June 2017 Community Education E-bulletin

6/2/2017

Welcome to the June 2017 edition of Hope House's Community Education E-bulletin!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. $10 for 10 Years
2. Summer Presentations Availability
3. Girls' Club Wrap-Up
4. Denim Day Donations
5. Support Group in Mauston
6. Hope House Donation Needs
7. Sexual Assault
8. Domestic Violence

9. Children and Youth
10. Miscellaneous News
11. Local News
12. Parents' and Youth Service Providers' Section
13. Resources
14. Training Opportunities

$10 for 10 Years
Jess Kaehny, the Community Education Program Manager, is excited to announce that she recently reached her 10-year anniversary at Hope House! The community education and prevention program at Hope House has expanded immensely since 2007. For instance, in 2015, we received a grant to hire a new staff person to work with Baraboo High School on sexual assault prevention. And in 2016, Hope House gave 357(!) presentations to PK-12 youth. Jess is excited to see the program continue to grow, and you can help!

In honor of Jess' 10-year anniversary, she's asking individuals to consider donating $10 to Hope House to support our prevention program. You can send donations to Hope House, P.O. Box 557, Baraboo, WI 53913 or you can donate online here. Thank you to all our school, church, service providers, and community partners for working together with Hope House to educate others and prevent abuse!

Presentation Availability Over the Summer Months
Are you looking for a free presentation or activity for your child/teen summer program, such as summer school, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4H, or church youth group? Hope House can cover topics such as respect, bullying, internet safety, protective behaviors, and healthy relationships. Would your civic group, organization, church, or business be interested in a free presentation or training for adults? We can cover topics such as Hope House services, domestic violence and sexual assault, elder abuse, childhood domestic violence, child sexual abuse, teen dating violence, and bystander intervention. Please contact us at 608-356-9123 or email us to learn more.

Boys & Girls Club Girls' Group Wrap-Up
This school year Hope House's Prevention Project Coordinator, Nola, gave several presentations and group sessions to the Baraboo Boys & Girls Club Tween Girls' Group (or GIFT, Girls Inspiring Fun & Trust). For one of their last groups of the year, they watched a clip on media literacy from the documentary Miss Representation and discussed the impact of media messages about gender on our lives and society. Then they produced their own messages “talking back” to the media about what real beauty looks like. Below are just a couple examples. Thanks girls for inspiring us!

Thank You to All Who Participated in Denim Day in April!
Last month we told you about the many organizations that participated in Denim Day in April to show support of sexual assault survivors. Several of these organizations also decided to raise money for Hope House as part of their Denim Day event. We've been promoting Denim Day since 2012, and this year we've received the greatest donation amount totaling over $3,600! Thank you for your support. These funds will go towards our sexual assault services. To hear one of the Denim Day PSAs that ran in April on WRPQ in the Baraboo area, please click below. To hear our Prevention Project Coordinator Nola give a radio interview at WRPQ on the various Sexual Assault Awareness Month events that were held in April, click here.

Support & Wellness Group in Mauston
Has abuse affected your life in some way? Do you seek connections with supportive individuals who have similar life experiences as you? If so, please consider attending Hope House’s support group at Hatch Public Library in Mauston from 11am-noon on Tuesdays, June 13 and June 27. All are welcome! To learn more, call Hope House at 608-356-7500 or 1-800-584-6790.

