subject is brought up. ‘I just never understood that, like how the victim gets punished over and over,’ Ri said. ‘It’s in the past, and I don’t want to say ‘Get over it,’ because it’s a very serious thing that is still relevant; it’s still real. A lot of women, a lot of young girls, are still going through it. A lot of young boys too”…Read more
• Hope Solo Again Will Face Charges after Reversal of Earlier Court Decision: “Hope Solo, the star goalie who led the U.S. soccer team to the Women's World Cup title in July, will again face domestic violence charges after a Washington state appeals court on Friday reversed a lower court's decision to dismiss a case in which she was alleged to have beaten up her nephew and half-sister”…Read more

Sexual Assault

• Wisconsin Department of Justice Awarded Grant Funding to Eliminate Untested Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Kits: “‘This money will go a long way to bring justice to survivors of sexual assault,’ said Schimel. ‘We owe it to those who had the courage to report a sexual assault and underwent a sexual assault forensic exam, to now test their kits, investigate their cases, and hold their perpetrators accountable. With these grants we will save others from becoming victims and we will make our communities safer’”…Read the news release here
• Fans Unite Through #RaiseTheBanner, #NotMyNHL to Raise Awareness of Sexual Assault: “The Blackhawks raised the championship banner, as they are allowed to do, but the occasion felt hollow to many in the wake of the Patrick Kane rape allegations. The feeling of hollowness transitioned to one of rage and disgust as Kane proceeded to participate in the hooking the banner to the scaffolding to raise it to the rafters…Fans exercised their right to protest the ceremony by using the hashtag created by the Blackhawks, #RaiseTheBanner, and adding an hashtag #NotMyNHL, to discuss the topic of sexual assault”…Read more
• Inside the White House's New Movement to Prevent Sexual Assault on College Campuses: “In order to aid parents and incoming freshman when it comes to gathering that information, ‘It’s on Us’ suggests asking every school being considered the following questions”…Read more
• More Than 150 People Arrested in Nationwide Sex Trafficking Sting: “The youngest victim was 12 years old. The effort, which is now in its ninth year, was spearheaded by the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, along with local law enforcement”…Read more
• Sheriff to Staff: Stop Arresting Children on Prostitution Charges, Stop Saying 'Child Prostitute': “‘They are child victims and survivors of rape,’ McDonnell wrote in a letter to his employees. ‘We must remember that children cannot consent to sex under any circumstance’…Wednesday’s news conference came a day after the L.A. County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a motion declaring ‘that there is no such thing as a 'child prostitute.' McDonnell said that he has instructed his employees to stop using the terms ‘child prostitute’ and ‘underage prostitution.’ Using those terms, McDonnell said, strips responsibility from the traffickers and the people who pay to have sex with children. ‘Buyers,’ he said, ‘should be viewed as child molesters and predators’”…Read more
• Film Shines A 'Spotlight' On Boston's Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal: “In 2001, a team of reporters at the Boston Globe began investigating reports of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The 'Spotlight' team, as it was known, eventually revealed that the abuse had been happening for decades — and that church leaders in Boston had been aware of it and had been involved in covering it up…Now, the new film, Spotlight, chronicles the investigation that brought the scandal to light”…Read more
• Owen Labrie Sentenced to One Year in Jail for Luring, Sexual Assault of a Minor: “Owen Labrie, 20, has been sentenced to one year in jail for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old classmate at the elite St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire. In a statement delivered by video in court Thursday, the victim said she still suffers from flashbacks and said the St. Paul’s community showed her a stunning lack of compassion after the assault: ‘No one understood’”…Read more
• Surge in Sexual Assaults on Airplanes: “FBI Supervisory Special Agent Drew Ptasienski, who investigated the case, said victims of similar assaults have also pretended to sleep through the attacks. Ptasienski said, ‘Victims are so shocked they’re being assaulted, it takes them awhile to process it’…He said there’s a pattern to the crimes, in many cases happening on red-eye, overnight flights”…Read more

