News & Research
Domestic Violence

• NASCAR Suspends Kurt Busch After Domestic Violence Details: "NASCAR suspended Kurt Busch indefinitely Friday after a judge said the former champion almost surely choked and beat a former girlfriend last fall and there was a 'substantial likelihood' of more domestic violence from him in the future. In a stunning move two days before the season-opening Daytona 500, NASCAR said Busch would not be allowed to participate in any series activities until further notice"...Read more
• MLB Players to Undergo Mandatory Domestic Violence Education
• Why Victims Of Domestic Violence Don’t Testify, Particularly Against NFL Players: “There are various reasons victims choose not to do testify in domestic violence cases, including the fact that reliving the experience can be embarrassing and even re-traumatizing. One of the biggest reasons they avoid court, though, is the fear of retribution from their accusers...Studies have shown that between 40 and 60 percent of offenders arrested on domestic violence charges re-offend within 30 months, and a justice system that often fails to successfully monitor abusers and enforce restraining orders — and also fails to rehabilitate and reform offenders instead of punishing them — doesn’t always inspire confidence”…Read more
• Ravens Will Avoid Players With Domestic Violence Issues
• The Grammys: Meet the Domestic Violence Activist Performing with Katy Perry Tonight: “Her essay in the book, ‘What I Know of Silence,’ explored her experience of child sex-trafficking by a male nanny and how she used poetry and music to both heal and help her connect with other survivors...Now, the 34-year-old Austin resident, who serves as director of communications for the nonprofit Allies Against Slavery, is poised to speak to the entire world, parlaying her advocacy right into the heart of American pop culture when she joins Katy Perry onstage at the Grammys tonight. Before Perry sings ‘By the Grace of God,’ Axtell will give a speech about her experience with domestic violence”…Read more...Read related article: The Grammys’ Mixed Message on Domestic Violence: It’s Unacceptable — Except When the Abuser is a Pop Star We Like

 
 

• A Glimpse From the Field: How Abusers Are Misusing Technology: "The Safety Net Project recently surveyed victim service providers on the misuse of technology by abusers. Of the programs surveyed, 97 percent reported that the survivors they are working with experience harassment, monitoring, and threats by abusers through the misuse of technology. Abusers in intimate partner violence misuse technology in many ways: to stalk and monitor victims, to harass victims through the 'anonymity' of the technology, and to impersonate victims through technology, such as creating false social media accounts"...Read more
• 'This Was The Beginning Of My Fear': 8 Truths About Stalking You Need To Know: “The word ‘stalking’ has taken on a whole new meaning in the cultural lexicon...‘Stalking’ a person online before an upcoming date is common, even de rigueur. ‘Stalking’ frenemies we haven’t talked to in years (but still know all about via their Facebook profiles) has basically become a new pastime. But the truth is, actual stalking is not something to simply brush off, mention in passing or take lightly. It’s very real and very scary — and this era, it’s all too easy to get caught up in a stalker’s snare. In fact, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 14 men will be stalked in their lifetimes. Read on for eight truths about stalking”
  
• Unspoken Side of Domestic Violence: "In June of 2014 [Christopher] Chapa was shot to death in Galveston. The woman now charged with his murder is the one he was about to propose to...Holmes describes her brother's relationship saying, 'They're willing to do whatever it takes because they love them. They don't see this as I'm in real danger; this is a real toxic relationship.' She says she's sharing his story to raise awareness about the reality of men abused by women"...Read more
• Polish Lawmakers Approve Law against Domestic Violence, after Fiery Debate about Family Values

Sexual Assault

• 8 Love Letters That Remind Sexual Assault Survivors They Are Not Alone: "'#Survivorloveletter is a call to survivors of sexual violence and our loved ones to publicly celebrate our lives,' Ikeda writes on the Tumblr's homepage. 'By telling our stories we seek to build knowledge and reflect on the ways we heal ourselves and our communities'"...Read more
  
• Sex Slaves on the Farm: "Janet was forced into prostitution in Mexico by a boyfriend named Antonio in 1999; coyotes brought them across the border the following year, and they went to live with Antonio’s family in the borough of Queens in New York City, where she was put to work in brothels. Every couple of weeks, a van would take her and other women and girls—some as young as 12—to Charlotte, where she would spend a week or more, forced to have sex with strangers at a brothel by night and at farm labor camps by day"...Read more

• When It Comes To Sexual Assault, #TheresNoPerfectVictim: "People who report their experiences of sexual assault are subjected to constant questioning and scrutiny -- as if there is a certain way 'real victims' should behave after being raped. In reality, people process trauma in myriad ways, and someone's reaction after being assaulted should not be used as 'proof' that a rape didn't happen if it doesn't match up with the way society believes a victim 'should' act...Today, feminist activists Julie Zeilinger and Wagatwe Wanjuki started the hashtag #TheresNoPerfectVictim to discuss the pressure survivors face, and the ways in which detractors try to discredit them"...Read more
  
• Obama Delivers Sexual Assault Message at the Grammys: ‘It Has to Stop’
• Prosecutors: UIC Student Charged with Assault Said He was Re-enacting 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