Hope House Donation Needs
Monetary donations are most needed. Individuals have the option of donating online. Please note that a portion of your online donation will go towards PayPal fees. Donations can be mailed to Hope House, P.O. Box 557, Baraboo, WI 53913. We also appreciate gas cards, gift cards (Walmart, Kwik Trip, Walgreens, Kohl’s), taxi vouchers from Baraboo Taxi, and used cell phones, iPods and iPads. Please note that we are not accepting stuffed animals/plush toys, used toys, clothes (except for new sweatshirts and sweatpants), shoes, used books, furniture, TVs, bar soap, hats, scarves or travel-size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. Current needs include the following:

Kitchen: Pots and Pans, Silverware, Non Perishable Food Items, and Fresh Produce
Cleaning supplies: Lysol Spray and Wipes, All Purpose Cleaner, Magic Eraser, and Toilet Bowl Cleaner
School Supplies: Notebooks, Colored Pencils, Pens, and Backpacks
Miscellaneous: Tissues, Toilet Paper, First Aid Kits, Zippered Mattress Protector, Copy Paper, Journals, Pocket Calendars, Towels, and Wash Cloths

Special Note about Travel-Size Items: We encourage those looking to donate travel-size items to donate them to the Backpack Project. The Backpack Project strives to provide Baraboo School District students who are financially challenged to enter the school doors on the first day ‘just like everyone else’ and to show these children the community supports and encourages them to learn and do their best. If interested in donating towards this project, please contact Becky Hovde at 608-963-8230 or hivebiz@centurytel.net.

News
Sexual Assualt

Introducing "Athletes United": Sports Stars Enter the Fight against Sexual Assault: “To honor Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Mic launched ‘Athletes United’ in partnership with Levy and Vincent. The participating athletes are part of Athletes for Impact, which connects professional athletes to social justice causes. Collectively, these athletes are working to raise awareness of sexual assault, show support for survivors and challenge a sports culture where sexual abuse is pervasive. ‘Athletes United’ features WWE superstar Titus O'Neil, NFL free agent DeAndre Levy, WNBA center/forward Elizabeth Williams, WNBA guard Layshia Clarendon, former NFL cornerback Wade Davis and former MLB second baseman Orlando Hudson”…Read more
Military Sexual Assaults Down, Reporting of Incidents Up, Survey Finds: “The Pentagon's latest survey of sexual assault in the military estimates that the number of sexual assaults decreased to 14,900 in 2016, down from the 20,300 measured in the last survey conducted in 2014. Meanwhile, the number of sexual assaults reported by victims in 2016 rose slightly to 6,172, an increase that Pentagon officials said indicated greater awareness of the care and responses available to victims. ‘Overall, this year's report shows indications of progress,’ Dr. Elizabeth Van Winkle, the acting assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness, said at a Pentagon news conference to release the report. She later added, ‘We don't confuse progress with success’”…Read more
Report Reveals Widespread Sexual Assault In Immigration Detention: “A recent federal civil rights complaint by Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) sheds light on a litany of sexual assaults lodged against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)…Between January 2010 and July 2016, DHS’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) received 33,126 complaints of sexual assault or physical abuse against DHS component agencies…Of the total number of complaints, over 44 percent (or nearly 15,000 complaints) were lodged against ICE...This data, which CIVIC obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, also reveals that OIG investigated only 247 of these complaints, or less than 1 percent of all the complaints…At least some, if not many, of these assaults are being perpetrated by ICE officers, contracted facility guards, and even medical professionals”…Read more
Abigail Breslin Had A Powerful Response To Commenter Who Said Only Reported Rapes ‘Count’: “On Sunday, the 21-year-old actress posted an infographic to Instagram that illustrates the number of rapes that are reported to the police and how many of those reported are actually tried and found guilty…Breslin explained that she took the comment personally because she was sexually assaulted and didn’t report her abuser. ‘I did not report my rape. I didn’t report it because of many reasons,’ Breslin’s Instagram post reads. ‘First off, I was in complete shock and total denial. I didn’t want to view myself as a ‘victim’ so I suppressed it and pretended it never happened.’ Breslin explained that she was in a relationship with her rapist and feared he would retaliate if he found out she was seeking justice”…Read more
For Sexual Assault Survivors, Restorative Justice May Offer An Alternative To A Broken System: “How, you may ask, could there be justice without prison? Well, for one thing the amenities of state and federal penitentiaries don’t always include vital therapy for new or young offenders...Many studies show that learned behavior from environment, anger issues, and lack of awareness about the trauma of sexual violence is found in younger perpetrators, and can be treated through therapy. Without rehabilitation programs in prison, jail time can become a waste of time for young people who are going to be released back into an abusive family or community continuing the cycle of abuse. For many advocates and survivors that I’ve worked with, a better solution would be for rehabilitation and punishment to work alongside each other, but that’s not always the case”…Read more
Too Scared to Report Sexual Abuse. The Fear: Deportation: “Law enforcement officials in several large cities, including Los Angeles, Houston and Denver, say the most dangerous fallout of changes in policy and of harsh statements on immigration is that fewer immigrants are willing to go to the police...The drop, he added, ‘looks like the beginnings of people not reporting crime’...Dozens of service providers and lawyers interviewed said immigrant women were deciding not to report abuse or press charges. ‘We’ve always told our clients that even if you are undocumented, you don’t need to worry about it — the officers are going to protect you,’ said Kate Marr, executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Orange County, Calif. The level of fear now, however, is unlike anything Ms. Marr has seen in her nearly two decades of work with domestic violence survivors”…Read more