• Community Raises $33K for Victim of Brutal Unsolved Bike Path Assault: “A community in need of healing has readily opened its heart and its wallet to the 33-year-old woman viciously attacked in September on a Near East Side bike path — a crime that remains unsolved with no identified suspects. In little more than a month, more than $33,000 has been raised for the Isthmus resident and UW-Madison graduate student, who is now out of the hospital but has a long, uncertain road to recovery ahead of her”…Read more
• Should All Rapists Go to Prison?: “In the spring of 2014, in the State of Indiana v. David Wise, Wise was convicted of rape and five felony counts of criminal deviate conduct. Each charge carried a sentence of 20 years, and the prosecutor in the trial went after a 49-year sentence. However, the outcome of the trial was such that Wise didn't even up spending a minute in prison: Judge Kurt Eisgruber sentenced Boardman's rapist to eight years house arrest and told the Indiana mother of two to ‘figure out a way to forgive him’”…Read more
• Bill Cosby Faces Criminal Charges for Alleged Sexual Assault in L.A.: “The LAPD has turned over the results of its investigation into a 2008 sexual assault allegation against Bill Cosby to the Los Angeles County District Attorney for possible criminal charges and the case is under review, a D.A. spokesperson confirmed Thursday…Goins is only one of many to speak out against Cosby and accuse the comedian of sexual assault — however, her accusations are of the most recent, with many other allegations of sexual assault occurring in the ’70s and ’80s, which are unlikely to face prosecution because of legal restrictions”…Read more…Read related article: Bill Cosby Faces New Sexual Assault Accusations As Three More Women Step Forward
• Hundreds of Officers Lose Licenses Over Sex Misconduct: AP Investigation: “In a yearlong investigation of sexual misconduct by U.S. law enforcement, The Associated Press uncovered about 1,000 officers who lost their badges in a six-year period for rape, sodomy and other sexual assault; sex crimes that included possession of child pornography; or sexual misconduct such as propositioning citizens or having consensual but prohibited on-duty intercourse. The number is unquestionably an undercount because it represents only those officers whose licenses to work in law enforcement were revoked, and not all states take such action. California and New York — with several of the nation's largest law enforcement agencies — offered no records because they have no statewide system to decertify officers for misconduct. And even among states that provided records, some reported no officers removed for sexual misdeeds even though cases were identified via news stories or court records”…Read more

Faith Communities' Section

• From Sticks to Flowers Webinar and Discussion: On November 11 from 2-4:30 pm, the Faith Leaders for Healthy Relationships committee, in conjunction with Hope House, is organizing a viewing of the webinar From Sticks to Flowers with discussion to follow at the Sauk County West Square Building in Baraboo. Many parents insist on hitting their children because they believe God requires it. This webinar explores the basis for this belief and offers concrete suggestions for assisting parents in realizing that abandoning violent forms of discipline does not require them to violate basis tenets of their faith. Group discussion facilitated by Hope House Advocate to follow. Registration is $15 and includes refreshments. Click here to see the registration brochure. Please RSVP by calling Hope House Advocate Natalie at 608-356-9123 or emailing her here. All are welcome to attend!​
• Five Ways Your Faith Community Can Raise Awareness for Domestic Violence: View the list from We Will Speak Out here

• Giving Grace to People in Crisis – the Sequel to Stupid Phrases for People in Crisis: "When I wrote the piece 'Stupid Phrases for People in Crisis,' I had no idea the nerve that I would touch. Sadly, I think it resonated deeply with people because they have heard all the stupid things I mentioned. I was honored to read through the comments; I was saddened by what I read. It makes me believe that we need mandatory workshops in crisis care. But the question remains, what are some good things to say to people in crisis? Here are a few things that I’ve found tremendously helpful"...Read more

