Last week, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women Lynn Rosenthal held a roundtable to address the issue of stalking in the United States and Stalking Awareness Month. You can read President Obama’s proclamation of Stalking Awareness Month here.  In her recent blog, Ms. Rosenthal, “discusses the fears, threats, and intimidation endured by victims of stalking, and steps the Obama Administration is taking to combat this often-invisable crime.”

Continue reading to see her entire blog post…

Raising Awareness About Stalking
Posted by Lynn Rosenthal on January 30, 2012 at 01:28 PM EST

January is Stalking Awareness Month, and it’s an important to highlight a crime that is often invisible. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 1 in 6 women and 1 in 19 men will be stalked in their lifetimes. Young women ages 18-19 experience the highest rates of stalking. The fears, threats and intimidation endured by victims is often felt by family members as well.

To mark this important month, this week we hosted the first ever White House stalking roundtable with survivors, law enforcement officers, victim advocates, and researchers. We learned from law enforcement experts that while many victims are stalked by ex-partners, others can be stalked by acquaintances and even strangers. Stalkers often track their victims’ daily lives and make themselves known in ways that are scary and unpredictable. Stalking can force victims to change everything about their lives in order to be safe.

I commend the bravery of two survivors who shared their stories. One woman was stalked by an ex-husband while another was stalked over a long period of time by someone she barely knew. Both were terrorized through cyber stalking and a range of strategies designed to keep them on constant edge and make them feel afraid every day. The stalking extended to family members and children, making it even more terrifying. Their stories put a human face on the statistics and helped us understand the true personal cost of stalking.

We are taking steps across the federal government to combat stalking as well as dating violence and sexual assault. The Apps Against Abuse challenge sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services resulted in two mobile apps that can help protect against dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. These Apps can be used to stay in touch with your friends and call for help if you need it. The next step is to improve research on stalking and learn more about what victims need to be safe. Most importantly, we need to raise awareness about this hidden crime.

PreventConnect.org

Michele Lynberg Black, CDC's Lead Epidemiologist for NISVS

In the next PreventConnect web conference, Understanding the differences between Nationals Sexual Violence and Intimate Partner Violence Surveys, we will explore the differences between public health and criminal justice surveys when looking at sexual violence and intimate partner violence. Join Michele Lynberg Black and David Lee in a conversation about different types of data and its usefulness to prevention practitioners.

In October 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will release results of National Intimate Partner Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS). The new information about intimate partner violence, sexual violence and a stalking will draw additional attention to these issues and create new opportunities to advance prevention activities.

The information discussed in the web conference will provide practitioners with the knowledge necessary to be able to speak about the differences in SV/IPV national surveys and which are best for your data needs. Future PreventConnect web conferences will provide additional information about framing messages based on data, how to interpret data and review the results of NISVS (after the release in October 2011).

The web conference will take place on

• Wednesday, May 25, 2011
• Thursday, May 26, 2011 Repeated
  

This sixty-minute (60 min) session will start at 11 AM Pacific Standard Time (2 PM Eastern). The May 26 session is a repeat of the session from the previous day,

Click here to register.

Host: David Lee, PreventConnect, California Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Presenter: Michele Lynberg Black, Ph.D., M.P.H., Lead Epidemiologist responsible for NISVS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Cost: Free

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to identify at least three sources of SV/IPV surveillance.
2. Participants will be able to describe the advantages and limitations of difference sources.
3. Participants will be able to describe the methodology of NISVS to collect information about SV/IPV.
4. Participants will be able to identify resources to get additional information about SV/IPV surveillance.

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. Prevent Connect 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.

Real-Time Captioning Available:
Instructions for accessing captioning during this web conference will be provided with your registration confirmation.

The Stalking Resource Center (SRC) at the National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC), in conjunction with the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA), recently released the Model Campus Stalking Policy for colleges/universities.  As many universities look at creating or enhancing their existing sexual misconduct & intimate partner violence policies, the SRC policy creates an additional opportunity for addressing stalking and providing options for survivors in higher education.  The policy includes safety considerations, language for defining stalking, and sample policies for administrators.

At a department store I was involved in a 30 minute fortuitous discussion on the seriousness of sexual assault and stalking.  While in the store I heard a woman screaming “Leave me alone!, You’re embarrassing me!, Please go!, and It’s over!”  I turned to my right and saw three security guards pulling and pushing a twenty something year old male out the doors of the store as the woman continued screaming at him.  The security guards stood outside the store preventing the male from re-entering as the male shouted threats of injury and cursed at them. The woman stood alone for several minutes in the store.  I approached her and ask if there is anything I can do to help.  As she proceeded to talk, 6 other people gathered around.  The woman  indicated that she and this male had been dating for several months, she wanted to discontinue the relationship, but he wanted to continue dating and get engaged to be married.