An Artist Tells The Story Of Her Rape Through Thousands Of Tally Marks: “At first, Shannon Mackenzie’s ‘Rotatio’ appears like a vast mandala of tally marks, arranged on a white wall in a six-foot wide circle. Look closer, however, and you will notice words embedded within the tallies, softly vying for your attention. ‘His kiss was a bomb,’ reads one. ‘I blacked out,’ another. Together, these gasps of written texts tell a story ― the story of when Mackenzie was raped. ‘When I first imagined the piece, actually making it felt like one of the scariest things I could do,’ Mackenzie wrote in an email to HuffPost. ‘I was afraid to tell people what happened. I was afraid to share it with people I loved. I was afraid to use his name. I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to finish it. At the same time, I knew that not making it would hurt me even more.’ Mackenzie began sketching and participating in drawing exercises following her assault as a way to alleviate stress and anxiety. The simple action of applying thousands of tick marks, one after another, became, for the artist, a means of survival, a reason to keep going and keep marking. One night, the artwork she’d subconsciously embarked upon revealed its final shape: a conglomeration of simple tally marks stretched into a dark orb of uniform markings. A shadowy circle, whose edges were already bleeding beyond their allotted edges”…Read more
7 Types Of Sexual Assault We Need To Stop Minimizing: “As a society, we still can’t seem to agree on what is categorized as sexual violence. Questions like ‘Can sex workers be raped?’ or ‘Is it still assault if the people involved are married to each other?’ are all part of a broader conversation on the types of sexual assault we need to stop minimizing (because the answer to both of those questions is yes). Treating all sexual assault with the severity it requires starts with the ability to acknowledge what it is in the first place”…Read more
Baylor University Lawsuit Alleges Gang Rape: “The gang rapes were alleged to be a ‘bonding’ experience for the football players, and photographs and videos of semi-conscious girls were usually taken during the alleged assaults and circulated among the players, said the civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in a Texas federal court. The plaintiff, a member of the women's volleyball team from fall 2011 to spring 2013, alleges the rape happened after an off-campus party hosted by football players, the suit said. Players later harassed her, and university officials ‘misinformed’ her and ‘actively concealed’ her options to report the alleged assault after officials learned of it, the suit alleges”…Read more
New Data Suggests Students Aren't Reporting Campus Sexual Assault: “The American Association of University Women (AAUW) then analyzed the data and found that 89% of colleges disclosed zero reports of rape. While so many schools reporting so few rapes may sound like something to celebrate, Lisa Maatz, vice president of government relations at AAUW, says the finding is actually troubling...Colleges similarly reported few incidents of dating violence and stalking. Only 9% of schools disclosed reports of domestic violence and about 13% disclosed reports of stalking. Those schools that disclosed reports of rape were typically also the schools that disclosed reports of other kinds of violence, the AAUW report noted, suggesting that ‘some schools have built the necessary systems to welcome and handle reports, support survivors, and disclose accurate statistics — and others have not’”…Read more
Mariska Hargitay’s Powerful New Film ‘I Am Evidence’ Puts Sexual Assault Survivors First: “The film highlights the fact that across the US, 200,000 rape kits containing DNA samples from victims of rape and sexual assault currently sit, untested, in warehouses. These kits are more than DNA: they are literal pieces of women and men, mostly women. And their existence has been ignored or forgotten for too long…The majority of rapes in the US are unreported, leaving no excuses for those who do report sexual assault not to be given the chance at justice they deserve”…Read more