News & Research
Sexual Assault

• Bill Cosby Raped Me. Why Did It Take 30 Years for People to Believe My Story?: "Only after a man, Hannibal Buress, called Bill Cosby a rapist in a comedy act last month did the public outcry begin in earnest. The original video of Buress’s performance went viral. This week, Twitter turned against him, too, with a meme that emblazoned rape scenarios across pictures of his face. While I am grateful for the new attention to Cosby’s crimes, I must ask my own questions: Why wasn’t I believed? ...The women victimized by Bill Cosby have been talking about his crimes for more than a decade. Why didn’t our stories go viral?"...Read more...Read related: Everything You Need to Know about the Bill Cosby Sexual Assault Allegations...Bill Cosby Biographer Admits ‘I Was Wrong’ to Ignore Sexual-Assault Allegations...Cosby Allegations Lead to Spike in Hotline Use...NBC, Netflix Cancel Bill Cosby Projects

• Postal Workers Get Thanks for Thwarting a Predator: “Perfetti was pulling into the post office parking lot when she saw an older man taking a young boy behind a shed. She had a gut instinct something was wrong…So Perfetti went inside and got her supervisor Stacie Pence-Bailey to come out. ‘Well, they were walking behind the shed and they stopped...and I asked him, are you okay? He just shook his head...and I asked him if he wanted to stay with me,’ said Pence-Bailey. The boy nodded and Pence-Bailey took his arm and pulled him away from the man…A photo taken by mail carrier Steve Plunkett as the man was running away allowed police to take a mug shot later…Turns out 52-year-old Teddy Meyer was a registered sex offender”…Read more
• Unprotected: The Sex Abuse Scandal Plaguing USA Swimming: "Last summer she told her story to Al Jazeera and signed her name to a petition filed by the Women’s Sport Foundation (WSF), which asked 19 other women who have reported sexual abuse...to protest the fact that USA Swimming’s executive director, 64-year-old Chuck Wielgus, was about to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF)…‘As of May 1, 2014, more than 100 USA Swimming coaches have been banned for life, making this one of the worst sexual abuse scandals in the U.S. Olympics sports world,’ it stated. ‘Many of these coaches had well-known, long histories of sexual abuse, yet Wielgus enabled these men to continue to coach for years’"...Read more

• How to Help Someone Who’s Been Sexually Assaulted Without Making Things Worse: "For example, telling a rape survivor to 'stop thinking about it,' or 'try to move on' can send an unintentional message that something is wrong with the survivor for being preoccupied and hurt…Thinking about what happened for prolonged periods of time is a normal reaction to trauma as the survivor works to integrate the experience into his or her life narrative. Recognizing and respecting this is the first step victims’ friends and loved ones can take to lend support. Another way to help is to assist with practical matters…Above all, friends and loved ones should simply try to listen”…Read more

 

• After A Sexual Assault And A Pregnancy, Vet Kept Her Pain Secret: "In 1998, Trista Matascastillo was training to become an officer in the Navy, when she was sexually assaulted by someone she had served with. She told no one about the attack. 'I used to say when I put my uniform on, I was in my Superwoman suit. Nothing could happen, nothing could hurt me...And yet, it did. Someone who I had worked with, I had served with, someone that I had called my brother, ultimately became my perpetrator'"...Read more
• NY Prosecutor to Fund Rape Kit Testing Nationally: "Evidence from up to 70,000 rape cases nationwide will get long-awaited DNA testing, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced Wednesday as he pledged as much as $35 million to help eliminate a backlog"...Read more
  
• Inspector: No Sign of Investigation in 1,111 New Orleans Sex Crime-Related Calls: "The report is full of harrowing details alleging that five New Orleans Police Department detectives in the special victims unit may have failed to investigate sex crimes over a three-year period. But one case stands out. According to the seven-page document released Wednesday by the city's Office of Inspector General, a 2-year-old was brought to a hospital emergency room after an alleged sexual assault. Tests would show the toddler had a sexually transmitted disease, the report said. The detective in the case, who worked in the child abuse unit, wrote in his report that the 2-year-old ‘did not disclose any information that would warrant a criminal investigation and closed the case’"...Read more
  
