On July 27, 2010, the Campus Program hosted a webinar on “Creating an effective protocol to intervene in violence against women” led by Dr. Peter J. Meagher at Reed College.

Webinar Materials

Text chat transcription

Webinar recording (NOTE: recording starts from slide 13)

Creating an Effective Protocol to Intervene in Violence Against Women

Earlier this week, a colleague forwarded me “Surprise! Immigration is a Woman’s Issue” written by Gloria Steinem and Pramila Jayapal with the Women’s Media Center.  Steinam and Pramila argue that immigration is a woman’s issue because women and children are severely impacted by workplace discrimination, gender-based/sexual violence, a backlogged immigration system, and ineligibility for various services including health insurance.  The authors challenge the country’s inaccurate portrayal of immigrants benefiting from the resources in the United States by shedding light about how recent immigrants are impacted by systematic factors.

Some key points from the article include:

• “Many female immigrants are fleeing domestic violence, female genital mutilation, and other human rights abuses against females in their own countries.  Female immigrants are much more likely to have been the victims of violence than to be its perpetrators — just as are females in general.
• Female immigrants suffer even more workplace wage discrimination than do their male counterparts. The threat of deportation makes them fearful of reporting sexual assault, sexual harassment, domestic violence and other punishments that are overwhelmingly female.
• Women and children make up more than 90% of the thousands of unwilling immigrants brought here every year by sex traffickers, yet such victims are far more likely to end up in prison than are the traffickers.
• The average immigrant woman is better educated than her male counterpart, even when both are in low-paying jobs. Women are also more likely to be students in English language classes – many classrooms are as much as 70% female – because they want to instruct or to keep up with their children.
• Though immigrants who are permanent legal residents pay the same taxes as do citizens, they are not allowed to receive Medicaid for five years. This punishes women disproportionately because they are child bearers and caregivers It also endangers the public in general by reducing the level of health in schools and workplaces. Nonetheless, this prohibition was enshrined in the recent healthcare reform bill.”

How do we integrate this knowledge into our prevention and intervention efforts to end sexual violence on campus?  The relevance isn’t only for institutions with large immigrant student populations, but for all campuses given that a cornerstone of higher education is to further prepare students in our increasingly diverse community.  Institutions need to, if they haven’t already, assessed their outreach, service delivery, campus security, response protocol, and disciplinary policies for accessibility to underserved communities.

Sexual violence is hugely under-reported throughout the United States.  To combat sexual violence, it is critical to work with partners and allies in order to create a more inclusive campus environment.  That community-level work, however, starts first on an individual whereby one self-reflects and assesses one’s own awareness and biases around immigration, privilege, and history.

Resources

• Immigrant Women and Sexual Violence
• National Network to End Sexual Violence Against Immigrant Women
• Multicultural Efforts to End Sexual Violence at Purdue University
• Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers in the Global Factory by Grace Chang

If you have resources relating to immigrant women and sexual violence, please post them or contact us so we can share the information on our website by emailing livia@calcasa.org.

On July 13, 2010, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), the coalition of programs that document and advocate for victims of anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) and anti-HIV/AIDS violence/harassment, domestic violence, sexual assault, police misconduct and other forms of victimization, released the 2010 report of hate violence perpetrated against people that self-identify as LGBTQ and were reported in 2009.

Key findings from the report include:

Murders at second-highest rate in a decade;

Spike in anti-LGBTQ violence at time of federal hate crimes law passage;

Economic crisis depletes resources for LGBTQ survivors of violence

For the full National Report on Anti-LGBTQ hate violence, click here.  To read the press release issued by the NCAVP, click here.

Resource

For individuals, groups, and/or communities interested in starting an anti-violence program, becoming a member of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs or if you live in a region where there are no organizations addressing LGBTQ violence issues and you need help or are interested in getting involved, contact NCAVP at info@ncavp.org or 212.714.1184. They can also be reached via a 24 hour bilingual (English & Spanish) Hotline at 212.714.1141.

In the global struggle against gender based violence and HIV/AIDS, the two are inextricably intertwined as pressing human rights and public health issues that cross race, class, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, age, and ability/disability.  Sexual violence increases a victim’s risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Today, the Obama administration unveiled the national strategy to combat HIV/AIDS which includes:

• “Broad goals as well as dozens of directives for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and other federal agencies. Those steps include developing standards to evaluate care, investigating community programs to see whether they’re effective and simplifying grant applications.
• The Bureau of Prisons would expand HIV screening of inmates, and the Justice Department would fast-track investigations of discrimination involving those with HIV.”

One notable area of concern is that no additional federal funding has been allotted to support the National Strategy.

“With new infections exceeding 50,000 a year, there may not be enough money to help provide all patients with the drugs they need.  Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services announced an allocation of $25 million to help states in need.” – The Los Angeles Times

How, if at all, does your campus support efforts in making the link between sexual violence and HIV/AIDS, organizationally, campus-wide and with community partners?  When engaging in discussions surrounding the stigma and prejudice survivors of sexual violence experience, does HIV/AIDS ever come up as another layer of a public health concern?  How do your health and education partners integrate sexual violence and HIV/AIDS in prevention/education programming?

Resources

Click here to read the full National HIV/AIDS Strategy released by the White House.

The United Nations Development Fund For Women: Gender & HIV/AIDS

The University of Puerto Rico is one of the four public flagship systems that currently receive funding from the United States Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women to work towards ending sexual violence.  The University of Puerto Rico system serves a predominately Spanish speaking (and increasingly multilingual) student population across 10 campuses to reduce sexual assault, domestic/dating violence and stalking on campus in Puerto Rico. The other flagship systems that receive OVW funding include the University of Iowa (3 campuses), University of California (10 campuses) and East Central University (5 campuses).

Maria Del Pilar Rodriguez, Project Director and Maria Cristina Pacheco, Education Director, took time during the Summer Campus Training & Technical Assistance Institute in Las Vegas to share their thoughts in Spanish about their experiences working on the OVW grant at the University of Puerto Rico.

In addition to viewing the Institutes as an opportunity to network with and learn from colleagues in the field, Maria Del Pilar and Maria Cristina discussed how the University of Puerto Rico also serves as a resource for campuses that have Spanish-speaking students (especially of Puerto Rican descent). It is critical to make materials culturally congruent to marginalized populations, communities of color, international students, and immigrants are often not the primary groups services are designed for when combatting sexual violence on campus.

On July 27th, the Campus Program is scheduled to have a webinar on “Creating an effective protocol to intervene in violence against women” at 11.00 a.m. (PST).  Peter J. Meagher, at Reed College, will discuss how campuses can develop a sustainable and effective protocol to address sexual violence on college campuses.

Webinar Description
Violence against women in all its forms is one of the most underreported crimes on campus. This webinar will explore impediments to reporting and will present effective and sensitive strategies to assist administrators as well as staff at residence halls, campus security and campus health centers to more effectively respond to students who report experiencing sexual assault, intimate partner violence or stalking.

Speaker Biography
Peter J. Meagher, PhD, is Associate Dean of Students at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Meagher has led training sessions in colleges and other educational settings that have focused on male violence since the late 1980s. Dr. Meagher was the Project Director for the Campus Safety Project from 2000 to 2006 at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. While at Edgewood, he was active in all aspects of the project including creating comprehensive educational programs, coordinating the revision of the Sexual Misconduct Policy, implementing response protocols and overseeing all project evaluation activities. Before working at Edgewood, he worked at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on a project working with athletes on alcohol, drugs and dating violence. Dr. Meagher has a passion for social justice issues and enjoys promoting the growth and development of college students.

To register for the webinar, please check the project directors listserv or check with your campus project director.  The webinar is open to current recipients of the United States Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women Grant to Reduce Sexual Assault, Domestic/Dating Violence and Stalking on Campus.  If you are not a grantee or cannot attend the webinar on July 27th, you can access materials from the webinar by visiting the Campus Program page at the CALCASA site after July 28th.

The Summer Campus 2010 TTI, sponsored by OVW in partnership with CALCASA, hosted the workshop “Addressing Issues of Violence Against Women in Faith-Based Institutions.” Amongst the many campuses that are funded through the OVW campus program grant, there are several that are faith based such as University of Sioux Falls, Pacific Lutheran University and St. Mary’s College.

During this workshop, the presenter, Venida Rodman Jenkins discussed secular versus sacred language that at times can cause friction in communicating how to address violence against women on campus. She mentioned that although we are saying the same thing, word choice may give the impression we are not on the same page. This was a very relevant point not only for faith-based institutions, but every campus that is doing this work that deals with challenges in communication. The misunderstanding is prompted by generational gaps, racial distinctions or moral codes. The differences in language has the potential to breed the sense of opposition, instead of unification.

After speaking with folks that attended the TTI, I found that the one sound solution is to create a safe space for similar campuses to voice openly their concerns, not as a venting session, but with the intent of removing the feeling of isolation for the sake of moving toward the solution of adherence to listening and creating a line of communication that the sacred and the secular feel comfortable speaking.

AMC 2010 Closing Ceremony

Detroit, MI – After wrapping up the Summer 2010 Campus Training & Technical Assistance Institute in Las Vegas, I caught a red-eye flight to attend the annual Allied Media Conference (AMC).  Held at the campus of Wayne State University near Detroit’s downtown, the AMC drew “people involved with do-it-yourself media, alternative media makers, [and those] interested in using participatory media as a strategy for social justice organizing.”  Certainly a cultural and geographic shift trading in the western desert for the midwestern city that has struggled for years to rebuild itself.  For the next three days, I learned how local communities in Detroit are working tirelessly to improve living conditions for themselves, their families, and neighbors.