Domestic Violence

NFL Draft Shows Teams Still Don't Care about Domestic Abuse: “Potential draft picks convicted of domestic abuse, sexual assault, weapons-related charges or other violent crimes are now barred from the combine and other NFL-sponsored events. But there is no comparable penalty for a team that drafts or signs a player with a history of abuse”…Read more
Teen Accused Of Killing Allegedly Abusive Father Fights For Freedom Before Trial: “A lawyer for Bresha Meadows, an Ohio teenager accused of killing her allegedly abusive father, is asking a judge to release her on bond until her trial, citing ‘cruel and unusual’ conditions at the Trumbull County Juvenile Detention Center where she is jailed. Bresha, 15, is charged with aggravated murder in the death of her father, Jonathan Meadows. She has been incarcerated since her arrest on July 28, 2016, over nine months ago...Her lawyer, Ian Friedman, maintains that Bresha acted in self-defense after witnessing her father abuse her mother, Brandi Meadows, for years…Bresha’s trial date is set for May 22. She has pleaded ‘not true,’ which is equivalent to a not-guilty plea. She is being tried as a juvenile, which means that even if she is convicted, she can only be kept behind bars until age 21”…Read more

Children & Youth

Nearly One in Three Teenage Girls has Experienced Sexual Assault or Other Violence, New NWLC National Survey Shows: “These startling new statistics, released today with a series of reports by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), uncover major obstacles girls face to getting a quality education and topple the conventional wisdom that girls are doing well in school. NWLC’s nationwide survey of 1,003 girls ages 14-18 in January 2017 is the first to expose the wide range of significant barriers teenage girls face both at home and at school that undercut their education. The survey’s extensive findings, broken down by race and LGBTQ status, provide a rare window into the lives of girls and reveal how trauma, harassment, and other negative experiences can too easily derail their futures. The anonymous nature of the survey allowed girls to give a truer picture of their lives than what typically is reported by government authorities, particularly the extent of sexual assault, a vastly underreported crime. The reports, Let Her Learn: Stopping School Pushout, analyze the data and delve into the educational barriers faced by seven groups of girls—girls who have suffered harassment and sexual violence, girls who are homeless, girls of color, girls who are involved in the juvenile justice system, girls in foster care, girls who are pregnant or parents, and girls with disabilities. The reports provide information about each group of girls, detail the significant hurdles to succeeding in school, and outline practical solutions that policymakers, educators, and communities should initiate to help girls overcome these challenges”…Read more
Hidden Horror of School Sex Assaults Revealed by AP: “Elementary and secondary schools have no national requirement to track or disclose sexual violence, and they feel tremendous pressure to hide it. Even under varying state laws, acknowledging an incident can trigger liabilities and requirements to act…Ranging from rape and sodomy to forced oral sex and fondling, the sexual violence that AP tracked often was mischaracterized as bullying, hazing or consensual behavior. It occurred anywhere students were left unsupervised: buses and bathrooms, hallways and locker rooms. No type of school was immune, whether it be in an upper-class suburb, an inner-city neighborhood or a blue-collar farm town”…Read more
When Schools Meet Trauma With Understanding, Not Discipline: “Two full-time social workers hold one-on-one sessions with students who need someone to talk to. Teachers send disruptive students to a room called the wellness center for a meditative time-out that's not supposed to be punishment. If students fight, they first work it out through group discussion. Kids who act up or shut down get extra support, not detention or suspension like they used to. The idea is to tend to life troubles at school, instead of sending kids home…‘A lot of times teachers want students punished because they say you've wronged me as a teacher,’ says Boykins. ‘But remove yourself from the situation and think about what that student needs’”…Read more

