David S. Lee

(15 mins) David S. Lee of PreventConnect and the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault spoke at Peace Over Violence‘s Violence-Free Teen Conference on Feb. 17, 2012 in Los Angeles. He spoke about Innovations in Prevention: National Overview of Trends in Teen Dating Violence Prevention. Watch his PowerPoint presentation below.

Young people are speaking out against teen dating violence through dance. Here is a video of a flash mob at Peace Over Violence’s Violence-Free Teens conference held last month.

Across the country, young people organized flash mobs to prevent teen dating violence. Here is news coverage of Start Strong Oakland‘s Relationship Remix Flash Mob from February 25, 2012 in San Francisco’s Union Square.

(21 mins) Lili Herrera of Peace Over Violence in Los Angeles describes the comprehensive primary prevention programs her agency offers in Los Angeles. Their curriculum In Touch with Teens is a foundation for a wide variety of activities. Peace Over Violence has adopted this programs to serve gang-affiliated youth. This program was featured in the 2011 report Innovations in Prevention from the  National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Listen: Interview with Lili Herrera about primary prevention programs

Yesterday, the LAUSD Board voted unanimously on a resolution aimed at preventing teen dating violence and creating prevention strategies in schools. This vote comes after 17-year-old Cindi Santana was stabbed to death in a courtyard at her LA-area high school. Her ex-boyfriend, Abraham Lopez, allegedly stabbed her. Another student and a dean were also stabbed trying to intervene.

This policy, which was adopted from Peace Over Violence, is an initiative that the sexual and domestic violence center has been putting efforts toward for more than 10 years. Peace Over Violence has been working on the current form of the policy for the past six months, and it was slated to go to vote last Tuesday; however the unfortunate tragedy of Santana’s murder required the board to postpone the vote.

The estimated $2 million proposal involves hiring a district coordinator on dating violence and providing training for one staff person at each school. The program will also focus on educating parents and students to recognize warning signs and promote healthy relationships. The following advocates and legislators told the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence that they welcome the resolution as a potentially significant step toward keeping students safe on campus:

Assemblymember Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) said the South East High murder shows that schools must be a part of any strategy to address youth relationship violence. “The tragic death of Cindi Santana highlights the magnitude of the problem of teen dating violence,” he said.  “We must work together to find workable solutions that our schools can incorporate in a culturally appropriate manner.”

Assembly Speaker pro Tem Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) agreed that the time is ripe for new community strategies. “This tragic incident that happened on a school campus illustrates how teen dating violence affects an entire community,” Ma said. “Now more than ever, our state needs new innovative programs and role models to promote healthy relationships.”

Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello), offered his support of the resolution, saying “I am deeply saddened by this tragic event that took place in my district, and I applaud the Los Angeles Unified School District for considering this resolution, which I hope will help to prevent future tragedies from occurring.”

Among adolescents aged 12 to 21, almost 3 in 10 have experienced violence in opposite-sex relationships; teens identifying as LGBTQ are as likely to experience violence in same-sex dating relationships. Women ages 16-24 experience the highest rates of relationship violence.

Bette Davis accepts an award on behalf of the Bay Area Women Against Rape for 40 years in the rape crisis movement.

The first week of August was CALCASA’s 2011 Leadership Conference, which began with a reflection about the evolution and revolution of the rape crisis movement. The morning plenary began by honoring two rape crisis centers in California that have been working to end sexual violence for 40 years. Bette Davis from Bay Area Women Against Rape and Patti Giggans from Peace Over Violence(formerly the L.A. Commission on Assaults Against Women) accepted awards, as both of their agencies were founded in 1971.

In the audience was Linda Bowen, Chief of the Sexual Assault Section-Victim Services Branch of the California Emergency Management Agency, who has been working in the rape crisis movement for 36 years. CALCASA commemorated Linda with a video slideshow to highlight her passion and dedication to ending violence against women.

Leah Aldridge, an advocate who has been in the violence against women movement for more than 20 years, was the keynote speaker who talked about where this movement started and what we need to do as we go forward. She talked about the importance of understanding our roots while at the same time being open and receptive to change.

Leah Aldridge, keynote speaker

During the remainder of the day, attendees participated in sessions about confidentiality, social media, male survivors and management. Tomorrow, the conference will continue with more discussion about intergenerational leadership and how this movement can continue to improve its services and capacity.

Click to view photos on Flickr.

Peggie Reyna

In today web conference, Peace Over Violence‘s Peggie Reyna led a training that focused on the experiences and needs of survivors of sexual assault or domestic violence who are deaf / hard of hearing, or who have other disabilities. Materials from the conference include:

• Slides (PDF)
• Notes (PDF)
• Recording (will be available on Monday, August 1)

Senate Bill 3817 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act approved by the US Senate

Posted on the White House Blog by Lynn Rosenthal, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women:

In October, President Obama and Vice President Biden announced unprecedented coordination across the federal government to protect victims of domestic violence and help break the cycle of abuse. Last week, the U.S. Senate took an important step towards the same goal by reauthorizing the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) which also included the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA). This important legislation has broad bi-partisan support, and will help states both improve child safety and continue critically needed services for victims of domestic violence.