The AMC offered participants a variety of tracks designed to generate and actively engage in discussions surrounding particular areas of interest ranging from disability justice, indigenous media, creating safe communities, Medios Caminantes (the Spanish language media track), Trans & Queer Youth, and Media Policy to name a few.  The AMC’s notion of media (multiple forms of communication including print and web-based journalism, radio, writing, art, and music) has come to expand over the years which is incredibly refreshing given the ever-increasing power and range that technology has in transforming individuals and communities.

Each workshop I attended either provided participants in opportunity to learn hands-on the technology at hand (such as community mapping) and/or encouraged folks to identify needs, resources and network in order to build capacity, knowledge and access. Each workshop, keynote speaker, artist, facilitator, conference participant I heard or met, reinvigorated my commitment to building communities by evoking a language rooted in idealism, realism, and practicality.

Transformative art work at AMC 2010

Collaborative mapping, a visual representation of needs and/or assets in a given community, caught my interest given its relationship to the work I do at CALCASA.  Some examples of community mapping include: Philadelphia Place (storytelling collaboration of peoples and events in Philadelphia), Toronto Trees (uses trees as landmarks in tours of Toronto), and Green Map (identifies areas with green resources). Throughout the community mapping workshop, I frequently thought of Dorothy Edwards’ intervention to end sexual violence.  To simplify: sexual violence = red dots.  Bystander intervention = green dots.  Red and green dots spread across the United States, ideally the green dots surpassing the number of red dots and ultimately covering the country.

How can Green Dot, or any other intervention for that matter, translate itself from an initially theoretical conceptualization and practical approach to potentially technological soundboard/card conceived as a community map to further illustrate the urgency to combat sexual violence as communities?  How can survivors, bystanders, educators, and others engage with the data?  This is a question I’m struggling with and would like to hear your take on community mapping of sexual violence on college campuses.

Save the date: June 23 – 26, 2011 in Detroit for the next AMC.

Coach Joe Ehrmann delivers his keynote address at the Campus Training & Technical Assistance Institute in Las Vegas.

Yesterday was the final day of CALCASA’s Campus Training & Technical Assistance Institute in Las Vegas. Present were about 500 attendees from college campuses and community agencies — these folks are ready and eager to do what it takes to end sexual violence.

Joe Ehrmann, from Coach for America, delivered one of the plenary sessions. He opened his speech by acknowledging that he was looking at an audience that represented hope. My first thought: Hope can’t be measured. It’s a word thrown around to mask inaction. Don’t get me wrong, his speech was inspiring. I felt motivated to become part of the solution to end destructive and damaging myths and stereotypes that are perpetuated by culture. But I was still struggling with the word hope. I felt as if that word made it easier to say, “Well, nice try,” when goals aren’t realized.

However, yesterday afternoon, I had my reality put in check. I was conducting an interview with Dr. Dorothy Edwards & Jennifer Sayre about their Green Dot training and, again, the word hope came up. Dr. Edwards said that the one thing she wants people to walk away with from the training is hope. Maybe I rolled my eyes, and she sensed that I needed to hear what she said next:

“We can be holding the solution in our hand, but if we don’t believe it, we will not inspire people to take it on. Those of us that are leading this work have to peel back those layers of fatigue and tired. We’ve seen victim after victim, and it’s hard to even imagine a different world. And we’ve got to step in and hold in our mind’s eye a vision — a crystallized vision — of this can happen. These numbers can come down, and it can happen as a direct result of my work. If we can hold on to that, if we can truly believe that, folks will follow us. People don’t act if they don’t believe what they’re doing will make a difference. So we’ve got to paint this picture that what you do will make a difference. We can bring the numbers down. My favorite reference is the notion that when Martin Luther King was standing up there at the great mall in Washington, D.C., he didn’t say, ‘I’ve got a great body of research.’ He said, ‘I have a dream.’ When he talked about that dream, he inspired a nation. We have to do the same thing.”

Wow, amazing. This completely changed my outlook. How can we begin to make change if we can’t even fill ourselves with a sense of hope to see a better future? Dr. Edwards’ words set me up for the endnote speaker Tony Porter who talked about how men need to understand the responsibility they have to challenge many of the norms that define manhood. I think that without my interview with Dr. Edwards, I might have walked away with a sense of false hope. But I do hope — with everything inside me — that the type of manhood Porter talked about becomes the norm. As Porter says in the above video: “We can really redefine the aspects of manhood that will then create a culture where humanity is the issue, where women are treated equal to men. And that in itself, violence will look different than it does today.”

Hope, hope, hope!

At CALCASA’s Campus Training & Technical Institute in Las Vegas, one of the themes that has been emphasized by most presenters is the necessity of campus coordinated community response (CCCR). Across the board — addressing bystander intervention, working with the justice system, attending a faith-based institutions, creating policies and approaching the needs of international students — CCCR is a key for strengthening campus responses to violence against women.

AEquitas, an organizations that provides prosecutors with resources to end violence against women, had representatives deliver presentations at the Institute. The presenters re-enforced the importance of CCCR. In the video, Jennifer G. Long and Christopher Mallios share their presentations and discuss their mission to improve the quality of justice in sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking cases by developing, evaluating and refining prosecution practices that increase victim safety and offender accountability.

As the Institute continues today, topics include alcohol-facilitated sexual assault, victim services, peer intervention and clinical forensic services. Right now, Joe Ehrmann, motivational speaker at Coach for America, is delivering his keynote. Attendees are live tweeting — for the most up-to-date information, following the hashtag #vegastti on Twitter.

©xotoko's photostream

Next week is CALCASA’s Campus Training & Technical Assistance Institute in Las Vegas.  As part of our ongoing effort to increase and enhance our use of technology in the Campus program, we’ve been exploring the use of Twitter to enhance communication experiences.

Many of you may already be using Twitter to network with friends, family and co-workers.  The Campus program has been using Twitter to receive updates from campuses and, in addition, we will be using it actively at the upcoming Institute.

If you have a Twitter account, start talking to CALCASA on Twitter! Our account username is @CALCASA. Send us a “tweet” or Direct Message. The Campus team is on Twitter too, so start following us! — @theacalcasa, @DanCALCASA, @LiviaCALCASA.

To simplify your Twitter experience, we suggest downloading a free application called TweetDeck. It allows you to filter your tweets. For example, you could categorize your friends/family in one group, so you only see their tweets. And you could have another category for Campus TTI folks. TweetDeck also makes it easier to search for specific terms and keywords.

At the Institute, we’ll be using a function on Twitter called Hash Tags. That’s when you see something in a tweet that has a # prefix. A Hash Tag is simply a way for people to search for tweets that have a common topic. For example, if you search #sexualassault, you’ll get a list of tweets related to this topic. At the Institute, we’ll be using the Hash Tag #VegasTTI.

We hope you start practicing you Twitter skills! :] Feel free to practice on us — @CALCASA.

If you’re feeling unsure about the Twitter-sphere, or you want a little more direction, our resident Twitterer is Jessica Napier. She’s our Online Media Producer, and she’ll be at the Institute in June. She’s happy to help anyone start the conversation on Twitter. If you have questions about signing up, e-mail her at jessica@calcasa.org.

St. Cloud, MN – When Dr. Dorothy Edwards addressed University of California staff and administrators about Green Dot in San Francisco last fall, she stressed the importance of investing time and energy to develop meaningful relationships with campus partners/allies working to end campus violence. As a social worker interested in community-based/participatory paradigms, I find Dr. Edwards’ notion of connecting with campus partners and allies relevant given that people are more likely to participate in social change when bonds are created over time specifically when there is a common language and trust.

Meeting Lee LaDue, the Project Director of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Grant to reduce sexual assault, domestic/dating violence, and stalking on campuses, Sheila Johnson, the Project Coordinator, as well as other campus partners reminded me of the challenges faced by campuses in small communities where people know each other.  Nationwide, sexual assault is a highly under-reported crime but particularly in small, rural communities where survivors often fear for their safety and privacy should they report their experience to local police.  What most struck me during the visit, besides seeing students wearing shorts and flip-flops in chilly 60 degree weather, is how St. Cloud State benefits from having a project coordinator familiar with how individuals in law enforcement speak and relate to each other.  Knowledge of how to communicate with law enforcement is critical when collaboratively developing survivor-centered training curriculum on sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking.

Over the course of two days, I met with administrators interested in furthering the university’s efforts surrounding training opportunities and prevention efforts and students committed to challenging and changing social norms on their campus surrounding gender, sex and violence.  I also had the opportunity to listen to Suzanne Koepplinger, Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, talk about her agency’s recent research study that examined trafficking of Native American girls and women in the state of Minnesota.  The study involved survivors throughout the research process and in the crafting of recommendations for combatting trafficking in Indian country.

Watch the above clip with interviews of St. Cloud State students and staff talk about activities for Sexual Assault Awareness Month and what brought them into the movement to end sexual violence.