Wearing Defiance – But Not On Her Sleeves – Portland 6th-Grader Protests Dress Code as Sexist: “The tank top was a deliberate violation of the school’s dress code, and the message – written in inch-high letters down her arm – was #iamnotadistraction. Her actions were a response to being reprimanded by a teacher in front of other students this week for wearing a racerback-style purple tank top, breaking a dress code that Molly thinks is sexist, applied unfairly to girls, and silly given how common tank tops are among adults and children. On Wednesday, Principal Caitlin LeClair met with Molly’s parents and announced that the school will review the dress code at the end of the school year with an eye to considering students’ objections”…Read more...Read related article: NC Honor Roll Student Suspended, Prohibited From Walking at Graduation After Dress Code Violation, ‘Insubordination’
AP: Sexual Assault in High School Sports Minimized as “Hazing”: “Across the U.S., perhaps nowhere is student-on-student sexual assault as dismissed or as camouflaged as in boys' sports, an Associated Press investigation found. Mischaracterized as hazing and bullying, the violence is so normalized on some teams that it persists for years, as players attacked one season become aggressors the next. Coaches frequently say they're not aware of what's happening. But AP found multiple cases where coaches knew and failed to intervene or, worse, tried to cover it up”…Read more
Show of Solidarity at Grant High School in Wake of Controversial 'Rape Culture' Letter: “Before the bell Monday morning, a group of students stood together dressed in red, holding hands. It was to show their support for victims of sexual assault…They’re upset by a letter written by a longtime history teacher. He had interrupted another teacher’s class recently to voice his opinion in their discussion on rape culture. Not feeling that he was clear enough, he wrote a three-page letter to further express his opinion on the subject. He then gave copies to that same freshman class and the fellow teacher”…Read more
Schools Face Vexing Test: Which Kids Will Sexually Attack?: “‘The safest sex offender is somebody who is stable, occupied, accountable to others and has a plan for the future,’ said therapist David Prescott, who has treated or assessed hundreds of sexually aggressive kids and now works in Maine for an alliance of nonprofit organizations. With support and maturation, experts say, young abusers typically recover. ‘It’s not a lifelong trajectory,’ said Maia Christopher, executive director of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. ‘Children tend to be much more influenced by effective kinds of interventions than adults.’ But, as three cases identified by the AP show, they have to want to make it work”…Read more

Miscellaneous News

This Behavior Is Sexually Abusive, But No One Talks About It: “Their narratives highlight a kind of gender-based assault that is common, but hardly discussed outside of internet groups: purposefully removing condoms during sex without consent, or ‘stealthing.’ A new article in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law delves into the act and how online groups are perpetuating and encouraging it, and argues that it violates a host of civil and criminal laws…While each account was unique, Brodsky found they all shared similar themes: The overwhelming fear of getting pregnant, catching STIs, HIV, and AIDS, as well as feelings of betrayal, confusion, and shame, similar to those who’ve experienced other forms of sexual violence. ‘Survivors [of stealthing] describe nonconsensual condom removal as a threat to their bodily agency and as a dignitary harm. ‘You have no right to make your own sexual decisions,’ they are told. ‘You are not worthy of my consideration,’’ she writes…While stealthing is not legally defined as rape in the US, Brodsky argues there is a strong enough connection between the practice and sexual assault and victims should be protected by the law. Earlier this year, a Swiss court convicted a man of rape for taking off his condom”…Read more…Read related articles: Inside The Online Community Of Men Who Preach Removing Condoms Without Consent and "Stealthing" Your Partner During Sex Could Soon Be Classified As Sexual Assault
Axe Tackles ‘Toxic Masculinity’ by Revealing How Deeply Young Men Struggle With It: “In a matter of just a few years, Unilever’s Axe has gone from unabashedly (and often crassly) celebrating male stereotypes to forcefully opposing them. And its new campaign, from 72andSunny Amsterdam, represents its boldest step yet in combating what it’s now calling ‘toxic masculinity’ and its debilitating effects on young men. The new work is themed ‘Is It Ok For Guys?’ and is part of Axe’s ‘Find Your Magic’ positioning, which memorably launched in early 2016. A new film kicks things off by showing how guys privately struggle with masculinity—but highlighting actual Google searches that reveal just how anxious they feel about adhering to, and straying from, societal norms”…Read more