Campus Sexual Assault

• In 5 Minutes, This Student Destroys Our Double Standards For Men And Women: “So Smith, who has 236,000 followers on Vine, connected up with One Student, a nonprofit aimed at college sexual assault awareness and education, to create a video going after what he sees as one cause of sexual violence: societal attitudes. The video, which was uploaded on Feb. 18, uses the language of sports to dissect and destroy harmful ideas about how men and women should behave sexually”…View the video
  
• The Worst Way to Address Campus Rape: "Their skill with a weapon or fighting ability isn’t what I’m worried about; basic training didn’t help the tens of thousands of people in the military who suffered penetrative sexual attacks in 2014...'Just saying, letting women carry guns on campus to deter rape also means letting rapists carry guns,' he tweeted...These would-be remedies exacerbate the problem they purport to solve, making victims responsible for preventing their own attacks instead of putting the onus on rapists"...Read more...Read related article: Concealed Handguns Mainly Miss the Mark as an Answer to Campus Rape
  
• The Other Side of Campus Sexual Assault That the Media Isn't Telling: "Such treatment tends to ignore the major strides survivors have made toward changing the conversation about sexual assault on their own...Whether it's through the creation of larger organizations or individual initiatives, utilizing groundbreaking technology or making inspiring art, women and men across the country are empowering one another to become agents of change. This generation isn't passively waiting for saviors: They're starting a revolution. And they're succeeding"...Read more

 

• The Treatment of Emma Sulkowicz Proves We Still Have No Idea How to Talk About Rape: "'If you didn't immediately dial 911, it doesn't mean you weren't raped. Everyone deals with trauma differently, depending on how we were raised, the way we see ourselves and the different ways we each handle crises,' Sulkowciz said. 'I want other survivors to know that if you reached out to your attacker after you were assaulted, it shouldn't discredit your story'"...Read more
• Sexual Assault Under-Reported on U.S. College Campuses: "Researchers looked at data about on-campus sexual assaults reported by 31 large private and public universities and colleges during audits by the federal government. During the audits, the number of reported sexual assaults rose an average of 44 percent compared to previously reported figures. After the audits ended, the reported number of sexual assaults fell to pre-audit levels...The study also found that reporting of other serious crimes -- such as assault, robbery and burglary -- during audits didn't show the same dramatic increase as seen in the reporting of sexual assaults"...Read more
  
• The Hidden Victims of Campus Sexual Assault: Students with Disabilities: “More specifically, it uncovers troubling allegations from students who said their disabilities made them targets for sexual assault; that their experiences reporting that abuse were complicated by factors like disability, race and sexual identity; and that in some cases, sexual assault was even the cause of a disability, such as depression. Their stories, experts say, offer a window into the dire need for all universities to do a better job of tackling sexual assault among students with disabilities, and into the possible legal ramifications of their inaction”…Read more

Children & Youth

• The Subtly Offensive Phrases We Need To Stop Saying: “Though they might be unintentional, these offensive phrases -- called micro-aggressions -- are heard all too often in everyday conversation. And while they're frequently said in a joking way, the meaning of those words can have lasting negative effects. In a video created by SheKnows, a group of teen girls explained how micro-aggressions can be hurtful to their self-esteem”…Watch the video
  
• Tim Kaine, Claire McCaskill Bill Would Require Sexual Assault Education In Public High Schools: "The Teach Safe Relationships Act of 2015, introduced on Tuesday by Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), would require that health education in public secondary schools include learning on 'safe relationship behavior' aimed at preventing sexual assault, domestic violence and dating violence"...Read more
  
• Research Results from Madison Schools Suggest Compassion, Kindness Can Be Taught: "In a just-released study, UW-Madison researchers found that kids who had participated in the curriculum were less selfish and exhibited better social skills and greater mental flexibility than children who did not do the exercises. And in an added bonus, the kids who did the kindness curriculum earned higher academic marks at the end of the school year"...Read more
  

• Meet the Middle School Girls Changing TX Dating Violence Legislation: "The group of 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls made the PSA as their outreach project for Destination Imagination, an organization that encourages student creativity through competitive problem-solving tournaments...What started as a group project for a middle school-level competition has since grown into a push for policy change with the help of TCFV"...Read more

 

• [UK] Boy's Heartbreaking Video about his Torment at Hands of Bullies Prompts School Investigation: "A 12-year-old boy has forced his school to investigate bullies after making this heartbreaking video about his torment...'He’s showing others they can speak out. The school has been quite helpful. They’ve spoken to me and it seems like they want things to change'"...Read more
• Understanding Trauma Can Turn Lives Around: Former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy: “The goal, he said, is to help children before the trauma they have experienced takes a further toll on their lives and their futures...He was abused by former hockey coach James between the ages of 14 and 19, until about 1990...Kennedy, who went on to play for the Calgary Flames and the Boston Bruins, turned to drugs and alcohol, spent time in jail, rehabilitation centres and psychiatric hospitals...After James was sentenced for abusing Kennedy and another player, Kennedy began speaking publicly about his case and became a well-known advocate for victims of abuse”…Read more
• Let's Overcome Our Blind Spots When It Come to Child Trafficking: “Through research and advocacy work we know that domestic trafficking of children is far more common than most Americans believe, and more underreported. It can take the form of sexual exploitation, like what happened to Brian and Katy. And, it can take other forms. Some traffickers force children to work in peddling rings, selling magazines or candy on street corners or in suburban neighborhoods”…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