Canton, N.Y. – St. Lawrence University is a four year liberal arts university in the village of Canton, a rural, farming area of upstate New York near the border with Canada.  St. Lawrence is one of several institutions of higher education in St. Lawrence County, the others being: State University of New York (SUNY) Potsdam, SUNY Canton and Clarkson University.  One element that distinguishes St. Lawrence from the neighboring universities is the institutional and student support in addressing and ending sexual violence on campus.

Chris Morrin, Project Director of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Grant to reduce sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking on campus, oversees the sexual violence prevention efforts.  Upon arriving in Canton, I attended “Spark Change” a student production comprised of various student groups addressing sexual violence.  Through poetry, music, and multimedia, students shared their unity publicly standing against sexual violence.  One of the powerful pieces came at the end, when male-identified student athletes and one female-identified student, all dressed in white, spoke about the tragedy surrounding the death of 14 women at the École Polytechnique on December 6, 1989, a movement appeared in Canada of wearing the white ribbon to signify opposition to violence against women.  One of the athletes, with a flower in hand, commanding the empty stage, stood before the audience and briefly but poignantly spoke about the responsibility of men in ending violence.

The next two days were filled with meetings where I met with different grant partners, including administrators, judicial affairs officers, the director of campus safety, researchers/educators and students.  The site visit ended with a lunch where I met students that form part of MAASV (Male Athletes Against Sexual Violence).  The group’s president, a female third year student not engaged in university sports, treasurer/graduating senior, and the newly elected publicity chair shared their stories of how they became involved in the movement, the struggles they have faced in challenging social norms on campus and how they plan on carrying out what they have learned from each other into their lives post St. Lawrence.

Mia Mingus (left) facilitating a discussion at the University of New Hampshire

Durham, N.H. – At the January 2010 Campus Training & Technical Assistance Institute (TTI) in Orlando, Jane Stapleton, the project director of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Grant to reduce sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) attended the endnote presentation where Mia Mingus spoke about the intersection of violence and the urgency of not only responding to violence but collaborating with allies in preventing and ultimately ending sexual violence.  Jane’s enthusiasm in hearing Mia’s presentation carried over to having the out spoken activist facilitate a discussion on the intersection of violence at UNH.

A predominately white institution, with a 24 hour crisis center for students in need of services relating to sexual assault, and home to some of the country’s most exciting prevention efforts in sexual violence, UNH’s campus partners gathered for a morning filled with analysis and critique of violence as well as identifying campus resources in order to improve service delivery and responses to survivors of sexual violence.

On April 27th, CALCASA hosted a discussion on critical concepts in effective sexual assault response teams with Donna Barry, APN and Chief Paul Cell, both from Montclair State University.  Not only did they address how to create SARTs on campus, but they also discussed the importance of evaluation and developing best practice response.

Webinar materials include: powerpoint presentation (pdf), text chat transcription (doc), and the audio.

Campus webinar on critical concepts in effective sexual assault response teams (pdf)

Text chat of Campus webinar on critical concepts in sexual assault response teams (pdf)

Audio recording of critical concepts in effective sexual assault response teams

Campus Sexual Assault Response Teams: Program Development and Operational Management

Registration is now open for the Summer 2010 Campus Training and Technical Assistance Institute, which will take place June 16-17, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Click here for more information on:

• General Campus Institute Information
• Location & Travel
• Agenda (coming soon)
• Pre-Institute Trainings (grantees only)
• Registration
• Fees (for non-grantees only)

Deadline to register is May 24, 2010.

Webinar Description

On Tuesday, April 27th, from 11.00 a.m. – 12.30 p.m. (PST), the Campus Program will host a webinar on “Critical Concepts for Effective Sexual Assault Response.” Our guest speakers are Donna M. Barry, APN, FN-CSA, Director of the University Health Center at Montclair State University and Paul M. Cell, Chief of Police at Montclair State University, authors of Campus Sexual Assault Response Teams: Program Development and Operational Management.

Overview

This webinar will provide some strategies to utilize for evaluating the effectiveness of sexual assault responses on campus. Facilitators will iidentify some of  the primary concepts that are imperative to the structures of victim-centered responses and will provide troubleshooting for dealing with common challenges when implementing and revising campus protocols.

The PowerPoint (in PDF format), presenter resources, transcript of the text chat, and audio recording will be made available within a week of the webinar.

Registration information was distributed via the project directors listserv. The registration link will include “xpjkkbp” at the end.  If you have any difficulty registering, please email CALCASA livia@calcasa.org.

The deadline for the Summer Training & Technical Assistance Institute (TTI) call for abstracts has been extended until Friday, April 9, 2010.

Summer 2010 Training & Technical Assistance Institute Call (doc)

We strongly encourage individuals doing work specifically to combat sexual violence on college/university campuses to submit a proposal.  The call provides detailed information about the TTI and workshops we are seeking to address the needs and resources of partners working to end sexual violence.  If after reading the call you have any questions, please contact Livia Rojas at livia@calcasa.org.

“Why It Matters: Rethinking Victim Assistance for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Victims of Hate Violence & Intimate Partner Violence” is a new report that is based on a 2009 survey of victim assistance providers and LGBTQ anti-violence programs throughout the United States.  Why It Matters, done by the National Center for Victims of Crime and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, describes widespread gaps in victim services for LGBTQ victims of crime and recommends steps to improve the services and their accessibility.  For service providers working in the field of sexual violence, this report provides vital data and recommendations for improving service delivery.

To read the full report, click here.

Roger Canaff, with the U.S. Department of the Army, led this month’s Campus Program webinar discussion on “A coordinated community team response to sexual assault: Understanding survivor behavioral response.”  Drawing from his legal background in the field of sexual assault, Roger provided a framework surrounding counter-intuitive behavior in order to further enhance community partners’ understanding of survivor behavior and victimology.  By doing so, partners become more sensitive towards the survivor and also better equipped to engage in an investigation process that will ultimately lead to successful prosecution.

Below are the materials from March’s webinar including the presentation and text chat transcription.  The audio recording will be made available within the next week.

A coordinated community team response to sexual assault: understanding survivor behaviorial response (pdf)

Campus March 2010 text chat (pdf)

The amazing folks at Safer Campus blogged about a recent report “Hidden Marks” from the United Kingdom issued by the National Union of Students (NUS), an organization of 600 student unions in the UK, the first national survey on campus sexual assault.  To read the full report, click here.

The report has similar findings to those in the United States:

Policy recommendations for making campuses safer for students include the following:

• Set out how the institution and students’ union will develop and implement activities to change attitudes and raise awareness of violence;
• Enable students and staff to recognise and effectively deal with violence and harassment against women students;
• Discuss how to best utilise peer support in tackling violence and harassment;
• Contain plans for improving campus design and security so as to help students feel safe;
• Outline how the institution will work with relevant agencies to ensure that students access the support services that they need;
• Contain steps explaining how reporting will be encouraged;
• Set out how the institution will respond to violence against women perpetrated by its students.

The Alston Bannerman Fellowship Program, as part of the Center for Social Inclusion, is supporting long-time activists of color by giving them the resources to take time out for reflection and renewal.  For more information, click here:

“The program honors those who have devoted their lives to helping their communities organize for racial, social, economic and environmental justice. The program provides resources for organizers to take time out for reflection and renewal. Fellows receive a $25,000 award to take sabbaticals of three months or more.”

Deadline: April 13, 2010

Clinicians working on college campuses acquire years of training in such fields as psychology, social work, public health, sociology, among others that shape the theoretical approach they use as therapists. Field practicums provide the real-world training necessary for clinicians to apply theoretical models and work with people struggling with a variety of issues. Coursework and/or sessions in communications, journalism or public affairs are typically not offered in clinical psychology or social work graduate programs.  Clinicians learn how to work with the media more so once they completed their graduate program.

Through stories and resources, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is “dedicated to informed, effective and ethical news reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy,” specifically sharing tools for journalists, educators, researchers/scholars and clinicians.  One of the center’s publications is called “Child Clinicians & the Media,” which provides tips on issues of privacy, helping journalists write a story, developing press kits, how to ask and answer questions, and raising public awareness. Although the publication focuses on child clinicians, the suggestions are practical and transferrable to the field of sexual violence on college campus.

If you have other resources that colleagues combating sexual violence on campus can benefit from, please contact CALCASA with your suggestions so we can share them via the listserv and/or website.

Davis, CA – On February 26th, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center at the University of California, Davis experienced acts of vandalism. The entrance to the LGBTRC was defaced with derogatory and hateful words that target students, staff and faculty that self-identify as Queer.  For resources and support, UC Davis community members are encouraged to turn not only to the LGBTRC  but also the following on-campus centers:

Women’s Resource & Research Center, http://wrrc.ucdavis.edu
Cross Cultural Center, http://ccc.ucdavis.edu
Student Recruitment & Retention Center, http://thecenter.ucdavis.edu

The LGBTRC has hosted townhall meetings working towards an action plan that will create a safer campus climate with the active involvement and input from members of the Queer communities as well as allies.  Tonight, the Interfaith communities will host a vigil for peace and healing from 7-8 p.m.:

“In response to the recent acts of hate on campus, and in light of feelings of stress and unease surrounding fee increases, the interfaith community will host a vigil, creating a space where all are welcome to come and share their fears, their pain, and their hopes for the future.”

Las Vegas, NV – Call for abstracts/workshop proposals is now open.  The Campus Program will consider completed proposals returned via email or fax by April 2, 2010.  For detailed instructions, please download the call:

2010 Summer TTI Call for Abstracts (doc)

Registration and hotel information will be made available within the next few weeks.  Please check the Campus blog for updates.