• Texas Police Officer Caught on Video: ‘Go Ahead, Call the Cops. They Can’t Un-Rape You’: "The Austin Police Department has validated the video/audio publicly released pursuant to the Texas Open Records Act. The officers in the video/audio have been identified as Austin Police officers...The investigation will include a comprehensive audit of the involved officers’ contacts with victims of sexual assault to ensure the actions taken during the contacts meet the expectations of the Department, the public and most importantly, the victims"...Read more
  
• Chicago Archdiocese Offers Sex Abuse Data: "The Roman Catholic archdiocese here released thousands of internal documents on Thursday that detailed decades of sexual abuse by its priests, a disclosure timed just days before the retirement of the current archbishop...In a statement, David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, criticized the archdiocese for not releasing the documents earlier. The roughly 15,000 pages published Thursday included graphic descriptions of abuse and, in some cases, evidence of a less-than-swift response from church leaders"...Read more

Domestic Violence

• Ray Rice Wins Reinstatement to N.F.L. in Arbitration: "Mr. Goodell had contended that the video revealed a 'starkly different sequence of events' from what Mr. Rice had described in his initial meeting with the commissioner. But Judge Jones concluded that Mr. Rice never misrepresented to Mr. Goodell what occurred and thus did not deserve to be punished a second time"...Read more

• Small Steps Toward Changing the World: NFL Starts to Address Domestic Violence: "Public service announcements featuring NFL players are now broadcast during games. The league will implement a new Domestic Violence/Sexual Abuse Workplace Policy in November, one of the first of its kind in the nation, that trains team and league employees on critical initial-response techniques. A coaching video on educating youth football players about gender violence and other character issues, with the NFL's imprint, will soon be sent to colleges and high schools across the country"...Read more
• NFL Educates Teams on Basics of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault: “The mandatory presentation has been presented to all 32 NFL owners and will be given to all of the teams by the end of the season. It includes video clips that feature a testimonial from Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback William Gay and a call to action from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson…‘We understand that the majority of the NFL family are making good choices. Most men are not perpetrators and they will never be perpetrators. It's important that we understand that we as men play a role in addressing domestic violence'”…Read more
• Possible Adrian Peterson Return Could Undercut NFL's Domestic Violence Message: "Since Peterson, unlike Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, is still a member of the Vikings due to the commissioner exempt list...he could conceivably rejoin the Vikings for their very next game...This flies in the face of everything the NFL is trying to do. It's currently still trying to project an image of seriousness on domestic violence"...Read more...Read related: Adrian Peterson Suspension: Is the NFL Cracking Down on Domestic Abuse?

• NFL Didn't Enforce Own Policies: “But an ‘Outside the Lines’ analysis shows that policy -- and variations crafted by the NFL over the past two decades -- did not yield a suspension after a domestic violence conviction until 2000, according to data compiled from court records and media reports. And out of 48 players considered guilty of domestic violence under the league policy between 2000 through 2014, the league suspended players for one game or not at all in 88 percent of the cases”…Read more 
• Whisked Out of Jail, and Back to the N.F.L.: N.F.L. Teams’ Ties to Police Put Victims of Domestic Violence in a Bind: “When allegations of crimes such as domestic violence arise, the bond between officers and team security officials can favor the player while leaving the accuser feeling isolated”…Read more
• NBA Suspends Hornets’ Jeffery Taylor for 24 Games over Domestic Abuse
• After Abuse, Survivors of Domestic Violence Face Lonely Legal Battle: “When survivors of domestic violence seek restraining orders in civil court or go to family court to determine custody and placement of children, there’s no guarantee they will have an attorney to represent their interests. If they can’t afford to hire a lawyer — and many can’t — those victims are left to navigate the legal system alone…A report this summer from the Governor’s Council on Domestic Abuse and End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin spotlighted the issue, and called on the state to fund legal services for domestic violence survivors”…Read more
  