CAPTA helps states strengthen the efforts of child protective service agencies to prevent and treat child abuse. By providing states and local communities with new tools to identify and treat abuse and neglect, CAPTA-funded services will continue to protect our youngest victims. And, CAPTA will help parents get the help they need by addressing high risk factors like substance abuse, mental illness and domestic violence.

In spite of all the progress we have made, domestic violence still affects 1 in 4 women, and these women are not strangers – they are our friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members.  The emergency services provided under FVPSA are a lifeline for victims fleeing violence. The National Domestic Violence Hotline answers more than 22,000 calls for help each month, and connects many of these callers to their local battered women’s shelter. FVPSA helps keep those shelter doors open, and links victims with the resources they need to rebuild their lives.

Taken together, CAPTA and FVPSA will help end abuse, give hope to victims, and build strong families. We commend the Senate for taking the important step of passing this legislation, and urge the U.S. House of Representatives to act quickly to make these protections and services a reality.

We are ecstatic to see the Senate acting on such important legislation! You can read the text of Senate Bill 3817 by clicking through the link.

CALCASA urges its members to contact their representative in Congress and ask them to support the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. You can find out who your Congressperson is by visiting the House of Representatives website or reading our blog post titled “Who are your new CA elected officials?“

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.

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.

Peace Over Violence released an advocacy paper entitled Teen Dating Violence and Sexual Violence Policy Project at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex.

The report contains a description of the pilot site characteristics, a definition of the policy project, review of successes and challenges, and recommendations to others who are seeking teen dating and sexual violence policy change in school systems.

You can download the report by clicking here.

Leah Aldridge

(38 min) This is a presentation by Leah Aldridge, a consultant and teen violence prevention expert who helped Peace Over Violence to develop the In Touch with Teens violence prevention program. In Touch with Teens is one of the few youth-violence prevention initiatives identified as a model program by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In her presentation, Leah Aldridge talks about the history and development of the In Touch with Teens program. She is introduced by Emily Austin, the division manager for prevention services at Peace Over Violence in Los Angeles, California. This presentation was recorded on November 17, 2008, at Peace Over Violence’s 1st Annual Violence-Free Teens: Building Healthy Relationships Conference.

Peace Over Violence’s 2nd Annual Violence Free Teens: Building Healthy Relations Conference will be held on October 1, 2009, in Los Angeles, California. Visit their website for more information.

(Go to Presentation)

Name Tag from Violence-Free Teen Conference

Yesterday I attended Peace Over Violence‘s second annual Violence-Free Teens Conference. This exciting event highlighted many violence against women prevention efforts.  This event brought together over 100 people including youth, teachers, rape crisis centers, domestic violence agencies and other youth-serving organizations.

With a focus on how to support youth to take action “over violence” and youth sharing why they do this work, this conference inspired me to have hope for the future.

Workshops focussed on many different programs such as  Be Strong: From the Inside Out, Peace Over Violence’s new asset-based health promotion and violence prevention curriculum to empower young women. Young people from Youth Radio‘s Boss of Me program spoke about their creative use of media for preventing teen dating violence, including a video soap opera.  The Family Violence Prevention Fund highlighted the That’s Not Cool campaign about drawing digital line to prevent abuse.

For more information about the conference, click here.

Peace Over Violence, one of the CALCASA’s member agencies, has been in the news discussing teen dating violence.

For nearly “two weeks after the alleged Feb. 8 assault involving R&B singer Chris Brown and his girlfriend, the singer Rihanna, teen fans of the couple searched for ways to minimize the episode or justify what sounded like a caffeinated lovers’ quarrel between two very young, very beautiful people.” Patti Giggans, executive director of Peace Over Violence, said this is a “teachable moment;” an opportunity to talk about teen dating violence, domestic violence and its prevalence within the youth community today.

“A lot of kids were saying, ‘I thought maybe he just slapped her. I thought he just pushed her,’ ” says Patti Giggans.

If there’s any silver lining to the bleak story, counselors and parents say, it’s that young people can take lessons from relationship violence playing out so vividly — and so brutally — in people so young: She’s 21, he’s 19.

The case, as ugly as it is, is doing more than any in recent memory, she and others say, to “bust the misconception that it can’t happen with kids, with young people.”

Research shows that violence shows up in about one in four teen relationships, a figure that hasn’t changed much in the past 30 years, says Lenore Walker, a psychology professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, and the author of 15 books, most of them about violence against women and children.

Click here to continue reading the USA Today article. Peace Over Violence was also in the LA Times earlier this week.