On Tuesday, March 30, 2010 from 11.00-12.30 p.m. (PST), the Campus Program will host a webinar on “A coordinated team response to assault survivors: understanding survivor behavior responses.”  Our guest speaker is Roger Canaff who will address the issue from a CCRT perspective.  To register for the webinar, please check the listserv for instructions.  If you have any questions, please contact your TA Coordinator.

Summary

Students who report a sexual assault are often viewed with skepticism.  Should a student decide to file charges, survivors of sexual violence often encounter many challenges on campus, as well as during the investigation/prosecution of a case.  One challenge survivors often experience occurs when their behaviors does not match what society expects from victims.  For instance, after being assaulted, a student may call their friend or take a shower instead of reporting the incident to law enforcement.  Such behaviors are perceived to be counterintuitive. For this reason, it is critical for law enforcement and judicial affairs to further enhance their understanding of survivor behavior and victimology in order to be more sensitive towards the survivor and to also be better equipped to engage in an investigation process that will ultimately lead to successful prosecution.

Speaker

Roger Canaff has lectured to Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners nationwide on their role in the legal process, and has lectured to physicians and others in the medical field as well. He has trained nationally on issues related to juvenile crime, sexual assault prosecution, child abuse and related issues. In 2003, Roger joined the staff of the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse at the American Prosecutors Research Institute in Alexandria, Virginia as a Senior Attorney. In 2005, he returned to active prosecution and relocated to New York City where he worked in the Child Abuse and Sex Unit of the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.  Roger took a position as a Highly Qualified Expert in June 2009 and is working for the Department of the Army specializing in assisting military prosecutors in investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases within the armed forces.

Objectives

1. To understand the behavior of sexual violence survivors in order to enhance the law enforcement investigation and prosecution processes.
2. To learn tools that can be integrated into the work done by CCRT members.

Materials (available after the webinar)

In an effort to raise awareness about violence against women, the United States Department of Justice is currently visiting 12 colleges and universities across the country.

“The tour is part of the Justice Department’s year-long commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). At 12 universities around the nation, Justice Department officials will speak with students about ways to prevent violence against women on college campuses, and the role that federal, state and local government, working with university staff, faculty and students, should play.”

To read the entire blog post, click here.

March 8, 2010
Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli at Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)

March 9, 2010
Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli at Brown University (Providence, R.I.)

March 10, 2010
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Tony West at Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.)

March 11, 2010
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Tony West at Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, Wash.)

March 12, 2010
Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division Ignacia S. Moreno at University of Illinois at Chicago (Chicago)

March 15, 2010
Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer at University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

March 23, 2010
Acting Director of the Office on Violence Against Women Catherine Pierce at East Central University (Ada, Okla.)

March 23, 2010
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Tony West at Norfolk State University (Norfolk, Va.)

March 29, 2010
Director of the Community Oriented Police Services Program Bernard K. Melekian at University of Southern California (Los Angeles)

March 29, 2010
Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legislative Affairs Ronald Weich at University of New Hampshire (Durham, N.H.)

March 31, 2010
Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Laurie O. Robinson at University of Minnesota (Minneapolis)

March 31, 2010
Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division Ignacia S. Moreno at University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Goleta, CA – The Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women Campus Grant program has four flagship systems that work towards meeting the minimum standards set by the grant.  The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) is part of the University of California system, a 10 campus system that focuses efforts on research, teaching and public service.

UCSB’s Rape Prevention Education Program (RPEP) is led by Melanie Matson, Director, who brings a wealth of experience in the field of sexual assault having worked for several years in Minnesota.  RPEP’s efforts are supported by Kari Mansager, the Assistant Director of the RPEP, as well as student interns.

La Jolla, CA – In the last few weeks, communities at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have experienced a series of abhorrent events surrounding race.  Members of a fraternity invited guests to celebrate Black History Month by dressing as their “favorite ghetto stereotype.”  Most recently, a student left a noose in the main library which led to additional student protests demanding the school’s administration take active steps towards recognizing the hostile climate and work with students in order to create a safer environment for marginalized communities at UCSD.  On March 1, UC President Mark Yudoff and UC Regents Chairman Russell Gould met with students in Sacramento about the recent incidents of intolerance across the UC system.

The structural mechanisms at work in these incidents are similar each time a student is sexually assaulted.  Students, staff and faculty are entitled to thrive on a safe campus.  However, as advocates in the sexual violence field know, to end campus violence requires a collaborative effort from all stakeholders as part of an ongoing commitment rooted in accountability, open dialogue, and education.

Resource on Hate Crimes

Responding to Hate Incident (PDF)

Below are links that highlight reactions by UC administration, UCSD faculty, and the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties on race relations as well as Battle Hate at UCSD, the university’s response to creating a safer campus environment.

KPBS discussion on race relations at UCSD (web link)

Chancellors Statement (PDF)

Battle Hate at UCSD (web link)

Mia Mingus

Mia Mingus is a queer disabled woman of color, South Korean transracial adoptee, and organizer.  Through her work on disability, race, reproductive justice, gender, sexuality, and transracial adoption, she recognizes the urgency and barriers for oppressed communities to work together and build alliances for liberation.  Though her activism changes and evolves, her roots remain firmly planted in ending sexual violence.  Mia has been recognized for her work with the 2008 Creating Change Award by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

As the Endnote speaker at the Campus Winter Institute, Mia delivered a challenging, theoretical speech on the intersectionality of identities in sexual violence and how collaboration can help end sexual violence.

A recent visit to a grantee program at the University of Guam yielded great information on what is being done on campus to prevent sexual violence.  ISA Psychological Services and the Violence Against Women Prevention Program work to provide students with effective prevention and intervention programs with help from Guam’s Attorney General-Alicia G. Limtiaco and various community partners.

Violence Against Women Prevention Program: Dr. Seyda Turk Smith, Maira K. Rios, Junelyn L. Hautea, Dr. Iain Twaddle

Check out what they are doing…

Enforcement and prevention are at the core of a recent article done by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity on sexual assault incidents at college campuses.

Rebecca Gordon, the Project Director at the University of Illinois at Chicago, led today’s webinar on “What new grantees ought to know.”  Given the high number of new recipients of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women’s Grant to Reduce Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking on Campus, CALCASA’s webinar focused on essential elements to getting programs off the ground.

Below are the materials from February’s webinar including the PowerPoint, text chat transcript and the audio.

What new grantees ought to know webinar (PDF)

Text Chat of February webinar (PDF)

February 2010 webinar audio

Below are some of the resources developed by the University of Illinois at Chicago campus team.

New Grantee Resource List

Oakland, CA – Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) is an especially exciting yet challenging time for advocates by investing concerted and heightened efforts to raise the level of awareness and education surrounding sexual assault across on the individual, community, organizational and public policy levels.  How to draw additional attention to sexual assault, advocates often ponder?  Art has long served as a medium through which to share ideas/events and elicit a variety of reactions from inspiration to provocation in order to create social change.

Breaking Silence

Inspired by the stories he heard while interviewing people, Bay Area-based artist Joe Schneider developed “Breaking Silence” an exhibition using photography and interviews that revolves around survivors of sexual assault.  The exhibition toured college and university campuses across the country where attendees, given a portable cd player, would walk through the room to see portrait photographs of survivors mounted and displayed on easels while listening to interviews where the survivors share their experiences.  ”There is a real range of the healing process [that comes appears in the exhibition].  I think some of these people are very evolved and others are much more raw.  Talking about it is a good thing no matter what.”

The exhibition is meant to serve as a space where people can individually connect with stories thereby reiterating how sexual violence is an issue that impacts diverse communities.  ”There’s something intimate about listening to the stories on a headset,” Joe adds.

“Prevent sexual violence…on our campus” serves as the theme for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) 2010 Sexual Assault Awareness Month campaign which focuses on primary prevention.

“The campaign is built around the Spectrum of Prevention framework, developed by Larry Cohen of the Prevention Institute, that places public health problems, including sexual violence, within a larger context, beyond individual behaviors, to highlight the community and societal factors that influence the issue.”

The NSVRC provides a variety of resources specific to campuses working to end sexual violence.

SAAM Day of Action is Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Orlando, FL – On January 20-21, campus grantees gathered in Orlando for the Winter 2010 Training & Technical Assistance (TTI).  The two days provided keynote speakers and workshop sessions aimed to address the institute’s theme “Coordinated Community Response and Working with Underserved Communities” by focusing on a variety of areas: law enforcement, best practices in meeting minimum grant standards, working with underserved communities, peer education, and engaging men in campus work.

A survivor of stalking opened the conference by sharing her experience.  As the Chief of Threat Assessment at Virginia Tech, Major Gene Deisinger addressed coordinated community response during lunch.  One participant noted that Major Deisinger “offered suggestions about how to address violence against women from a macro perspective.”  As someone that self-identifies as queer disabled woman of color, South Korean transracial adoptee, Mia Mingus closed the TTI with a discourse surrounding the intersectionality of identities that is often overlooked by sexual violence advocates across the country.   Another participant described Mia’s speech as “extremely inspiring, audacious, and insightful” by challenging attendees to look at various frameworks when doing sexual violence work.

Media from the TTI will be made available on the CALCASA site in coming weeks.  Below is the TTI program as a PDF.