These Three Pictures Make a Powerful Statement about Race and Power among Women: “It can be difficult to understand how important representation is — until we are faced with a reversed gaze. O, the Oprah Magazine did just that for a photo essay featured in the publication's May 2017 issue on race. In a feature aptly titled ‘Let's Talk About Race,’ photographer Chris Buck took three photos that flipped stereotypical tropes on their heads by reversing roles typically held by women of color with white women — and vice versa”…Read more
Is This How Discrimination Ends?: “At the end, Devine and Cox offered ideas for substitute habits. Observe your own stereotypes and replace them, Cox said. Look for situational reasons for a person’s behavior, rather than stereotypes about that person’s group. Seek out people who belong to groups unlike your own…It may sound a bit whiz-bang, but the data show that this seemingly simple intervention works. For example, after Devine and a colleague presented a version of the workshop focused on gender bias to STEM faculty at the University of Wisconsin, departmental hiring patterns began to change. In the two years following the intervention, in departments that had received the training, the proportion of women faculty hired rose from 32 percent to 47 percent—an increase of almost 50 percent—while in departments that hadn’t received the training, the proportion remained flat. And in an independent survey conducted months after the workshop, faculty members in participating departments—both women and men—reported feeling more comfortable bringing up family issues, and even feeling that their research was more valued. In another study, the researchers gave hundreds of undergraduate students a version of the intervention focused on racial bias. Weeks afterwards, students who had participated noticed bias more in others than did students who hadn’t participated, and they were more likely to label the bias they perceived as wrong. Notably, the impact seemed to last: Two years later, students who took part in a public forum on race were more likely to speak out against bias if they had participated in the training”…Read more

Local News

Maurice Withers, formerly of Lodi, was convicted of forcing, threatening or coercing five different women, including two minors, into commercial sex…Read more
Donald Coughlin, 60, was charged with 21 counts of child sexual assault in a trial ending May 9 in Mauston…Read more
Steven Smolek, 59, of La Crosse, a former Catholic school administrator from La Crosse and former Mauston School District Administrator, has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Marathon County…Read more
Stewart Thompson, 25, a former Mauston teacher charged with sexual assault of a student, child enticement-sexual contact, and exposing a child to harmful material, was in court May 2 to waive a preliminary hearing and plead not guilty…Read more
Lindsey Harwood, 35, of Rio, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child as a persistent repeater, which immediately followed a case with three counts of failure to update sex offender registry information…Read more
Travion Kimball, 18, of Portage, has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, felony bail jumping and second-degree forced sexual assault…Read more
Anthony Greene, 37, of Randolph, appeared in Columbia County Circuit Court on Wednesday on one count of exposing a child and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault…Read more
Darren E. Brookins, 24, of Mauston, was charged on April 28 with physical abuse of a child-intentionally cause bodily harm for alleged incidents in mid-April…Read more
William Henthorn, 48, of Portage, was arrested Friday on charges of second-degree sexual assault, second-degree reckless endangerment, strangulation, battery, disorderly conduct and illegal possession of a prescription drug…Read more

