Search

The V Word

Advocating to end sexual and domestic violence

Open Search
Tag

Violence and Abuse

Some interesting Research and Literature for Advocates and Providers to check out…

 

Research / Literature

Preventing Children’s Exposure to Violence: The Defending Childhood Initiative
by Sarah B. Berson, Jolene Hernon and Beth Pearsall
An NIJ-funded evaluation takes a close look at communities developing strategies to address childhood exposure to violence. See attached PDF file labeled 238485.

New summer 2012 issue of Age in Action, published by the Virginia Center on Aging and the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services can be found at http://www.sahp.vcu.edu/vcoa/newsletter/ageaction/agesummer12.pdf

Social Media, Social Life: How Teens View Their Digital Lives is the latest research report from Common Sense Media’s Program for the Study of Children and Media. We surveyed over 1,000 13- to 17-year-olds nationally to understand how they perceive social media (like Facebook and Twitter) affects their relationships and feelings about themselves. Read highlights from the study in the info graphic below, and visit our research page to download the full report. http://www.commonsensemedia.org/research

The Perfect Shade of Change: Resources for Sexual Violence Preventionists Creating Safe & Healthy Communities
This information packet provides guidance to prevention practitioners at local, state, tribal, territory, and national organizations to work more effectively toward the goal of eliminating sexual violence in their communities.  http://nsvrc.org/publications/nsvrc-publications-information-packets/perfect-shade-change-resources-sexual-violence

 

0

Virginia’s Sexual Assault Crisis Centers are here to help

In 2010, Sexual Assault Crisis Centers in Virginia…

  • responded to 61,860 hotline calls
  • offered 50,949 hours of advocacy services to 4,903 adults
  • provided 26,570 hours of advocacy services to 2,123 children

Survivors of sexual violence who have received advocacy services from Virginia’s Sexual Assault Crisis Centers have said the following:

“I feel so strong when I am here. I feel safe, supported, and not judged.   I have more tools to help me be safe and happy in my life.”

 “My children are getting the help they need.”

 “Everything about this experience has been positive. I have learned more about myself, who I am, and what I really want in life for me and my children and have been able to set goals for myself to better our future!

  I loved my advocate. She was there for me from the beginning of it all, causing me to feel supported!!!

 “The support group was the most positive experience. I really, really had a need to hear from other women who are survivors of sexual abuse.”

  “It’s rewarding to feel good about myself and the services I’ve received have given me back my confidence.”

 Source of all data on this fact sheet: VAdata: The Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Data Collection System, 2010.

0

Sexual Assault Awareness Month – Virginia Facts

 

Sexual assault affects every community in Virginia

 Nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped in their lifetime while 1 in 71 men have been raped in their lifetime. 1

 Approximately 80% of female victims experienced their first rape before the age of 25 and almost half ex­perienced the first rape before age 18 (30% between 11-17 years old and 12% at or before the age of 10). 28% of male victims of rape were first raped when they were 10 years old or younger.2

 Sexual assault profoundly affects children and teens

 56% of youth report experiences of sexual assault and coercion. 

In 2010, Sexual Assault Crisis Centers in Virginia…3

  • responded to 61,860 hotline calls
  • offered 50,949 hours of advocacy services to 4,903 adults
  • provided 26,570 hours of advocacy services to 2,123 children

  

You can help too…

  Three out of four people affected by sexual violence turn to family and friends for help before contacting a Sexual Assault Crisis Center.4

 

1 -2  National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), 2010. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published December, 2011.

3-4      VAdata: The Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Data Collection System, 2010.

Related articles
2

NSVRC Releases New Prevention Report

The NSVRC has released the Prevention Assessment Year 2 Report: Innovations in Prevention.   This report was prepared for the NSVRC by Stephanie M. Townsend, PhD.   Additionally PreventConnect provided additional support to augment the assessment and include an examination of how innovations diffuse.

 This second phase of the NSVRC’s Prevention Assessment project focused on interviews with innovative prevention programs and a diffusion survey to document how innovations have spread throughout the sexual violence prevention field.  The emphasis of this assessment was on how programs are thinking about primary prevention and the processes that allowed innovation to develop.  This report contains findings from that assessment.

Podcasts conducted by PreventConnect with some of the programs interviewed for the report can be found in the following link:http://www.preventconnect.org/mail/newsletter/NSVRCNewsletter2012.html

The Year 1 report of the Prevention Assessment Project, released in 2011, can be found here.

http://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/file/Projects_RPE_Updated_NSVRC_PreventionAssessmentYear1FinalReport.pdf

If you have question about this report or the prevention assessment project, please contact jgrove@nsvrc.org.

*Note: reposted from NSVRC.org

Related articles
0

Advocate for Written Policies for Law Enforcement on Responding to Sexual Violence

What is the issue?

Law enforcement officers play a critical role in responding to cases of sexual violence.  They may be among the first people that a victim talks to after the assault, and the victim’s experience in that interaction may determine her or his decision to move forward on reporting the crime and cooperating with prosecution.  In addition, law enforcement officers are responsible for the collection of evidence, the victim interview, the follow-up investigation and the interrogation of the alleged offender.  Unless this duty is handled comprehensively, thoroughly and consistently, there is the risk that key evidence will be missed, tainted or lost, hampering prosecution of sexual offenses.

Due to the complexity, trauma, and potential physical injury involved in a sexual assault, a consistent and comprehensive law enforcement response is critical to a victim’s safety, health and well-being.  Clear knowledge and understanding of sexual assault will also assist in thorough and accurate evidence collection, assisting prosecution of alleged offenders.  However, Virginia does not require law enforcement agencies to have a written policy on responding to situations in which sexual violence has occurred.  As a result, law enforcement response to sexual violence is often inconsistent in different parts of the state and even, at times, within jurisdictions.