Winter 2010 TTI program

On Tuesday, February 23, CALCASA will host “What new grantees ought to know” which will be facilitated by Rebecca Gordon, Project Director at the University of Illinois, Chicago.  The discussion will focus on UIC’s best practices to achieve minimum standards and ideas to initiate the Campus grant program/campaign.

We strongly encourage participants to be prepared with questions to engage the presenter and other participants in dialogue.

For registration instructions, please check the Project Directors listserv or contact your respective TA coordinator.

The PowerPoint (in PDF format), resources, transcript of the text chat, and audio recording will be made available within a week of the webinar.

President Obama’s FY2011 Budget Request includes a commitment to combating violence against women.  The White House recently posted a blog by the White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, Lynn Rosenthal, on the President’s commitment to combating violence against women nationwide in the budget.

Click to continue…

Los Angeles city leaders announce that forensic positions will not be funded

Human Rights Watch reported on the lack of follow-through regarding the growing backlog of untested DNA in rape cases in the city of Los Angeles.  In May 2009, the City Council approved 26 new crime lab positions which:

“The police maintained that the positions were necessary to address a backlog of 7,000 untested sets of physical evidence in rape cases, known as rape kits, and to develop a long-term solution for efficient and effective rape kit testing. For the first time since the positions were approved, the city acknowledged today that the positions have not been funded and will not be filled.”

To read the full article, click here.

The FY 2010 Grants to Reduce Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking on Campus Program (“Campus Program”) solicitation has been released. The Campus Program strengthens campus victim services, security, and investigative strategies to prevent and prosecute violent crimes against women on campuses. Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education (as defined under the Higher Education Amendments of 1998), and a consortium of higher education institutions provided that each individual member of the consortium is also eligible to apply. For more information go to  www.ovw.usdoj.gov and see section labeled New Fiscal Year 2010 Solicitations.

The Campus TA assignments have been posted! To find out your campus TA provider, visit CALCASA Campus Assignments.

Orientation packet for new grantees

During the pre-institute, FY 2009 Project Directors received the orientation packet that contains information on CALCASA’s role as the national technical assistance provider for the recipients of the OVW Campus Grant.  The file was on the flash drive and can also be accessed on our website.  If you have any questions, please contact the Campus Program staff.

2010 Orientation Packet

Orlando, FL – Historically, the first day of the Winter Training & Technical Assistance Institute has focused on law enforcement training.  Because of the high volume of campuses awarded the OVW Campus in 2009, the Pre-Institute focused on providing orientation to the new recipients.

OVW Program Managers, representatives from the Office of the Comptroller and Muskie School presented on grant requirements and progress reports.  CALCASA staff provided an overview of the Campus Program and the technical assistance we offer grantees.

The New York Times recently featured a piece titled “Why Twitter Will Endure” which examines the role, value and future of Twitter, the social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets.  For some organizers, educators, researchers, advocates, and community partners involved in the gender violence movement, using web-based technology such as Twitter may seem more relevant and meaningful for younger generations or entirely irrelevant in the line of work we do.

Undeniably, Twitter has become another space where people can exchange information, which is critical in sustaining a social movement’s momentum.  An often cited example of online activism is the Obama campaign which drew a younger demographic into the political sphere (and voting polls) at a pace and with numbers not seen in previous presidential elections.  For an entire country, Twitter became a tool of informing the rest of the world about the events that unfolded during the summer of 2009 in Iran.

How can your campus program use Twitter, if they aren’t already?  If you’re interested in learning more about Twitter, check out these clever infographics that shed light on the world of tweeting.

The Center for Public Integrity recently published an investigative series “Sexual Assault on Campuses.”  The series examines three critical areas students encounter: (1) the judicial proceedings involved in sexual assault cases, (2) the institutional barriers that curb reporting of sexual violence and (3) the collection of statistics.  The Center notes how:

“Available data suggest that, on many campuses, far more sexual offenses are occurring than are reflected in the official Clery numbers…But many survey respondents affirmed assertions from critics that colleges and universities are ducking bad publicity by exploiting weaknesses in the Clery Act and ignoring their clinic numbers, thus keeping official statistics low.”

Rape prevention education efforts vary across college campuses

Last month, The Chronicle on Higher Education featured an article addressing the diversity of rape prevention education programs at college/university campuses across the United States.  Sharyn Potter at the University of New Hampshire and Dorothy Edwards at the University of Kentucky, both project directors of the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Grant to Reduce Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking at their respective campus, share their thoughts on sexual violence programs.

For the full article, please click on the link below:

Rape Prevention Campus 2009

CALCASA Campus Program will be hosting the 2010 Winter TTI January 19-21 in Orlando, FL. Click on the link below to preview the workshops and speakers we will have in store for new and returning campus grantees!

2010 Winter TTI At-A-Glance

Orlando, FL – The Campus Winter Training & Technical Assistance Institute (TTI) on January 19-21, 2010 in Orlando, Florida will be an opportunity for all grantees to meet OVW Program Managers, CALCASA staff, and network with each other.  As we approach the Institute, CALCASA will send the finalized workshop listing with descriptions and times.

This year’s theme is Coordinated Community Response and Working with Underserved Communities, which will be highlighted by the keynote speakers and underscored by the workshop presenters.  Please see below to read a few of the workshop titles.

TTI WORKSHOPS

• Campus Sexual Assault Response Teams
• Bridging the Gap Between Victim Advocates and Law Enforcement
• Creating Multilingual Spaces in Campus Sexual Violence Work
• Gender Violence, Activism, and Our Relationship: Remembering Love at the End of Everyday
• State Coalitions Against Sexual Assault & Campuses Working Together
• Improving Our Multidisciplinary Work: Managing Conflict and Agreement on Teams Responding to Crime Victims
• Protecting Victim Privacy While Promoting a Coordinated Community Response
• Moving Beyond He Said She Said: Effectively Investigating and Prosecuting Consent Defense Cases
• Weighing the Benefits and Challenges of Presenting Single Gender v. Mixed Gender Sexual Assault Educational Programs: What We Know and What We Still Have Yet to Learn
• Mobilizing Students for Change -Peer Education Programs to Combat Violence Against Women
• “Ordinary” v. “Extraordinary” Campus Violence: Combating Legal Myths and Gendered Silences about Peer Sexual Violence and School Shootings
• Making Organizations LGBTQ Inclusive
• Underprivileged and Underserved: Lessons on Navigating Language and Care with Clients of Color
• Culturally Informed Trauma Services
• Promotoras: Promoting Change & Organizing to End Sexual Violence
• Sexual Violence on Campus: How Community Policing Impacts Campus Works with Underserved Communities

Brett Sokolow with NCHERM discussed "Consent on College Campuses"

On December 1, 2009, Brett Sokolow, with the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM), led this month’s webinar discussion regarding “Consent on College Campuses.”

Below you can find the PowerPoint presentation in PDF format.  Due to technical challenges, we are unable to provide the transcript of the text chat.  The audio recording will be made available in a few weeks.  Please check the website for updates.

Campus December 2009 Webinar PDF

The 1980′s brought the world’s attention to HIV/AIDS, which quickly entered the social, medical, and political cultures of the United States.  How the disease is contracted, who is at high risk of infection, as well as what existing treatments or prevention programs work (among a plethora of many other critical questions) have yet to become as ingrained across communities in the United States.  December 1, recognized as World AIDS Day, is an international effort to raise awareness of the epidemic and honor those that have died in the wake of the global epidemic.

What is the connection between sexual assault and HIV/AIDS?

“The inability to negotiate safe sex in situations of sexual assault, the physical injuries that may accompany a sexual assault, and fear of ostracism all combine to increase women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and other STIs and undermine their ability to protect their sexual health.  At the core of the problem are gender-based inequalities that set the stage for various factors that directly and indirectly contribute to the spread of the virus” (Stop Violence Against Women).

The UNAIDS, the joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, coalesces the resources of the ten UN system organizations by working towards prevention of new HIV infections and treatment for people living with HIV.  UNAIDS provides statistics on treatment, prevention, and legislation among other critical areas in the fight to end HIV/AIDS.

The UNAIDS issued a statement on November 25th, International Day of Elimination of Violence Towards Women, discussing the link between gender based violence and HIV.   “According to a 2006 report by United Nations Secretary-General, one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, usually by someone known to her,” (2009, UNAIDS).

Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS, urges governments and communities to address gender-based violence:

“We need to scale up effective programs which promote gender equality at country level and invest more in building-up the evidence base.  Policies and programs addressing gender inequality and gender-based violence will help achieve our universal targets for prevention, treatment and care. Investment in responses is an essential part of HIV programming.”

Understanding the intersection between HIV and gender-based violence influences not only the prevention and intervention efforts but also impacts how we approach our work as advocates, educators, researchers, and survivors in the field of sexual violence/violence against women.  For instance, collaborating with partners in the HIV/AIDS field provides further insight into the reality survivors face.  The intersection of sexual assault and HIV are not only an international public health concern but an urgent human rights issue that demands additional attention and energy.

To see a listing of events near you, please see the World AIDS Day 2009 Calendar.

Fifteen years ago, the U.S. government recognized the urgent need to pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) as a legislative means of combating violence against women and families. With the historic legislation came the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) at the Department of Justice which focuses on overseeing the government’s efforts in ending gender-based violence.  VAWA and OVW are part of the world wide campaign to end violence against women and families.