Parents' and Youth Service Providers' Section

Introducing the NO MÁS Campaign: “How do families raise children who can engage in healthy communications, relationships, and sexuality? Children have questions, are themselves sexual beings, experience peer pressure, and absorb all kinds of messages about relationships and sex from their families, peers, community, and media. These sources of information influence what young people think about sexuality, communication, and relationships and, ultimately, shape the decisions they make for themselves. NO MÁS was developed to help guide parents in these often difficult conversations with their children. We hope that the guidance on this site provides the opportunity for children to develop into adults who are comfortable discussing and practicing healthy relationships and sexuality”…Explore their bilingual conversation-starter cards, pledge, action ideas, and more
13 Reasons Why a Conversation about Rape Culture is as Important as One about Suicide: “The issue the show tackles most convincingly is sexual violence — its persistence in our schools, its dark evolution through social media and the trouble with our perception of consent. The show demonstrates how toxic masculinity feeds into rape culture, which minimizes sexual violence, excuses perpetrators and blames victims”…Read more...Watch related webinar: Using "13 Reasons Why" to Initiate a Helpful Conversation about Suicide Prevention and Mental Health and read related resources: 13 Reasons Why Netflix Series: Considerations for Educators, 13 Reasons Why: Talking Points for Viewing and Discussing the Netflix Series, Suicide Prevention Webpage, and 13 Reasons Why | Suicide Prevention Resource Center

Ivy League Researchers Released a Huge Report on Teen Sex. It's a Must-Read for Parents: “‘We do almost nothing to prepare them for the tender, tough, subtle, generous, focused work of developing mature healthy relationships. I'm troubled by that.’ Now he and his team have finally compiled five years of intense research that asks the question, ‘What do young people really think about sex and love?’ And maybe just as important: ‘How should we be preparing them?’ Here are three major takeaways from the groundbreaking new report”…Read more…Read related article: The Sex Talk Isn’t Enough: How Parents Can Teach Teens about Healthy Relationships
What is Complex Trauma: A Resource Guide for Youth and Those Who Care About Them: “This Guide was developed for youth who have experienced—or know someone who has experienced—Complex Trauma. Older youth, adolescents, and young adults can explore the information in this Guide on their own to help them better understand Complex Trauma and the effects. Clinicians, caregivers, and other adults can also use the Guide to have conversations with youth about Complex Trauma and about the coping methods that help, those that can cause problems, and strategies to make things better”…Download here
The Healthy Sex Talk: Teaching Kids Consent, Ages 1-21: “We believe parents can start educating children about consent and empowerment as early as 1 year old and continuing into the college years. It is our sincere hope that this education can help us raise empowered young adults who have empathy for others and a clear understanding of healthy consent. We hope parents and educators find this list of action items and teaching tools helpful, and that together we can help create a generation of children who have less rape and sexual assault in their lives. There are three sections, based upon children’s ages, preschool, grade school, and teens and young adults”…Read more

