Manual Cover

(13 min) In this interview, four educators and advocates discuss the creation of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence’s (Vermont Network) Youth and Child Advocate and Educator Manual of Activities and Exercises for Children and Youth. Bethany Pombar and Amy Tortchia of the Vermont Network, Kate Rohdenburg of WISE, and Sandy Hart of Umbrella talk about the process of gathering youth prevention education activities from across Vermont and the United States to create the Manual.

(Go to Interview)

No related posts.

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel down to Los Angeles with CALCASA’s Public Affairs Director Robert Coombs to meet with some of our members. This trip was a chance for us to hear what our members are excited about for the National Sexual Assault Conference that is taking place in September.

Our visit included a trip to Valley Oasis where we met with Program Manager Liza Rodriguez. Then we spoke with Executive Director Debra Suh from the Center For The Pacific Asian Family. And we wrapped up our trip with a visit to Peace Over Violence’s new location and a tour from Executive Director Patti Giggans.

For more information about the 2010 National Sexual Assault Conference, please visit our NSAC 2010 page.

REMINDER: The deadline for abstract submissions has been extended to Monday, March 22.

No related posts.

Since 1999, Peace Over Violence has has organized Denim Day in LA & USA as a rape prevention education campaign. Emily Austin, division manager of prevention services at Peace Over Violence, explains in the above video that Denim Day’s history began in 1998 when an Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction because the victim wore jeans, reasoning she must have helped her attacker remove them. Annually on Denim Day, people everywhere are encouraged to wear jeans as a sign of protest against the myths that surround sexual assault.

For 2010, Peace Over Violence has various plans to raise awareness about the need to end sexual violence. The agency is bringing Denim Day to the Los Angeles Unified School District by distributing materials that will allow students to become empowered advocates for justice. Additionally, each year it creates buttons for Denim Day, adding a new language each year. This year, there will be buttons in Sign Language. One event that is still in the works is the possibility of organizing a flash mob in order to bring attention to a topic that bystanders may not be familiar.

Last year, 1 million people signed up for the cause. With an increase in its online presence, Peace Over Violence hopes to double that number this year. For more information or to sign up, visit Denim Day in LA & USA.

No related posts.

Web Conference

This web conference is intended for to CALCASA members, CPEDV members, and California RPE Program grantees.

In this conference, participants will be introduced to framing and develop strategies for honing their communication works in ways that raise awareness of sexual violence, promote prevention and create opportunities for unified messaging with allies.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

This sixty-minute (60 min) session will start at 2:00 PM Pacific Daylight Savings Time

Host: David Lee, Director of Prevention Services, California Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Presenter: Robert Coombs, Director of Public Affairs, California Coalition Against Sexual Assault

To Register, Go To: http://calcasa.ilinc.com/public/calcasa

Cost: Free

What is a Web Conference? A web conference is an opportunity to attend an online workshop by watching a presentation on your computer screen (using your internet connection) and hearing presenters through your telephone. Our web conferences feature an opportunity to participate in online question & answer sessions and live text chat between participants. If for some reason you are unable to join on your computer, you can download the presentation slides from our website and listen on your phone.

No related posts.

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.

No related posts.

Recently, I came upon a story entitled, Women Workers Organizing Against Sexual Harassment, which featured a short video of female women who had organized against issues of sexual harassment at Guimarra Vineyards, where they are employed.  They were successful in gathering a petition of support signed by over 16,000 people and, as shown in the video, proudly submitted it to the Vineyards.

With SAAM 2010 quickly approaching, it’s important to keep in mind and highlight local movements such as these across the State.  One way that the Southern Poverty Law Center has been bringing attention to the issue of sexual harassment against farmworking women is through the Bandana Project. You can learn more about the Bandana Project here.

You can also read the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) press release regarding the Giumarra Vineyards case, here.

No related posts.

Lynette Irlmeier, Executive Director, Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Center

Several CALCASA staff members were present on Tuesday, March 3, 2010 along with the Community of Davis, California and Yolo County residents in welcoming Lynette Irlmeier as the new Executive Director of Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Center (SADVC).

Lynette Irlmeier took the helm of SADVC on January 25, 2010.  Lynette has formerly worked for the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support, the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the Professional Family Crisis Center Inc.

The SADVC Board of Directors in collaboration with SADVC staff put together a wonderful event in which community residents and business owners, City of Davis Police Department, members of the Yolo County Superior Court, Davis City Council members, and California Secretary of State Debra Bowen came together to show their support for the agency and survivors in the community.