I informed her that I worked at CALCASA, what CALCASA does and that I could give her several telephone numbers of local crisis centers that could provide services (e.g. advocacy, emergency protective orders). The young woman indicated that she did not need that type of help; after all she has not been raped or battered.  Then she proceeded to describe what he has done:

• One night he drove her to an isolated area in the county and would not drive back to the city until she had sex with him.
• He got drunk at a night club, pushed her to the ground and pulled her by her ankles out of the club across the parking lot and into his vehicle.
• He sits outside of her house, college classes and job for several hours a day watching her.

Once the woman disclosed this information; there began a intense discussion by the 6 customers regarding what she should do.  I was shocked that no one blamed the young lady.  The group placed the blame at the feet of the guy.  The discussion covered reporting to law enforcement, safety planning, her well-being and a super duper “butt kicking” of the guy.  The young lady did not make a report when law enforcement arrived.  One customer indicated that she came to the store  for a sale but left with information to provide to her students; she teaches 11th grade English.

January marks observance of Stalking Awareness Month for the eighth year in a row.  Stalking affects an estimated 3.4 million adults and 3 in 4 stalking victims are stalked by someone they know.  Join the National Center for Victims of Crime/Stalking Resource Center and The Office on Violence Against Women in increasing awareness of stalking.    http://www.stalkingawarenessmonth.org/

The California Safe at Home Program continues to expand and service more victims each year, according to the quarterly newsletter distributed by the Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s office, who is responsible for administering the confidential address program.

“Since 1999, Safe at Home has helped shield the home addresses of more than 5,000 survivors of domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault, as well as reproductive health care doctors, nurses, volunteers and patients. Now 35 states have confidential address programs, many of which were modeled after California’s program,” stated the newsletter.

The state’s program and Safe at Home participants also received a policy boost from the U.S. Department of Treasury that issued a November 2009 ruling “allowing national banks and credit unions to accept the contact address of a state’s confidential address program rather than a residence address” as previous mandated before the federal clarification.  This new ruling gives victims further confidentiality and protection.

Even as California continues to suffer from record deficits and slow economic recovery, this essential victim’s service continues to train and conduct outreach through low-cost communication alternatives such as Internet webinars and telephone training. “Safe at Home staff have completed phone training for 15 new enrolling agencies and provided refresher trainings to another 17 agencies.”

The newsletter also includes an update on Senate Bill 1233 by Senator Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), that would remove the Jan. 1, 2013 program sunset and make the Safe at Home program a permanent addition to the state’s victims’ service apparatus.  The Secretary of State urges you to “phone, email or write your Assemblymember and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and emphasize why you support a permanent confidential address program in our state.”

To find your Assemblymember, access the Assembly’s “Find My District” tool.

You can also contact the Governor’s office at his Contact page.

Let us know how the Safe at Home program has served victims and survivors in your community.

Lesbian relationships, like those that do not appear to adhere to the white heterosexual middle-class norms, have been misrepresented by the mainstream in the United States for decades.  Similarly, sexual violence has also been grossly misrepresented by the media.  Violence within lesbian communities more so.

The U.S. mainstream media features stories about lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer (LGBTQ) communities through such mediums as:

(1) characters on scripted and reality shows;

(2) marriage for same-sex couples has become a rallying cry for mainstream LGBTQ organizations (which is not indicative nor reflective of the diversity of behaviors and opinions around state regulation of queer relationships) and;

(3) legislative efforts suggest the United States provides legal protections for individuals that self-identify as or are perceived to be LGBTQ when targeted in acts of violence

An article in The Washington Post describing an abusive relationship in the political circle of Washington, D.C. reminds us of the tremendous work we have in dismantling stereotypes and re/constructing narratives.  Judge Russell F. Canan sentenced Taylar Nuevelle, 41, to the maximum sentence under the court’s guidelines of 5 1/2 years for domestic violence of a her former partner, Judge Janet Albert.  In February 2010, a jury found Nuevelle guilty of stalking Judge Albert.

Merely having media representation of queer individuals and/or relationships mirrors what Sarah Schulman in Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences refers to as “falsely cod[ing] that work as progressive.  But, if the actual meaning and content of the specific representation is examined, many of these representations are retrograde” (2009).

