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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Brad Perry is the Sexual Violence Prevention Coordinator for the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance (VSDVAA).  In addition to being a well respected prevention leader and author of wonderful articles in Moving Upstream: Virginia’s newsletter for the primary prevention of sexual violence and intimate partner violence, Brad is also the drummer of the band Worn in Red. I caught up with Brad as his band was playing at the 924 Gilman Project in California.

Join hundreds of people committed to addressing sexual violence at the 2010 National Sexual Assault Conference in Los Angeles. Click here for more information. Abstracts are due March 12, 2010 – please submit your proposals today.

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Joan Tabachnick

(11 min) In this interview, Joan Tabachnick talks about Engaging Bystanders in Sexual Violence Prevention, a booklet she wrote for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). She also talks about the practice of teaching bystanders to intervene, and about her new role as Editor of the NSVRC’s new blog, Letters for an Engaged Bystander.

The NSVRC has a large collection of bystander intervention resources available on its Website.

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On February 3, 2010, about 30 advocates from various Ca Rape Crisis Centers convened in Pacifia, CA for a workshop addressing vicarious trauma facilitated by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, author of  “Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others.”

As mentioned in the previous posts, A Time for Healing and Trauma Stewardship Workshop, Laura van Dernoot Lipsky has worked with trauma survivors for over a decade and has now shifted her focus on the effects of this work on other advocates in trauma-related fields. Laura addressed the importance of self-care, daily meditation, and embracing your everyday blessings without guilt.

It was great to see how many advocates were able to attend this workshop and take advantage of the tools and resources Laura provided.  One participant shared:

Laura’s presentation style was amazing. I think when doing the work that we do, and discussing how it affects us, it is important to not feel overwhelmed or be too judgmental of ourselves . Her use of humor and her ability to engage the audience seemed to bring people together and facilitated the openness for discussion.

You can hear more about the workshop and what participants had to say about it below.

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Project ENVISION

(18 min) This is an interview with Meghan O’Connor and Laura Fidler of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault (the Alliance). In conjunction with eleven of the city’s rape crisis programs, in 2008 the Alliance initiated the second phase of Project ENVISION, a 6-year sexual violence primary prevention demonstration project. In this phase, the Alliance trained community researchers in participatory action research methods to conduct needs assessments in three New York City communities: Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the South Bronx and Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Participatory action research was utilized as a community mobilizing strategy. By emphasizing meaningful community involvement at all stages of the research and generating awareness about sexual violence prevention, this approach acts as a component of a primary prevention intervention. In this interview, O’Connor and Fidler discuss Project ENVISION and the research finding to date.

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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.

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