A recent survey by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) showed that 49% of responding agencies did not have a written policy on responding to sexual violence situations.  This survey also demonstrated numerous inconsistencies across jurisdictions regarding such issues as use of polygraphs on victims and offenders, when and how Physical Evidence Recovery Kits (PERKs) are authorized, how often officers are trained on sexual violence issues, and collaboration with other agencies in responding to sexual offenses.

Legislation is already in place requiring written policies for responding to situations of domestic violence (§ 19.2-81.4).  The response to sexual violence should be held to the same standard.

What does VSDVAA want to do?

VSDVAA wants to work with the General Assembly and DCJS to enact legislation that would require law enforcement agencies to establish and implement written policies on responding to situations in which sexual violence has occurred.  This legislation would not require each law enforcement agency to establish the same policies and procedures, but it would require specific factors that each agency’s procedures must include.

What is our goal?

Sexual assault continues to be one of the most underreported crimes in Virginia and in the nation.  Enhancing law enforcement response and ensuring consistent and appropriate response within and across jurisdictions may increase a victim’s willingness to come forward and make a report.  Consistent and thorough evidence collection will also lead to increased prosecutions and convictions, and will ultimately lead to safer communities.

For more information, contact Jennifer Woolley at VSDVAA

434-979-9002      866-3-VSDVAA    jwoolley@vsdvalliance.org

reposted from the Action Alliance website:  http://www.vsdvalliance.org 

0

Welcome new stand alone Rape Crisis Center in Virginia

Here is a re-post from the Roanoke Times

ROANOKE SEXUAL ASSAULT CRISIS CENTER NOW ON ITS OWN FOOTING

Sarah Bruyn Jones, Roanoke Times

October 29, 2011

The Roanoke area’s sexual assault crisis center is now an independent nonprofit, as it seeks to maintain its long-standing presence in the community.

The Sexual Assault Response & Awareness program, or SARA, operated out of Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare until July 1, when it separated from the agency. On Friday the organization held an open house and silent auction at its new offices at 3034 Brambleton Ave. S.W. in Roanoke.

The process toward separation began in the fall of 2009, when Blue Ridge said it could no longer subsidize the administrative costs for running SARA.

Blue Ridge sought to find another administrative home for the group, but by this year, it had become clear that SARA would have to stand on its own, said Teresa Berry, who has worked for the program for a quarter-century and is now the executive director of the newly formed nonprofit.

The new organization incorporated with the state in March as Sexual Assault Response & Awareness Inc.

By May, SARA had successfully filed with the Internal Revenue Service for nonprofit status.

SARA, which provides free support services to sexual assault victims including counseling and accompaniment to court hearings, continues to operate with grants from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, Berry said. SARA gets about $165,000 annually from three DCJS grants, she said.

But that doesn’t cover general fund expenses, including legal fees and other startup costs, she said. To cover those expenses, Berry has put in about $8,000 of her own money and received another $6,000 from donors.

Friday’s open house was intended, in part, to kick off some needed fundraising. Berry said she would like to add three more people to her staff, which currently includes herself and one other person.

SARA serves about 350 victims a year and has recently seen an increase in need, particularly among young adults and teenagers, she said.

“We need to be doing more education,” she said.

Related articles
0

Some facts to end DV awareness month ….

Do you know what constitutes Domestic Violence? Domestic or Interpersonal Violence is willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. With the statistics showing that 1 in 4 women may become victims of interpersonal violence, it is considered an epidemic affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Violence against women is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior that is a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence results in physical injury, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime.  The majority of domestic violence reports are women by partners known to them.

Family members and loved ones who witness abuse are considered secondary victims and can also have emotional and psychological trauma.  The strongest risk factor for transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next is children who witness violence between one’s parents or caretakers.  In particular, boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners and children when they become adults.   Statistics from National Coalition Against Domestic Violence show that 30% to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse children in the household.

There is a high correlation between domestic violence and homicide of females.  Almost one-third of female homicide victims that are reported in police records are killed by an intimate partner.  As reported by the NCADV, in 70-80% of intimate partner homicides, a staggering statistic, no matter which partner was killed, the woman was physically abused before the murder.  Also staggering is the realization that less than one-fifth of victims reporting an injury from intimate partner violence sought medical treatment following abuse.  It is suspected that intimate partner violence results in more than 18.5 million mental health care visits each year.

1

Remember My Name event by Richmond YWCA

October 27th
Remember My Name, 7PM, Monument Heights Church (corner of Monument and Libbie).

Remember My Name honors victims of domestic violence from our community and provides family members with the opportunity to speak on their behalf.

For information about submitting a name to the memorial or for general information about Remember My Name, please contact Casey Emery at cemery@ywcarichmond.org

0

Silent No Longer: Honoring Survivors and Victims of Domestic Violence

Join the Virginia Attorney General in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Silent No Longer: Honoring Survivors and Victims of Domestic Violence

You are invited to see the following: Exhibits open at 9:00 a.m.:

* Silent Witness Figures

* Beating Hearts Display

* Domestic Violence Quilts

Remarks by the Attorney General at 9:30 a.m.

Domestic Violence Survivor, Claire Hylton Sheppard

Video Overview of    Telling Amy’s Story

 And enjoy refreshments.

October 4, 2011

Office of the Attorney General, 900 East Main Street Auditorium, Richmond, Virginia 23219

Questions? Contact Melissa Roberson at (804) 692-0592, mdickert@oag.state.va.us

Related articles
2

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