What does the media articulate as suitable for public consumption?  The article lacks context surrounding domestic violence and stalking in lesbian relationships.  Such a gap further reinforces the second-class treatment the media deploys by portraying queer* relationships and/or individuals as pathological or lesser than heterosexual rather than using the opportunity to draw attention to unhealthy and unsafe relationships.  Mentioning the emotional trauma experienced by Judge Albert as a result of the abusive relationship does not make up for the lack of context, especially when choosing to end the article by quoting Nuevelle’s attorney, “The lesson of this is don’t have a bad breakup with a lesbian judge. It means you go to jail for 5 1/2 years.”

In other words, abusive relationships go unnoticed unless one person in the relationship holds a position in court?  Abusive relationships are the norm and should continue to go unnoticed, unreported, and therefore unchanged, otherwise people are punished?  Latif Doman, Nuevelle’s attorney, seems to discourage readers/public from challenging relationship norms.  For those of us in the field of ending gender-based/sexual violence, Mr. Doman reminds us of the importance in developing partnerships with allies including attorneys, judges, law enforcement and journalists so as to counter the victim-blaming narrative so often portrayed in the media and legal system.  Reframing the narrative of relationship violence is critical work when prosecuting perpetrators/abusers and protecting survivors as a means of intervention.

*In this post, I used queer as an umbrella term to refer to individuals and/or relationships that are not defined or self-identified as heterosexual.

Working at a Rape Crisis Center, many times advocates will come across a survivor who was either assaulted in another State and lives in CA or is from another State and was assaulted in CA. Either way, advocates may at times need to step away from what you understand about CA Mandated Reporting Laws and provide a survivor with information about how the laws may, or may not, apply in another State.

Recently,  End Violence Against Women International (EVAW) hosted a webinar focused on Medical Mandated Reporting for Sexual Assault and provided a couple of resources regarding Mandated Reporting Laws in other States that may be helpful to you in the event that you are in need of that information either for yourself or for a survivor.

Below you will find links to those resources, including an interactive map from the National District Attorney’s Association that allows you to click on a State to learn about their Mandated Reporting Laws.  Always remember that laws may change so you should always double check with a particular State, including your own.

National District Attorney’s Association

The Voice: Rape and Sexual Assault Reporting Laws

CALCASA has been working in collaboration with the Legal Aide Society-Employment Law Center of San Francisco to provide you with information regarding Employment Rights and Protections for Sexual Assault survivors.  As we reported in previous blog posts, we just completed a series of Legal Advocacy Regional Training Institutes with Anya Lakner and the Employment Law Center of San Fransisco.

Unfortunately, Anya Lakner has since left the Legal Aide Society-Employment Law Center of San Francisco but during the Legal Advocacy Training in Burbank, CA, she offered to share some important information about Employment Rights for Sexual Assault Survivors. You can listen to Anya’s podcast here: [podcast format="video"]http://calcasa.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/20091103-Anya-Lakner.m4a[/podcast]

CALCASA is proud to be hosting the 2010 National Sexual Assault Conference in Los Angeles. To get announcements, registration information and other updates, CALCASA is proud to be hosting the 2010 National Sexual Assault Conference in Los Angeles click here.

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

As many of you may already know, we just completed a series of Regional Legal Advocacy Trainings, in collaboration with the Legal Aide Society~Employment Rights Center of San Francisco, focused on Employment Rights for Sexual Assault Survivors.  Many Rape Crisis Center advocates had an opportunity to attend, as well as folks from other agencies such as the Inter-Tribal Council of CA, various County District Attorney-Victim Service Agencies, Lideres Campesinas and other community agencies.

Unfortunately, we understand that not all agencies were able to participate so I wanted to share some information from those trainings with you about Workplace Safety and Protected Time Off for Survivors.  For Employees, here are some Employee Protections if you are a survivor of Sexual Violence:

• CA Labor Code § 230 (c): Any employer may not discharge, discriminate, or retaliate against an employee who is a domestic violence/sexual assault survivor for taking time off to obtain/maintain any relief, including a TRO/RO/injunctive relief, to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of a survivor or the survivor’s child.
• CA Labor Code § 230.1: An employer with 25 or more employees may not fire, discriminate or retaliate against an employee who is a domestic violence or sexual assault survivor for taking time off to: receive counseling, safety plan, obtain a TRO/RO/injunctive relief, seek medical attention, or obtain services from a domestic violence program or rape crisis center.