On December 17, 1999, the United Nations designated November 25th as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  As the United Nations reminds us, the day serves to encourage “governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities designed to raise public awareness of the problem on that day.  Women’s activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981.  This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).”

VAW UN Fact Sheet

For more information on global gender-based violence, visit the United Nations.

CALCASA is excited to have Brett Sokolow, Esq. discuss consent during CALCASA’s last webinar of the year on December 1.  To register, please check the Project Director’s listserv for the link and instructions.  The powerpoint, recording and text chat transcription will be made available shortly after the webinar on December 1st.  If you have registration questions, please contact Livia Rojas livia@calcasa.org

November 20th marks the 11th International Transgender Day of Remembrance meant to honor those who have died due to anti-transgender violence. Today raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people and honors the work of those who continue the work toward full inclusion.  In a historic moment for civil and human rights in the United States, President Obama signed the hate crime bill into law on October 28, 2009.   The measure expands current hate crimes law to include violence based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

After signing the bill, President Obama made a few remarks and specifically addressed the law makers:

“You understood that we must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits — not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear,” Mr. Obama said. “You understand that the rights afforded every citizen under our Constitution mean nothing if we do not protect those rights — both from unjust laws and violent acts.”

When addressing the needs and resources of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQQ) students, college and university campuses sometimes focus attention and resources exclusively towards students that identify as gay or lesbian, often ignoring those that identify as transgender.  Despite the dearth of research on violence in the transgender community, existing data demonstrates that transgendered people are at higher risk of experiencing abuse by the police and medical professionals, in addition to being subjected to street violence and domestic/intimate partner abuse.

One approach to having more transgender inclusive anti-sexual assault services is through education and awareness.  By developing amd sustaining meaningful, professional relationships with the staff and students at your campus LGBTQ center or the local LGBT center not only expands the staff’s skills and knowledge, but ultimately and most importantly, improves the delivery of services and outreach to transgender students whom often experience alienation and harassment.  By being more trans-inclusive, institutions take a necessary step towards creating a safer campus community for all.

For more information, please check out the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) for resources near you.

San Francisco – On Sunday, November 15, the San Francisco Women Against Rape (SF WAR) hosted “She Who Laughs Last” an entertaining night of comedy featuring four women of color at the Victoria Theater in the Mission District of San Francisco.  Micia Mosely MC’d the event presenting three phenomenal artists including Ali Wong, Sia Amma and Kristina Wong.  Congratulations to SFWAR and the event volunteers for organizing a wonderful evening of articulate, funny and touching stories shared in a space meant to inspire activism and support to end sexual violence.

She Who Laughs Last a comedy night and fundraiser for San Francisco Women Against Rape (SF WAR)

Domestic violence is heavily under-reported across the United States.  In an effort to illustrate the urgency in combating domestic violence, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) released its report on domestic violence within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) communities in the United States during 2008.

“The total number of cases reported to NCAVP members was 3,419.  Los Angeles, with increased monitoring capacity, reported close to 1,500 incidents. Major findings of the report reflected that the number of reported DV-related fatalities increased and the number of cases with reported police misconduct in 2008 increased by 93%. In 2008, incidents of police misconduct, reported by 2.3% of all callers to NCAVP organizations, nearly doubled compared to those reported in 2007.”

The increase in reports does not necessarily reflect an increase in violence.  Instead, when communities are informed of existing culturally-sensitive resources, individuals and communities are much more likely to report incidents and crimes to authorities.

In addition, the NCAVP also notes:

Other major findings of the 2008 report included increases in reports along many race and ethnicity categories, notably people identifying as Latina/o (100%), Multi-racial (91%), and African Descent (50%). Striking increases were seen in a relatively new category of immigration, especially people with recent visas (1700%), refugees and asylees (900%), and people who are undocumented (250%). Additionally, reports of domestic violence against people living with disabilities increased by almost 50%.

To read the full NCAVP 2008 report, click here.

The November webinar has been rescheduled for Tuesday, December 1, 2009.  We are excited that the Last Webinar of 2009 will be hosted by nationally recognized speaker Brett Sokolow.

Consent on College Campuses
Presenter:  Brett Sokolow
Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 11:00 a.m. PST

Brett Sokolow to speak at CALCASA's December webinar

Brett Sokolow is the Managing Partner of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM), a national multidisciplinary risk management consulting firm.   Through NCHERM, Sokolow has consulted with over 1,300 colleges, universities, schools and military institutions in the US and Canada.  He has eleven years of experience helping clients to enhance the safety and security of their communities by strategically addressing high-risk health and safety issues.

For registration information, please check the Project Directors listserv, otherwise contact Livia Rojas at livia@calcasa.org.

San Francisco – On Friday, November 6, Dr. Dorothy Edwards addressed members affiliated with the University of California Flagship consortium on Green Dot, a violence prevention initiative that promotes “any behavior, choice, word, or attitude that counters or displaces a red-dot of violence – by promoting safety for everyone and communicating utter intolerance for sexual violence, interpersonal violence, stalking and child abuse.”

Dr. Edwards’ dynamic presentation is a blend of evidence-based practice with narrative drawn from her personal experience as a survivor, advocate and educator working to end sexual violence.  From the beginning, Dr. Edwards drew her audience by sharing her connection with gender-based violence.  By doing so, she models two key components to making Green Dot successful at any campus seeking to end sexual violence:  authenticity and engaging the audience.

The five hour training presentation also encouraged the audience to reflect on how Green Dot can be used at their respective campus.  Some campuses, like at UC San Diego, are using elements of Green Dot in their existing sexual violence campaign.  Representatives from other campuses shared how they can appeal to their administration so as to garner their support in obtaining Green Dot training at their campus.

“One green dot is an action, a choice, a moment of time. Green dots are individual choices that meet in a shared vision creating the momentum
of a social movement,” Dr. Edwards reminded the audience throughout the presentation.  Part of being the Green Dot entails having a shared language in achieving the shared vision.  Towards that end, she explained how the violence prevention center at the University of Kentucky moved away from “violence against women” to “power based partner violence.”  The cultural and political impact, as well as the linguistic significance, of doing so not only reminds us of the sacrifices of the movement’s early activists made in order to have legal, socio-political and cultural institutions name violence for what it is: oppression of the body and mind based on gender.  Dr. Edwards acknowledge how the movement’s origins left out many communities that also experience violence that deserve to be recognized in our prevention, education and intervention efforts.

Dr. Edwards’ inspiring presentation on Green Dot re-energized a room full of campus advocates, educators, and law enforcement officers that fight the daily battle of ending campus violence.  California has a lengthy trajectory of being known as a “green” state but that greening will now come to include moments where sexual violence is prevented by individuals across the state.

Legal Momentum recently critiqued the new U.S. Crime Reports issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) including Crime Against Persons with Disabilities, 2007 and Female Victims of Violence, 2008.  Their critique can be read here.

Not only does Legal Momentum critique the flawed methodology that underestimates rape rates against women and persons with disabilities but the organization also recommends a set of questions that researchers can use when conducting studies that are more sensitive to a survivor’s experience.

For example:

“It is essential to ask behaviorally-based questions because victims often do not put the label “rape” or “sexual assault” on their experience, especially when the perpetrator is someone they know, as is the case in the significant majority of rapes.”

They also encourage readers to be aware of a few issues when analyzing reports:

“Most offenders have had multiple targets and/or multiple rapes of the same victim (this is especially true in intimate partner sexual abuse cases)…Few studies have measured drug-facilitated or incapacitated rapes.  Research suggests that the rate of reporting for victims of these types of assaults is even lower than for non-incapacitated victims.”

OVW and CALCASA are excited to announce that the registration for the 2010 Winter TTI is now open for OVW Recipients of the Grants To Reduce Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking on College Campuses.  The Winter TTI 2010 will be held at the Orlando Resort: Marriott World Center.

The Pre-Institute on Tuesday, January 19th will serve as an Orientation for all New Grantees/First Time TTI participants.  OVW is organizing the Pre-Institute with the aim of assisting grantees in better understanding how campuses can achieve the minimum grant standards.

PLEASE NOTE: Although the Pre-Institute will NOT focus on law enforcement, the Institute will have a variety of trainings specific to law enforcement.

Flagship Meeting will also be held on Tuesday, January 19th from 2pm – 5pm.

The Institute on Wednesday, January 20th and Thursday, January 21st will focus on meeting grant standards while working with underserved communities.  Keynote speakers will frame the issues impacting the campus sexual violence communities while the workshop presenters will provide participants with more tangible, practical skills that can be applied towards ending campus violence.

Registration is restricted to Project Directors and a password is required to access the page

Project Directors, please contact CALCASA to obtain the password

If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact Katrina Duncan katrina@calcasa.org or call 916.446.2520 ext. 331. For more information regarding the TTI content, please contact Althea Hart althea@calcasa.org or Livia Rojas livia@calcasa.org.

San Francisco – Dr. Dorothy Edwards from the University of Kentucky will be in the Bay Area at the University of California at San Francisco to speak on bystander intervention and sexual violence.

PARNASSUS
November 9, 2009 at 12.00 – 1.00 pm in Cole Hall

MISSION BAY
November 9, 2009 at 5.00 – 6.00 pm in Genentech Hall Auditorium

Our individual and collective efforts can stop the epidemic of violence in our communities.  Each one of us has a role to play as a bystander in our society to promote behaviors, choices, words, and attitudes that communicate can utter tolerance for sexual assault, dating violence, stalking and domestic violence.  This mandatory session will explain the importance of the “bystander” in ending violence on campus and in our community.