• New Law Takes Guns from Domestic Violence Suspects: "The Firearm Surrender Law, which took effect Nov. 1, requires anyone accused of violence in a domestic abuse restraining order to turn over all of his or her firearms to either their local sheriff or to a person not involved in the case. The law is intended to cut down on the number of people killed by guns in domestic situations and was sparked by the case of a woman in Brookfield who was killed by her estranged husband at the salon where she worked, days after she requested a restraining order against him"...Read more
• Limited English Can Lead to Domestic Violence Victims' Arrests: "Too often among San Francisco’s non-English speaking community members, Chan says the wrong people arrested because of miscommunication. Now civil rights groups are concerned that the victims, mostly Asian and Latina women, were simply denied their right to bilingual assistance, as required by police department policy"...Read more
  

• Meet Beverly Gooden, the Woman Behind #WhyIStayed: "An hour later, thousands of people had used her hashtag to share why they stayed, too. The result? A social media firestorm that finally encapsulated how very hard it is to leave an abusive relationship. NO MORE talked to her about how she harnessed the power of social media to shift the blame from survivors to where it belongs"...Read the interview
• This Is Why I Didn’t Tell You He Was Beating Me: "Because when you’re in the thick of things, in the middle of a Hell that you’re convinced is of your own making, you can’t see anything clearly. Fear and shame consume you—they’re your constant companions. And when you look at your family and friends, you often can only see judgment and derision. You know their opinions about women who stay in abusive relationships"...Read more
• I'm A Survivor Of Domestic Abuse, & I'm A Male: “I was 21 when I met Stephanie, the woman who would eventually become my abuser. I might not seem like your 'typical' abuse survivor, but domestic/relationship violence doesn’t always look like what you see on Law & Order. Generally, it’s about control. Though it can include physical violence, it can also include insults, lying, manipulation, and intimidation. And, I’m not alone: According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, about one in 14 men has been physically assaulted by a partner, spouse, or date”…Read more
  
• 4 Myths About Intimate Partner Violence in Lesbian Relationships: “Family and friends may not know about her sexual orientation and might reject her if they did. This is one reason why some survivors feel that reaching out to the people they know is actually more frightening than remaining in the relationship. Couple that with the fact that many abusers use isolation as a tactic to keep their partners from having access to reach out to loved ones, and you’ve got a difficult situation on your hands”…Read more
• Above the Law: Responding to Domestic Violence on Indian Reservations: “Lisa says that as an adult, she seldom went to the police — and that much of that has to do with the fact that some of the men who attacked her were non-Native, not American Indians…In a 1978 decision, the US Supreme Court said Indian tribes with their own tribal justice systems and courts were not allowed to charge non-Indians — unless Congress passed a law. But Congress didn’t act for 35 years. Then just last year, when lawmakers were reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, sometimes called VAWA, they included a new provision granting tribal courts jurisdiction over a limited number of domestic and dating violence crimes committed by non-Indians on reservations — perhaps allowing people like Lisa Brunner to see justice”…Read more
• 'Heartsick' Elias-Case Judge Challenges Domestic-Violence Myths: Guest Opinion: "On Nov. 10, Ian Elias kicked in the door of the home of his ex-wife, Nicolette Elias, and shot her to death with a handgun... am the Multnomah County Circuit Court judge who has been presiding over Ian and Nikki Elias' highly contentious custody and parenting-time case...As a professional who has fought the good fight against domestic violence throughout my 27-year career, first as a prosecutor and now as a judge, it's hard not to give up in despair.  As a society, it's tempting to throw up our hands and walk away saying, ‘there's nothing we can do.’  That would be a mistake.  There's a lot we can do"...Read more
• Domestic Violence Drives Up New York Shelter Population as Housing Options Are Scarce: "Having walked away, victims of abuse are often left with no place to live and little means of support, and frequently end up homeless. In New York, this has helped drive the shelter population to a record high, with more than a quarter of all families in shelters citing abuse as the cause for their stay, city officials said. And, nationwide, many cities report a similar experience"...Read more
• China Drafts First National Law Against Domestic Violence: "The draft legislation, which was released on Tuesday, creates a formal definition of domestic violence for the first time and streamlines the process of obtaining restraining orders...However, Hong Fincher cautioned that there are problems in the draft bill that should not be overlooked. Right now, the language only applies to married partners, she said, excluding the LGBT community and dating partners. And once a woman is granted a restraining order, she only has 30 days to take legal action against her partner, otherwise the order is dropped"...Read more