Resources

IPV Health: “Futures Without Violence is excited to announce two new online resources for health providers and domestic and sexual violence advocates: IPVhealth.org. A project of the National Health Resrource Center on Domestic Violence, IPVhealth.org serves as a clearinghouse for everything you need to address domestic and sexual violence in health settings and promote survivor health and wellness at domestic and sexual violence advocacy agencies. IPVhealthpartners.org - A step-by-step toolkit for community health centers and their domestic violence advocacy partners aimed at establishing and expanding partnerships."
Enhancing Police Responses to Children Exposed to Violence: This toolkit "is designed to equip law enforcement professionals with trauma-informed, developmentally-appropriate tools to identify and minimize threats to child safety, foster closer engagement between law enforcement and youth, and maximize both officer safety and positive outcomes for children and families. The toolkit contains protocols, checklists, and other field-tested and research-informed resources."
“Safe Housing Partnerships is a collection of strategies, resources, case studies, reports, and statistics that providers and advocates can use to enhance services and better meet the housing-related needs of survivors. Domestic and sexual violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women and children, and the need for safe and affordable housing is one of the most pressing concerns for survivors of violence and abuse. Many survivors face unique barriers to accessing shelter and affordable housing due to the power and control dynamics involved in these types of abuse and the economic and trauma impacts that result. At the same time, housing programs can provide critical services for survivors and are often a key component in helping survivors find safety and stability. ‘The Safe Housing Partnerships website will continuously provide up-to-date information and best practices,’ says Peg Hacskaylo, CEO of the National Alliance for Safe Housing. ‘It will serve as the primary vehicle through which providers can request assistance and support in strengthening their work at this critical intersection.’ The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) and the National Alliance for Safe Housing (NASH) partnered to develop the website. They, along with the National Network to End Domestic Violence and Collaborative Solutions, Inc., are part of the Domestic Violence and Housing Technical Assistance Consortium, an innovative, collaborative approach to providing training, technical assistance, and resource development at the critical intersection of domestic violence, homelessness, and housing.”
Ending Gender-Based Violence in the World of Work in the United States: “Sex- and gender-based violence (GBV) against women in the world of work is an epidemic that requires a systemic response. The purpose of this report is to clearly define GBV, describe its prevalence and explain the circumstances that allow it to persist. The report concludes with recommendations to effectively prevent and address GBV in the workplace”…Download the guide
Domestic Violence Counts: This May, the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) released the 11th annual Domestic Violence Counts census report. The 24-hour count of services provided to adult and child victims offers a unique glimpse into the untold story of our nation’s domestic violence shelters. In Wisconsin, domestic violence victim service providers served 1,716 survivors on the census day, almost 1,000 of whom were living in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program. There were 486 crisis hotline calls answered, and over 500 Wisconsinites attended community education sessions to hear about prevention and early intervention strategies. These numbers shed light on the heroic work of domestic violence programs and advocates across Wisconsin who help survivors accomplish amazing things every single day.

Training Opportunities

Responding to Survivors in Underserved Communities: Imagine not being able to hear anything, and being a victim of domestic violence, where no one can communicate with you, except for your perpetrator. Perhaps English is not your first language and communication is a struggle so you’re afraid to reach out for help because of your past experience of oppression, which happens more often than not. As professionals who respond to domestic violence calls, this training will help us better understand how to work with victims from often underserved communities while recognizing our own biases and privileges. It will be held on Friday, June 16, from 8 AM – 4:30 PM at the Milwaukee Area Technical College Oak Creek Campus, 6665 S. Howell Ave. Speakers invited from Asha Project, Deaf Unity, Hmong American Women’s Association, the Menominee Nation Tribal Police, and UMOS. To register, click here. For questions, please email Keeley Crowley.
Paths to Healing Conference: On June 22 from 9:00am – 3:00pm in Madison, the Paths to Healing is a day-long conference that provides support and explores what we need to do as a community to respond to the needs of sexual abuse survivors. It is intended for child sex abuse survivors – particularly male survivors – supportive allies, advocates, health and mental health professionals, and law enforcement. To register, click here.
Webinar: Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and People with Disabilities: On June 27 from 10-11:30am, Disability Rights Wisconsin Attorney Jodi Hanna joins End Abuse and the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault for this webinar. Jodi will explain the unique ways in which people with disabilities are a vulnerable population, particularly susceptible to domestic abuse and sexual assault. We will discuss the dynamics of violence against people with disabilities, and ways to decrease sexual and domestic violence against people with disabilities. This webinar is designed for a multi-disciplinary audience. Advocates and members of CCR/SART teams are encouraged to attend! To register, click here.

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June 2017 Community Education E-bulletin

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