Dorothy Edwards

Dr. Dorothy Edwards is the founding Director of the University of Kentucky’s Violence Intervention and Prevention Center, the designated unit on campus to address power based personal violence (including sexual violence, partner violence and stalking) at the prevention, intervention and response levels. While earning her doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology from Texas Woman’s University, Dr. Edwards focused her academic and clinical development on the issues of women, trauma and violence.  In the past ten years, Dr. Edwards has emerged as a passionate voice committed to the right of every person to live free from violence and fear of violence. Toward that end, she provides education, training and consultation to universities, non-profits, community and state organizations around the country on community mobilization, strategic planning and program development in the area of violence prevention.

On October 27, 2009, CALCASA hosted a webinar on “Technology and Stalking on College Campuses.”  Rebecca Dreke, MSSW, with the National Stalking Resource Center, in Washington, D.C., presented on the impact of technology as a means students are stalked on college campuses.  She addressed campus responses through advocacy, victim services, policy, and training for judicial affairs officials as well as for campus law enforcement officers.

National Stalking Resource Center is housed at the National Center for Victims of Crime

Click on the links below for the PowerPoint presentation and/or the transcript of the text chat.

CALCASA Campus October 2009 Text Chat

Campus Staff journeyed to UC Davis to hear the nationally award winning speaker Mia Mingus speak to students in recognition of Pride Week and Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Mia’ s presence generated a great turn out amongst students as she addressed the challenges of intersecting identities and oppression as they relate to violence against women.  Mia Mingus is a queer disabled woman of color, South Korean transracial adoptee, organizer and one of the Co-Executive Directors of SPARK Reproductive Justice Now (formerly Georgians for Choice) in Atlanta, Georgia. Through her work on disability, race, reproductive justice, gender, sexuality, and transracial adoption, she discussed the urgency  for oppressed communities to work together and build alliances for liberation.

Click on the YouTube video below to hear Mia’s message as she receives the 2008 Creating Change Award at the National Conference on LGBT Equality.

On Tuesday, October 27, CALCASA will host a webinar on “Cyberstalking, Technology & Sexual Violence on College Campuses.”  In the last decade, we have witnessed and engaged, to varying degrees, in the expansion of technology in our everyday lives.  The internet, for instance, while greatly received as a means of mass communication and quick dissemination of social capital across boundaries (geo-political in particular), also presents a series of challenges relevant to the sexual violence movement.

The purpose of this month’s webinar is to gain a more thorough understanding of the complexities surrounding technology and sexual violence.  The discussion will begin with an overview of stalking, focus on cyberstalking as experienced at college campuses across the United States, as well as inform participants of general legal remedies related to technology and sexual violence. A presenter from the Stalking Resource Center of the National Center for Victims of Crime will lead the presentation, followed by a question and answer period.

For more registration details, please check the Project Directors listserv.  If you have any questions regarding registration or the webinar topic, please contact Livia Rojas, Training & Resource Coordinator (livia@calcasa.org).

On October 15, 2009, the Women’s Law Caucus at Albany Law School and members of the Campus Violence Prevention Taskforce Office along with the school’s Domestic Violence Clinic, organized a domestic violence vigil in recognition of the survivors and victims of domestic violence.

Approximately 70 students, staff and faculty and community members gathered on the steps of Albany Law School’s historic 1928 building which was lit in purple, the color used to commemorate domestic violence.  Karla DiGirolamo from Unity House not only addressed the progress the U.S. domestic violence movement has made in the last thirty years but also stressed the urgency of making further strides forward.  Part of the solution, she said, requires the active and continuous engagement of men in order to change norms and to address populations of marginalized survivors.  Men’s involvement in combatting gender based violence is a growing approach across the country, particularly on college campuses.

Following Karla’s call to action, Barbara Chandler, a paralegal in the Law Clinic & Justice Center, sang a beautiful rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly” acappela.  The vigil preceded an informational social indoors where event attendees were treated to hot chocolate and more information about upcoming events including next week’s presentation by A Call to Men on October 21, tabling and collecting personal care items for domestic violence shelter residents.

Albany, NY – In 2007, the College of St. Rose, Siena College and Albany Law School became one of the few recipients of the campus grant to apply as a consortium.  Dennis McDonald, Project Director and the current Vice President of Student Affairs at the College of St. Rose oversees the grant with the help of Project Coordinators Sherri Salvione and Michelle Murray, both advocates at Equinox, a community based organization that serves domestic violence survivors and is active partner on the grant.

CALCASA Campus Program met with each campus team on their respective campus.  College of St. Rose team also included the attendance of a representative from the campus’ Women’s Initiative, a student run group working to advance women’s issues.  Meeting with the Albany Police Department representative and as well as representatives from the District Attorney’s Office provided further insight into how the consortium works.

College of St. Rose

Later that day, CALCASA met several staff members at Equinox and toured the beautiful facility that provides direct services to domestic violence survivors and their families.  In the evening, CALCASA attended the beautiful vigil held at Albany Law School for domestic violence survivors.

The second day of the visit started at Albany Law School.  The Legal Project hosted the lunch meeting where CALCASA attended the Coordinating Council’s monthly meeting.  The Coordinating Council (CC) is comprised of representatives from the various university and community-based partners. The CC serves to coordinate consistent and sensitive response to gender based violence at all three institutions of higher learning.

CALCASA’s site visit ended at Siena College where staff met members of the team and learned about the human rights framework that drives the judicial affairs process relating to sexual violence on campus.

Siena College

Campus grantee, University of Kentucky, recently received a $2 million grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to work with Kentucky teenagers to combat and prevent dating violence through the “Green Dot” prevention program, a model pioneered on the UK campus.

For the complete news story click on the link http://uknow.uky.edu/category/tags/green-dot Check out the Prevent Connect interview with Dorothy Edwards on the “Green Dot” violence prevention initiative featured below!

Call for Abstracts and Presentations

CALCASA Campus Winter Training and Technical Assistance Institute
January 19-21, 2010
Orlando, Florida
Submission Deadline: Friday, October 16, 2009

Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
in cooperation with the
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA)

CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION
The CALCASA Winter TTI 2010 seeks to include a wide range of innovative work across the United States and territories relating to reducing domestic/dating violence, sexual assault and stalking/cyber stalking through practice, research and policy, and judicial/campus law enforcement procedures at colleges/universities.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS AND PRESENTATIONS

Submission Deadline: Friday, October 16, 2009

Click on the link below to download the submission details.

CALCASA Campus Winter 2010 Call

Please submit abstracts using the attached abstract submission instructions via EMAIL, MAIL or FAX to:

Livia Rojas, Training & Resource Coordinator
CALCASA
1215 K Street, Suite 1100
Sacramento, CA 95814
T.916.446.2520 ext. 303
F.916.446.8166
livia@calcasa.org

Los Angeles, CA – On October 26-27, 2009, Security on Campus, Inc. will conduct a training on the Clery Act, the federal guidelines of how campus report crimes.  Security on Campus provides nation-wide trainings on the Clery Act.  The purpose of the training is to improve adherence in order to provide a more secure campus community.

For more information about the upcoming Clery Act Training sponsored by Security on Campus, please click here about registration, location and workshop details.

You have successfully completed the registration for the OVW/CALCASA Campus Winter 2010 Training and Technical Assistance Institute in Orlando, FL from January 19-21, 2010.

For further information related to registration, please contact Katrina Duncan at katrina@calcasa.org.  If you have questions regarding TTI context, please contact Althea Hart althea@calcasa.org or Livia Rojas livia@calcasa.org.

On September 29, 2009, CALCASA hosted the webinar on “Working with Underserved Communities” at college and university campuses across the United States.  We had a diverse range of presenters that addressed challenging issues crucial in meeting the 100% requirement of the Campus Grant.

Rachel Griffin, Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University, provided a framework of understanding oppression and intersecting identities, specifically at college campuses.

Sandra Harrell, Associate Director of Accessing Safety Initiative at Vera Institute of Justice, addressed the challenges students with disabilities and Deaf students encounter as sexual assault survivors.

Trish Duffett, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Counselor/Advocate at the New York City Anti-Violence Project discussed challenges Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Intersex/Queer/Questioning (LGBTIQ)-identifying students face as a diverse community at high risk of violence.  All three speakers presented various recommendations that institutions can do when promoting anti-oppression in the designing and implementation of prevention and interventions.

Considering the range of familiarity participants have relating to working with underserved communities, the aim of today’s webinar was to serve as a springboard for grantees to discuss and examine how their respective campuses address meeting the needs and resources of diverse communities in the struggle to end campus violence.

Below you will find the September 2009 Webinar PowerPoint presentation, transcript of the text chat, and resources from today’s presenters.  NOTE: The audio recording will be available soon.  If you have any difficulty accessing the files, please contact Livia Rojas at livia@calcasa.org.

CALCASA Campus September 2009 Webinar

Sept 2009 Webinar Transcript

Dr. Rachel Griffin Framework on Working with Underserved Communities

CALCASA Campus Sept 2009 Webinar Resource Sheet

Campus staff visited West Virginia State University last week. The campus is utilizing the Green Dot initiative to promote by-stander intervention. It has generated great buy-in and support among students and campus administrators. Green Dot will be marketed during the campuses Homecoming festivities leading into October Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  Click on the word student for pictures from the visit.