For Employers, here are some Workplace Safety requirements to consider:

• Federal OSHA: General Duty Clause: Requires employers to provide a safe and healthful working environment. Employers can be cited if there are recognized hazards of workplace violence and nothing is done to prevent or abate them.
• CA Labor Code  § 6402: “No employee shall require, or permit, any employee to go to, or be in a place of employment which is not safe and healthful.”
• CA Labor Code § 6403: “No employer shall fail or neglect… (t)o do every other thing reasonably necessary to protect the life, safety and health of employees.”
• CA Labor Code § 6401.7: “Every employer shall establish, implement and maintain an effective injury prevention program.”

Below are additional resources and information regarding Employement Rights for Survivors:

• 7 Important Facts About Your Workplace Rights
• Paid Family Leave Benefits
• Unemployment Insurance If You Must Quit
• Disabilities in the Workplace
• Job-Guaranteed time off to go to court and to obtain service
• Taking Leave for a Health Condition

For more information, or legal advice, you can visit the Legal Aide Society~Employment Law Center of San Francisco website.

You can also visit the OSHA website or the California Law website for more information on the Labor Codes listed above.

The Associated Press reported this morning that, “an estimated 3.4 million Americans identified themselves as victims of stalking during a one-year span, according to federal crime experts who on Tuesday released the largest-ever survey of the aggravating and often terrifying phenomenon.”

About half of the victims experienced at least one unwanted contact per week from a stalker, and 11 percent had been stalked for five or more years, according to the report by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. It covered a 12-month period in 2005-06.

The study was described as a groundbreaking effort to analyze the scope and varying forms of stalking, which had not been featured in previous versions of the National Crime Victimization Survey.

Late this morning, Department of Justice officials from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) participated in a conference call with reporters about the BJS special report, Stalking Victimization in the United States.

Following this discussion, Cindy Dyer, Director of the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) participated in a briefing about the findings and the impact of stalking on women who are victimized.

Read the full article by clicking here.

BIDEN, COLLINS Resolution Designates January as National Stalking Awareness Month

Press Release from Senator Biden’s office:

U.S. Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) and Susan Collins (R- ME) introduced a resolution designating January as National Stalking Awareness Month. This is the fifth consecutive year the Senate has considered the resolution, which applauds the efforts of policymakers, law enforcement officers, victim service providers, and other groups that currently promote stalking awareness.

“Stalking is not a one-time occurrence; this is a crime that leaves its victim fearful 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No place – not even home – is safe if a stalker knows where the victim lives. Victims spend their days and nights looking over their shoulder, often changing jobs, relocating their homes, and even changing their appearance to escape the stalker…January is National Stalking Awareness Month – the perfect opportunity for parents, lawmakers and community leaders to carefully review state and local laws on stalking and insist that laws keep pace with technology and protect victims,”said Sen. Biden, author of the landmark Violence Against Women Act.

“I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Biden, in introducing a Resolution marking January as National Stalking Awareness Month,” said Sen. Collins. “In my home state of Maine, domestic violence is a widespread problem. Many experts have concluded that there is a strong connection between stalking and violence toward women. Efforts, such as National Stalking Awareness Month, help raise awareness about this serious and potentially deadly crime.”

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime and the Stalking Resource Center, approximately 1 million women and 400,000 men are victims of stalking in this country annually. 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked at some point in their lives, as well as close to 13 percent of female college students. Moreover, today’s technology has made stalking much easier, as stalkers can design websites to encourage others to monitor or harm their victim, install spyware on their victim’s computer or plant global positioning systems (GPS) in their victim’s car to track their victim’s travels. Other technologies, including social networking websites, such as Facebook and MySpace, cell phones with surveillance devices meant for parents monitoring their children, and running shoes implanted with GPS devices, may provide additional opportunities for stalkers to harm their victims. While all fifty states have laws against stalking, only one- third of states have included language relating to stalking via electronic means.

“Stalking is a serious and potentially lethal crime,” said Mary Lou Leary, executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime. “We thank Senators Biden and Collins for introducing this National Stalking Awareness Month resolution, which will raise awareness about the impact of stalking on more than 1.4 million Americans each year.”

“We can – and we must – do more to ensure that stalking victims are not forced to live in constant fear and that stalkers are brought to justice,” added Sen. Biden.

For victim assistance, call the National Crime Victim Helpline at 1-800-FYI- CALL. Visit www.ncvc.org/src for a map of activities planned around the country for National Stalking Awareness Month and for more information.