Children & Youth

• Oklahoma High Schoolers Will Walk Out Of Class Today To Protest The Bullying Of Rape Victims: “Student organizers are standing in solidarity with three rape victims who say they were assaulted by the same male student. Although school administrators did suspend the alleged assailant, activists are concerned about the fact that the teen girls have faced bullying and harassment from other students since coming forward with their stories”…Read more...Read related: Why Were Three Teenage Rape Victims Bullied Out of School in Oklahoma?
• Department Of Education Investigating K-12 School Districts For Mishandling Sexual Assault: “As of Nov. 12, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights was investigating 24 elementary and secondary schools for potential mishandling of sexual violence incidents under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972…When a district is found guilty of violating Title IX, schools are typically asked to make a number of changes to address the issue at hand. If the school does not comply with these changes, the government can take more extreme measures -- including pulling federal funding”…Read more...Read related: By the Numbers: Sexual Violence in High School
• When Teachers Sleep With Students, the Student Is Always the Victim: “Though the circumstances of each case are different, one thing should be clear to us: The young people involved are never at fault. The teachers aren’t just adults; they’re people in positions of power, who are abusing their duty to take care of the students in their classes. Yet this is often not the message we hear when these cases hit the courts or the media. Sometimes media outlets and other members of the public blame the victim. Sometimes—especially when the teacher is female and the students are male—we suggest that there is no victim at all”…Read more

• Many Teens Suffer Cyber Dating Abuse: “The study authors surveyed slightly more than 1,000 teens aged 14 to 19 who visited on-campus health clinics from 2012 to 2013 in search of care for issues such as sexually transmitted diseases, birth control and annual checkups. The schools were located in urban and suburban areas, and 95 percent of the participants were not white. More than 40 percent of the teens said they'd experienced cyber dating abuse within the past three months: 45 percent of females and 31 percent of males”…Read more...Read related: Texting Tangles with Abuse in Teen Relationships

• Research Finds Sexting is 'New Norm' for Teens

 

• NFL Sends Domestic Violence Video to Schools: “The NFL sent a 17-minute video Wednesday to high school and college coaches nationwide to encourage them to be aware of and act against domestic violence and abuse. Entitled 'NFL Call To Coaches — Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Awareness,' the video includes strong messages from Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin; NFL football operations executive Troy Vincent; Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin; former player and coach Joe Ehrmann; and Mike Rowe, the coach at Rocori High School in Minnesota”…Read more
• Open Letter to Young People Who Are Growing Up With Domestic Violence: “Last month you heard a lot about domestic violence in the news. It must have been difficult, I understand. I grew up living with domestic violence from the time I was 5 until my late teens”…Read more
  