Student demographics at colleges/universities across the United States vary from campus to campus. In an effort to outreach and provide more culturally relevant services that relate to violence against women, CALCASA’s webinar on “Working With Underserved Communities” aims to highlight the complexity surrounding intersecting identities and the urgency of building capacity amongst providers by having experts in the field address the challenges and discuss how campuses are serving diverse needs.

CALCASA’s next webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, 2009.  Please check the Project Directors listserv for registration details. If you did not receive an email, please contact Livia at livia@calcasa.org.

Presenters include:

• Rachel Griffin, Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in Department of Speech Communication;
• Sandra Harrell, Director of Accessing Safety Initiative at Vera Institute of Justice; and
• Patricia Duffett, Sexual Assault Counselor/Advocate at Anti-Violence Project

Call for Abstracts and Presentations

CALCASA Campus Winter Training and Technical Assistance Institute
January 19-21, 2010
Orlando, Florida
Submission Deadline: Friday, October 16, 2009

Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
in cooperation with the
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA)

CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION
The CALCASA Winter TTI 2010 seeks to include a wide range of innovative work across the United States and territories relating to reducing domestic/dating violence, sexual assault and stalking/cyber stalking through practice, research and policy, and judicial/campus law enforcement procedures at colleges/universities. The institute will have an emphasis on law enforcement training.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS AND PRESENTATIONS
(click on the highlighted link below to download the submission details)
Submission Deadline: Friday, October 16, 2009

CALCASA Campus Winter 2010 Call

Please submit abstracts using the attached abstract submission instructions via EMAIL or FAX to:

Livia Rojas, Training & Resource Coordinator
CALCASA
1215 K Street, Suite 1100
Sacramento, CA 95814
T.916.446.2520 ext. 303
F.916.446.8166
livia@calcasa.org

Alexandria, VA- Dolores Huerta gave a passionate speech in English and in Spanish as the first keynote speaker at the 2009 National Sexual Assault Conference after being introduced by Monica Ramirez with the Southern Poverty Law Center.  A long-time labor rights activist and transformative icon in the Chicana/o Movement, Dolores has advocated against all forms of violence, including sexual violence.

The audience gave Dolores a standing ovation, during which she said “While we’re standing, lets thank our waiters!”  Her speech touched on a variety of issues concerning gender violence including the socialization of men and women across cultural and political boundaries, marginalized communities, and human rights.  Around the world, feminists of diverse backgrounds continue to raise awareness, provide leadership and campaign against gender violence.

When discussing violence against marginalized communities, Dolores referenced Benito Juarez “el derecho al respecto ajeno es la paz” (“the right to respect others brings peace”) as the concept applies in the global struggle for human rights.  She encouraged conference participants to contact their representatives and remind them to consider women and children in this pivotal discussion surrounding healthcare reform.

By organizing and mobilizing communities, people’s conceptualization of power alters because they become directly involved in creating social change.  The Dolores Huerta Foundation works on feminist issues and uses community organizing to challenge traditional gender norms and myths that pervade U.S. society around issues of choice, domestic violence and sexual assault.  Developing women’s leadership is powerful and critical in sustaining the anti-violence movement.  For instance, given today’s financial climate, sexual assault/domestic violence agencies can build on the leadership of their constituents when having an organizer on staff is not feasible.

In the spirit of organizing and galvanizing communities, Dolores ended her speech rallying the participants with “viva las feministas!” and “si se puede!” while doing the unity clap.  Participants could not have asked for a more iconic keynote speaker to kick-off the conference.

CALCASA partnered with The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) to host the National Sexual Assault Conference in Alexandria, VA September 9-11, 2009. I attended a workshop titled “Countering the Normalization of Sexual Harm: Enhancing Advocates Role in Educating Communities” facilitated by Donna Dunn and Cordelia Anderson. These electrifying presenters gave coherence to how exploitative images of children and teens are being socialized as being normal and how it is impacting the work to prevent child sexual abuse. It generated great dialogue during the workshop. Presenters are continuing to develop research on this topic and will be published soon after it has been concluded.

The Red Flag Campaign Display

CALCASA had an opportunity to participate inthe 2009 National Sexual Assault Conference in Alexandria, VA. The National SA Conference was hosted by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and had about 600 participants in attendance.  The Conference featured workshops related to Sexual Assault in the Military, Working with Farm Working and Immigrant Communities, Engaging Men to Prevent Sexual Violence on Campuses, Violence and the Homeless Community, Sexual Violence Prevention and the Promotion of Healthy Relationships in the LGBTIQQ Communities, Working with Survivors with Mental Illness, and  Providing Culturally and Linguistically appropriate services to monolingual Spanish-Speaking and Deaf-Mute Communities.

There were also about 13 resource tables, including CALCASA’s, with valuable information for advocates.  Below is a list of some of the resources provided during the 2009 National Sexual Assault Conference as well as contact information for many:

CALCASA's Display Booth

• The National Center for Victims of Crime
• Centers for Disease Control Injury Prevention
• The United States Department of Defense – Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO)
• Vision of Hope ~ Their Hope, Our Vision
• National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV)
• International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN)
• Men Can Stop Rape (MCSR)
• The Red Flag Campaign

Bismarck, North Dakota is home to the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), the first and only tribal college recipient of the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) Grant to Reduce Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking on Campus.

Lewis Goodhouse Wellness Center houses UTTC's sexual assault/domestic violence resources

UTTC’s work is critical given the dearth of best practices that are culturally specific and relevant to Native American communities at campuses working towards ending violence against women.

Dan and Livia received a warm welcome from the UTTC community, including Sheri Baker, the Project Director and Julie Beston-Sage, the Project Coordinator. In addition to meeting with the various partners involved with UTTC’s collaborative effort in combating sexual violence, Dan and Livia toured the beautiful campus and the city of Bismarck.

The CALCASA Campus Program hosted the August 2009 webinar on “Achieving the Minimum Standards for OVW Campus Grant Programs.” It was facilitated by the Office on Violence Against Women Program Managers with brief overviews by select campus grantees who provided best practices that their campuses utilized to achieve particular minimum standards.

August 2009 Webinar Powerpoint
August 2009 Webinar Text Chat

The CALCASA Campus Program is at the MyStrength Gathering and Training learning more about the project. MyStrength raises awareness about sexual violence and examines the role that young men play in creating and sustaining healthy relationships.

Welcome to the Campus Grants Program page! Dan Esparza, Campus Grants Program Manager along with Althea Hart and Livia Rojas, Training & Resource Coordinators, are excited about the new CALCASA site design!

Here you will find information about future webinars, institutes, and other resources for Campus grantees. Also, check out the other programs at CALCASA such as public affairs and prevention, as you can gain insight with how to craft publicity surrounding your program’s events/activities.

We welcome suggestions and recommendations for improving accessibility to information!

In July, Daniel S. Carter with Securities on Campus, Inc. presented on the Clery Act Update. Grantees had the opportunity to ask questions pertaining to the complexity of the updates and how they impact their respective campus. Daniel made great use of the text chat where grantees posed their questions. If you missed the webinar and want to access the powerpoint and text chat, you can download the documents.

• July Webinar Text Chat Transcript
• PowerPoint Presentation

Dallas’ Renaissance Hotel hosted the Campus Training & Technical Assistance Institute on June 23-25, 2009. Keynote speakers included Sarah Buell, Clinical Professor at University of Texas School of Law, Sarah Griffin, Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and Dorothy Edwards, Professor at University of Kentucky, Sharyn Potter, Associate Professor at University of New Hampshire and Jane Stapleton.

“I’ve been to several CALCASA institutes in the past when working at Tougaloo College, but the institute in Dallas offered participants a diverse range of workshop topics and excellent keynote speakers that challenged us.” -Althea Hart

On August 18-19, CALCASA will be hosting its Annual Statewide Leadership Conference in Sacramento, California. This is a training opportunity for service providers at Rape Crisis Centers across California to learn more about a variety topics as well as network with other providers in the field of ending violence against women.

The Campus Program will be co-presenting with Marisa Messier, Consultant and Celina Alvarez, Outreach Director with the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center on collaborating with colleges and universities to reduce violence against women. This is great opportunity for rape crisis centers to collaborate with colleges/universities in reaching women 18-24 years of age.

Come back and visit the site soon to download the presenters’ materials.

Higher education has become increasingly diversified over the last few years, not only racially/ethnically, but also in terms of sexual identity/orientation and disabilities. Given the stigma surrounding survivors of violence, individuals that identify with underserved communities often face additional challenges particularly when accessing resources.

For this reason, it is of critical importance to continuously re-examine interventions to ensure they are culturally specific, as no one model fits all.

Panelists will:

1. Identify barriers related to working with specific under-served communities
2. Discuss existing and culturally congruent prevention interventions
3. Provide additional resources that are culturally specific

For more information on the panelists and registration instruction, please check the Project Directors listserv. Otherwise, contact your respective CALCASA Training & Resource Coordinator Althea Hart or Livia Rojas.

CALCASA’s Winter Training & Technical Institute is on January 19-20, 2010 in Orlando, Florida.

Please continue to check our website for updates and registration information. If specific concerns not addressed on the website, please contact your respective CALCASA Training & Resource Coordinator, Althea Hart or Livia Rojas.

Image from Travel Brook