SPEAKING
UP:
The
Family Violence Prevention Fund’s News & Tips
for the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Communities
April 29, 2003, Vol. 9, Issue 7
“Speaking Up” is a project of the Family
Violence Prevention Fund. Produced by PR Solutions,
Inc., Washington, DC. Phone: 202/371-1999; Fax: 202/371-9142;
E-mail: speakingup@prsolutionsdc.com.
Defense Task force on domestic violence
calls for culture shift in the military
To better address domestic violence in the military,
the Department of Defense (DoD) must establish a military
culture that does not tolerate domestic violence, holds
batterers accountable for their actions, and provides
victims of abuse with the services they need. These
are among the recommendations offered by the Defense
Task Force on Domestic Violence in its final Report,
which is now available online.
The Report identifies ways to prevent and curb domestic
abuse in the military and provide more timely and effective
aid to victims. It contains approximately 200 detailed
recommendations for how the DoD can prevent and improve
its response to domestic violence. The Report’s
executive summary also addresses other family violence
issues including child abuse, as well as sexual assault.
Members of Congress are looking at the Task Force as
a model as they consider how to further investigate
sexual assault in the military and at the Service Academies,
and the best ways to improve the DoD’s response
to sexual violence.
“This Report is the result of painstaking, difficult
work to bring together two communities that have had
few formal ties in the past,” said Deborah D.
Tucker, Task Force Co-Chair and Executive Director of
the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence.
“Our mandate was urgent to find ways to protect
victims of domestic violence in the military and in
military families, and to ensure that the military does
much more to stop domestic violence. If these recommendations
are implemented with adequate resources and continuing
guidance from experts, they offer the promise that members
of military families will face fewer domestic assaults
and homicides.”
In the past, advocates have been deeply dissatisfied
with the military’s response to domestic violence,
criticizing the various Services for not taking the
issue seriously, failing to provide the services and
support that victims need, and failing to punish service
members who abuse their partners. The Family Violence
Prevention Fund, National Network to End Domestic Violence
and the Miles Foundation, which provides services to
victims of domestic and sexual violence associated with
the military, were among the organizations that worked
to convince Congress to create the Task Force and/or
commented on its previous reports.
It was, in part, this pressure from the community that
spurred Congress to charter the Defense Task Force on
Domestic Violence in October of 1999 as part of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000.
The Task Force was commissioned to help the Secretary
of Defense prevent domestic violence in the military
whenever possible and respond more effectively to abuse
when it does occur.
The Task Force was composed of 24 members 12 from the
Military Services and 12 of the nation’s leading
domestic violence experts and battered women’s
advocates. It included survivors of domestic abuse among
both its civilian and military members and modeled cooperation
by selecting a civilian and a military Co-Chair. Tucker’s
counterpart is Lt. General Garry L. Parks, the Deputy
Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Headquarters,
U.S. Marine Corps. Together they led the Task Force
in developing the recommendations, meeting more than
15 times over three years and visiting military installations
in the U.S. and overseas.
Task Force Recommendations Back to Top
Task Force recommendations focus on prevention and early
intervention and call for the creation of programs that
address the needs of military families experiencing
domestic violence. They include:
- Culture Shift:
The Department of Defense should create a military culture
that does not tolerate domestic violence, holds offenders
accountable for their actions and punishes criminal
behavior. The Task Force calls on the military to provide
victims with the services they need while ensuring confidentiality,
and train commanding officers, law enforcement and others
on how to handle allegations of domestic violence in
military families.
- Victim Advocate Program:
Each Military Service should create a strong Victim
Advocate Program, giving victim advocates sufficient
support, stature, autonomy, access to commanding officers
and authority to intervene in crises and provide case
management and safety planning services to victims of
abuse. Victim advocates may be local battered women’s
programs that are under contract to provide these services.
Victims of abuse often do not seek help because they
fear that their privacy will be violated, and that they
will harm the career of a family member in the Service.
The Task Force recommends that victim advocacy programs
have provisions for nondisclosure to enhance victims’
safety, encourage voluntary reporting of abuse and ensure
confidentiality whenever possible.
- Domestic Violence Intervention Process Model:
The Department of Defense should implement a domestic
violence intervention process model to serve as a guideline
for responding to incidents of domestic violence. The
Task Force recommends a domestic violence intervention
process model with specific protocols for victim advocates,
commanding officers, law enforcement personnel and offender
intervention. Each of the protocols provides a description
of the recommended intervention process and includes
guidance for responding to domestic violence.
- Assessment and Intervention Teams:
The Department of Defense should replace the existing
Case Review Committee structure with newly created Domestic
Violence Assessment and Intervention Teams that will
provide feedback regarding victim safety and offender
intervention to commanding officers within 48 hours
of when a domestic violence incident occurs. These Teams
should be managed by the Family Advocacy Program and
should ensure that danger/lethality assessments are
conducted with victims and children as soon as violence
occurs or is reported.
- Fatality Reviews:
To increase system and command accountability, the Task
Force recommends creation of a fatality review process.