• Self-Harm In Teenage Years Predicts Substance Abuse, Lower Grades, And Difficulties At Work: "Self-harm can include cutting yourself, burning yourself, banging your head, sticking hurtful objects into your body, or taking too many pills. While some people self-harm only once or twice and then abandon the behavior, others do it routinely. Now, a new study finds self-harming teens are more likely to develop emotional problems while also encountering difficulties at both school and work later in life"...Read more
• Teens Whose Parents Exert More Psychological Control Have Trouble with Closeness, Independence: "Parents' psychological control involved such tactics as using guilt, withdrawing love, fostering anxiety, or other psychologically manipulative tactics aimed at controlling youths' motivations and behaviors"...Read more
  
• Matt Sandusky Announces New Child Sex Abuse Prevention Effort: "On Wednesday, he announced a new partnership between the sexual abuse awareness organization he founded, the Peaceful Hearts Foundation, and Darkness to Light, a national sexual abuse prevention nonprofit. The goal of the partnership is to raise the profile of child sexual abuse, encourage victims to come forward and train adults on how to spot abuse. One important part of the strategy, Sandusky said, is to encourage Congress to pass a law requiring all schools to educate children from a young age about what sexual abuse is, so they can identify it and have the words to communicate it when it happens to them"...Read more
  
• Sibling Sexual Assault is Epidemic. No Wonder Lena Dunham Caused an Uproar: "Sibling sexual abuse is the most closely kept secret in the field of family violence. More than one in three cases of sexual assault against children in the U.S. are committed by other minors. Siblings often are the perpetrators...But the fact that some sexual contact between siblings is normal has allowed society to ignore a lot of unhealthy behavior"...Read more

Miscellaneous

• Sweden Considers Special Labels for Sexist Video Games: “A government-funded innovation agency in Sweden is considering creating specials label for video games based on whether or not the games’ portrayals of women are sexist…Only 16% of people working in Sweden’s growing, $935 million gaming industry are women, according to Dataspelsbranchen”…Read more
  
• 40,000 Suicides Annually, Yet America Simply Shrugs: "Homicides have fallen by half since 1991, but the U.S. suicide rate keeps climbing. The nearly 40,000 American lives lost each year make suicide the nation's 10th-leading cause of death, and the second-leading killer for those ages 15-34. Each suicide costs society about $1 million in medical and lost-work expenses and emotionally victimizes an average of 10 other people. Yet a national effort to stem this raging river of self-destruction — 90% of which occurs among Americans suffering mental illness — is in disarray"...Read more
• I’m a Black Woman with a White Husband. People Assume I’m a Prostitute All the Time: "Our relationship now spans a decade. But that hasn’t stopped the repeated propositions a few times each year. Just last month, at another event, several male acquaintances propositioned me. Comments ranged anywhere from, ‘You’re  on the wrong arm, sweetie, I wish  I could go home with you…’ to the incredibly forward, ‘We have this whole place to ourselves, it’ll be a shame if we don’t maximize our time here and slip away?’ all said within 10 to 15 feet of my husband...This has happened to dozens of my friends and colleagues"...Read more
  

 

• When Living on Tips Means Putting Up With Harassment: "Earlier in the month, ROC, along with another group, had released a report based on extensive interviews with 700 former and current restaurant workers in New York and other major cities…which concluded that more than 90 percent of female restaurant workers experienced sexual harassment, with more than half reporting incidents on a weekly basis. Although the restaurant industry employs only 7 percent of American women, the sector is responsible for 37 percent of sexual harassment claims filed with the E.E.O.C. It isn’t just the notoriously sexist culture of restaurant kitchens that is at fault, but the economic structure that turns customers into shadow employers, leaving servers — so often women — vulnerable to the predations anyone picking up the bill might feel entitled to exercise"...Read more
• A Hollaback Response Video: Women of Color on Street Harassment: "Additionally, black and brown women were excluded, as if we do not exist, or are not affected by street harassment when, in fact, we are more endangered by it...So last weekend, I took to the streets of New York to speak to some fellow black and brown women about their experiences with street harassment"...Read more and watch the video...Read related article: A Model Recreated That Catcalling Video in New Zealand — And the Difference Is Telling
• The Demographic Trends For Every Social Network: "In a new report from BI Intelligence, we unpack data from over a dozen sources to understand how social media demographics are still shifting. Here are a few of the key takeaways from the BI Intelligence report"...Read more