CALCASA looks forward to working with Lynette Irlmeier in the future as well as our continued work with the SADVC Board of Directors and wonderful SADVC staff.

No related posts.

Jeff Morrill

(22 min) In this interview, Jeff Morrill talks about Boys to Men, an educational program in Portland, Maine, focused on supporting the development of adolescent boys into healthy, non-violent men. He describes the origins of the Boys to Men program, the construction of its curriculum, and the ways that it uses bystander intervention training as a core component of its work.

Jeff Morrill is the Program Coordinator for Boys to Men. You can learn more about Boys to Men at its Website.

(Go to Interview)

No related posts.

Typically when I think of sexual violence prevention efforts for college students I think of school based education and attempts to shift the college culture.  I typically do not consider the role of parents. A recent study ePublished in Prevention Science examines a parent based intervention to prevent college women’s sexual victimization. The logic of the program is that by having mothers talk to their daughters about reducing heavy drinking will lead to less heavy drinking which, in turn, reduces sexual victimization when the daughters are in college.

The authors conclude this effort was effective at reducing incidence of sexual violence for the generally white middle class population they investigated.

Of course this type of efforts does not do anything to address the men who rape and the sexual assaults that take place without women involved in heavy drinking. And I still have questions about the path analysis methodology and combining different groups together.

But this study made me think about the role of family and parents in prevention efforts.

What do you think?

The full citation and link to the abstract for the article follow.

Preventing College Women’s Sexual Victimization Through Parent Based Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Testa M, Hoffman JH, Livingston JA, Turrisi R. Prevention Science 2010; ePublished February 19, 2010

Click here for the article on the journal’s web site

(Copyright © 2010, Springer Science+Business Media)

A randomized controlled trial, using parent-based intervention (PBI) was designed to reduce the incidence of alcohol-involved sexual victimization among first-year college students. The PBI, adapted from Turrisi et al. (2001), was designed to increase alcohol-specific and general communication between mother and daughter. Female graduating high school seniors and their mothers were recruited from the community and randomly assigned to one of four conditions: Alcohol PBI (n = 305), Enhanced Alcohol + Sex PBI (n = 218), Control (n = 288) or Unmeasured Control (n = 167). Mothers in the intervention conditions were provided an informational handbook and encouraged to discuss its contents with their daughters prior to college matriculation. Consistent with hypotheses, PBI, either standard or enhanced, was associated with lower incidence of incapacitated rape in the first year of college relative to controls. Path analysis revealed support for a hypothesized indirect effects model, by which intervention increased mother-daughter communication, which predicted lower frequency of first semester heavy episodic drinking, resulting in lower rates of alcohol-involved sexual victimization in the first year of college.

No related posts.

Are advocates born or are they created by the lessons of their life experiences?  Whichever is true; it is evident that employees of California rape crisis centers will eagerly and aggressively work on behalf of survivors of assault without giving it a second thought.   However, when it comes to advocating for oneself at work with regards to discriminatory behavior expressed by coworkers, supervisors, volunteers, or board members in relation to race, sexual orientation, religion, etc; the same tenacity and perseverance with which they used to help victims is not displayed to assist themselves.

Does your agency have mechanisms in place to address incidents of discriminatory behavior toward staff by others affiliated with the organization?  Is your staff aware of these policies and or procedures; and has your management staff been trained to respond appropriately and in a timely manner?

Last year CALCASA provided resources to address the issues of oppression within the work environment through the  ”Anti Oppression Institute – At the Crossroads of Race and Queer“  designed and facilitated by the CALCASA Dismantling Oppression Work Group (DOWG).

CALCASA also provides venues for issues to be addressed through dialogue and problem solving with the Queer Women Caucus,  Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities Caucus, Women of Color North Caucus and Women of Color South Caucus.

Having mechanisms in place to address the issues of discrimination is a good risk management practice for any agency.  Also some of your state and federal grants may have  Certification of Assurance of Compliance  regarding discrimination that your agency must agree to  in order to accept their money.

Not addressing discrimination in your agency can affect work morale and the quality of service being provided to clients and the community; not to mention your ethical and legal obligations.

To receive more information about the various caucuses that CALCASA has or to contribute to the discussion of dismantling oppression at your agency please comment in the box below.

No related posts.