Examining domestic violence homicides and suicides can
provide valuable information that can help deter future
such incidents. The Department of Defense should: institute
an annual fatality review summit; instruct the Services
to establish, train and maintain on-call multidisciplinary
fatality review teams; and instruct military installations
to include fatality review provisions in their domestic
violence agreements with civilian jurisdictions that
call for reciprocal participation in fatality reviews
as needed.
- Training and Prevention Programs:
The Department of Defense should implement institution-wide
training and prevention programs, including general
public awareness campaigns and trainings for chaplains,
law enforcement and health care personnel, senior enlisted
and commanding officers.
- Accountability for Offenders:
In 2001, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum
stating that domestic violence will not be tolerated
in the Department of Defense. The Task Force calls on
the Department of Defense and the Military Departments
to intensify their efforts to prevent domestic violence
by ensuring that the institution, not the victim, is
responsible for holding perpetrators of domestic violence
responsible for their actions. Whenever possible and
appropriate, the focus should be on domestic violence
prevention rather than punishment after a crime has
occurred, but offenders must be held accountable for
all criminal conduct through punishment, deterrence
and, when possible, rehabilitation. Commanding officers
or others should monitor and supervise offenders to
ensure compliance and progress during any mandated intervention
programs.
- Strengthen Collaboration Between Military and Civilian
Communities:
The Department of Defense should ensure cooperative
relationships between military and civilian organizations
to develop a coordinated response to domestic violence.
The Task Force calls on the military to work with local
civilian communities, as well as national civilian agencies
such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
to promote domestic violence prevention and intervention
in the military.
- Evaluation:
The Department of Defense should continuously evaluate
the results of its domestic violence prevention and
intervention efforts, and use this information to improve
existing policies.
“If these recommendations are implemented fully
and with adequate resources and care, fewer members
of military families will experience violence and those
who do face abuse will get more help more quickly,”
Tucker added. “The Task Force takes an essential
first step by making these recommendations, and it is
up to leaders at the Department of Defense to make implementation
a priority. But I have every confidence that they take
our work seriously. The military members of the Task
Force are already exercising leadership in setting up
training and asking for policy changes within their
Services. Civilian members of the Task Force will continue
to support and assist the Department in the implementation
of our recommendations.”
House Armed Services Committee Back to Top
Task Force Co-Chairs presented the recommendations
to the House Armed Services Committee, Sub-Committee
on Total Force in March. “The Task Force believes
that domestic violence is best dealt with by having
a consistent, coordinated community response,”
said General Parks at the hearing. “It is important
for everyone associated with the military to know what
domestic violence is, its dynamics and risk factors,
effects on victims or children who witness domestic
violence, and consequences for offenders.”
The Task Force’s charter ends at the
end of April and Tucker told the Sub-Committee that
the final Report gives the DoD “philosophic guidelines”
for addressing domestic violence. Tucker discussed the
core principles: respond to the needs of victims and
provide for victim safety; hold offenders accountable;
consider cultural factors; consider the context of violence
and provide a measured response; coordinate the military
and civilian response; involve victims of domestic violence;
and provide early intervention.
Both Co-Chairs underscored the importance of
domestic violence training for commanding officers so
they can hold batterers accountable and send the message
that domestic violence will not be tolerated in the
armed services. Creating a military culture that takes
domestic violence seriously and does not tolerate abuse
“starts with training and education to understand
the basics of domestic violence,” General Parks
said. The military will give officers the tools they
need to properly handle incidents of domestic violence,
he added.
The panel also included Principal Deputy Under Secretary
of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) Charles S. Abell.
In his testimony, Abell addressed the DoD’s commitment
to instituting the Task Force’s recommendations
as soon as possible, as resources allow. “The
tragic events in the Fort Bragg community brought renewed
focus on the issue of domestic violence. We must set
a mood and tone of leadership that sends a clear message:
first, that domestic violence is incompatible with military
service and, second, that it is right and safe for a
victim to come forward as the first step to stopping
a case of domestic violence,” he said. “The
steps we have taken and the steps we plan to take reflect
our strong commitment to address domestic violence.
The gradual introduction of these and other policy initiatives
will form the foundation for a culture shift that clearly
conveys domestic violence will not be tolerated in DoD.”
The Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence’s
Final Report is available online at www.dtic.mil/domesticviolence.
Information about the Miles Foundation is available
online at: http://www.hometown.aol.com/milesfdn/myhomepage/index.html.
media outreach: Defense task force on Domestic
violence
Back to Top
The Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence’s
Third Year Report may generate media coverage and focus
public attention on domestic violence in the military
and the DoD’s response to abuse. Journalists may
contact violence against women experts looking for comment.
If you choose to speak with the media, please consider
using the following points:
- As the domestic homicides at Fort Bragg illustrated
so tragically, domestic violence is a pervasive and
deadly problem in the military.
- The Department of Defense needs to do a much better
job of preventing and responding to domestic violence.
At present, too many batterers are not held accountable
for their crimes. Too many victims do not receive the
services and support they need. And inadequate confidentiality
policies complicate efforts to help victims. All that
needs to change.