Parents' & Youth Service Providers' Section
- What Age Should My Kids Be Before I Let Them Use Instagram, Facebook, and Other Social Media Services?: “If your kid is expressing interest in joining a social network, discuss the pros and cons and do your own research so you fully understand the implications of joining a particular network. If you want your kid to wait to sign up, consider pointing him or her toward more age-appropriate sites such as Yoursphere or Fanlala. Kuddle is also a quality Instagram substitute...If your kid does end up joining a social network -- whether she's 10 or 16 -- here are some ground rules that work for many parents”…Read more

- NSTeens Challenge is an online quiz for students in grades 5-8 that covers a number of Internet safety topics and teaches students how to be good digital citizens. The interactive quiz includes videos about different Internet safety concepts. After watching each video, students complete an activity that tests their understanding of the topic. 

- Bullying of Students with Disabilities Addressed in Guidance to America’s Schools: “If a student with a disability is being bullied, federal law requires schools to take immediate and appropriate action to investigate the issue and, as necessary, take steps to stop the bullying and prevent it from recurring”…Read more

- Working with Youth who Experience Homelessness & Sexual Violence: (From the National Sexual Violence Resource Center) "Rural communities are unique and can shape the ways in which services are designed and delivered to youth who are homeless. This guide has three aims: (a) to provide an overview for the intersections between identity, trauma experiences, and resiliency among youth who are homeless; (b) to highlight core skills and techniques for advocates; and (c) to discuss how to tailor these skills in order to improve services for youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (LGBTQ)."

- In New GoldieBlox Ad, Little Girls Smash The Idea That 'Beauty Is Perfection'

- Bad Ad and Counter Ad Contests: The Media Literacy Project’s contests are for students in grades 6-12. The deadline is January 30. For the Bad Ad Contest, you find a bad ad in a magazine and write an essay about why it's inaccurate and/or offensive and how it could be better. For the Counter Ad Contest, you find an original ad and then recreate it to send a different message that is more accurate, humorous, and/or reveals untold stories. Winners for both contests receive $200 and runners-up receive $100!

- A Group Of 9-Year-Olds Share What They Don’t Like About Being Boys: “The list above comes from a 2012 workshop held by Jeff Perera, the community engagement manager for White Ribbon, an organization that works to stop violence against women by educating men and boys. Says Perera — ‘Boys are pressured to assert their masculinity and prove their manhood in everyday activities everyday all day. This leaves us with a world of boys and men pretending: trying to achieve an unattainable state of manhood’”…Read more

- “Boys Know What Girls Want”: Messages in Popular Music: “Prevalent in so many of these songs are male artists’ claims to know what females want and what they need: a boldly presumptuous and dangerous message. How do they determine what a female wants if that female hasn’t communicated her wants, desires and needs to that male narrator?...One of the fundamentals of social justice education is helping students avoid the trap of assuming things about other people, including qualities, characteristics, beliefs, wants and needs…If you work with high school students in a capacity that offers an opportunity to do close textual analysis, consider using this activity as a way to help students investigate and question the messages behind these popular songs”…Read more

- How White Parents Should Talk to Their Young Kids about Race: "White parents can also make kids’ in-group biases work for them: Point out that even though Lily has darker skin, she, too, seems to really like playing with dolls. The more similarities young kids see between themselves and children of other races, the more they may embrace them. That said, for older kids, it may be smarter to encourage kids to embrace racial differences, rather than to downplay these differences. A Northwestern University study found that when kids aged 8 to 11 were taught about diversity as a value, they were better able to detect evidence of racial discrimination than were kids who had been taught a 'color-blind' message. Pointing out how much diversity exists within races may help foster diversity acceptance, too"...Read more