- The Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence has produced
three valuable and important reports. They offer a series
of urgently needed recommendations that can help the
military become a model institution in terms of preventing
domestic violence and responding to abuse when it does
occur.
- The Task Force reports are essential steps forward,
but the real test of the Pentagon’s commitment
to stopping domestic violence will be how quickly it
adopts the Task Force’s recommendations. The Department
of Defense must waste no time and spare no resources
in adopting all of the Task Force’s recommendations.
Military families deserve nothing less.
- [Discuss any work your organization has done with
the military community in your area.]
- High profile incidents of violence against women,
including most recently the sexual assault scandal at
the Air Force Academy, have focused attention on the
military’s male dominated culture and tolerance
for violence against women. We urge Congress to consider
establishing a Task Force, similar to the one that focused
on domestic violence, to address sexual assault in the
military.
Media outreach: laci peterson
Scott Peterson’s arrest and arraignment
for the murder of his wife, Laci Peterson, and their
unborn child is generating significant coverage in media
outlets across the country. As a result, journalists
may contact advocates for comment on the case or on
domestic homicides in general. When speaking to journalists,
Speaking Up recommends that advocates refrain from speculation
and keep in mind that there has been no verdict in the
case. If you do not have first-hand knowledge about
the case (and most of us only know what has been reported
in the media), do not comment on specifics. Instead,
provide facts about domestic violence and homicide.
If you do choose to speak with the press, please consider
using the following points and facts:
- Whenever a woman is murdered, it is a tragedy. Our
hearts go out to the Peterson family. We hope that justice
will be served and that the family will be able to find
peace and grieve in private.
- We do not know who murdered Laci Peterson, but we
do know that domestic violence is a tremendous problem
that leaves no community untouched. Every day in the
U.S., women are battered and killed by the men who claim
to love them. Nearly one-third of American women (31
percent) report being physically or sexually abused
by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives,
according to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey. [Add information
about rates of domestic violence in your area].
- On average, more than three women are murdered by
their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day.
In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by their intimate partners,
according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. [Add
information on the number of domestic homicides in your
area].
- Pregnant women are often victims of abuse. Approximately
324,000 pregnant women are battered each year, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Studies
show that pregnant and recently pregnant women are more
likely to be the victims of homicide than to die of
any other cause. This includes all homicides, not just
homicides committed by an intimate partner, but we know
that intimate partners kill a significant proportion
of female homicide victims. In 2000, intimate partner
homicides accounted for 33.5 percent of the murders
of women, the Justice Department reports.
- Domestic violence and domestic homicides can be prevented.
Every one of us can play a role in ending abuse. Policy
makers need to provide more adequate funding for services
for victims. Law enforcement agencies and courts must
treat domestic violence as a crime and hold batterers
accountable. Health care providers should screen all
women for domestic violence during routine or emergency
health care visits. And community members must do more
to support victims of violence and send the message
that domestic violence will not be tolerated. [Include
steps people in your community can take to help end
abuse].
CONCERNS RISE About online privacy Back to Top
Advocates for victims of violence against women are
expressing concern about a feature on the popular Internet
search engine Google (www.google.com)
that allows users to discover someone’s name and
address by typing her or his phone number into the search
function. In some cases, a map with directions to the
person’s house also appears.
The feature, called Phonebook, is not new. The New York
Times reports that, even though it is two years old,
a recent email that spread quickly throughout the country
caused a strong response from privacy and victims’
advocates alike. Google has an option that allows people
to remove themselves from the Phonebook database, but
advocates warn that Google’s Phonebook function
is just one of thousands such features that are available
online.
“I am happy that this flurry of emails is helping
survivors of violence against women learn of another
place their location may be published on the web,”
said Cindy Southworth, MSW, Director of Technology at
the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV).
“However, I am concerned that people may get a
false sense of safety if they attempt to remove their
information from Google. Google’s online phone
directory is only one of thousands of directories and
web sites that might compromise a survivor’s location,
privacy and safety. If you are in danger, attempting
to remove your information from Google is not enough.”
Privacy Concerns for Victims
While the Internet can give women access to useful information
and life saving resources, it can also provide abusers
with information about women’s Internet activities
or physical whereabouts. Abusers sometimes use the Internet
to harass and stalk their victims, because personal
information is often readily available online. In 1999,
Amy Boyer was killed by a stalker who bought her Social
Security number and other information on the Internet,
used it to locate her and then murdered her, reports
the Associated Press. But there are steps women can
take to protect themselves.
To help address the problem, last year, with support
from the AOL Time Warner Foundation, the NNEDV created
the National Safe and Strategic Technology Project.
The Project addresses all forms of technology relevant
to survivors of domestic violence and their advocates.
Southworth, the Project’s Director, conducts trainings
and provides technical assistance on a wide variety
of Internet-related topics, including responding to
cyberstalking crimes, the risks the Internet poses to
victims of violence against women, and educating survivors
on the benefits of emerging technologies.
The Project created Web Wise Women, a document that
provides tips for victims of violence against women
and their advocates, including how to minimize the amount
of personal information that is available about a person
online. It lists and describes the various web sites
that list personal information, such as search engines
like Google, court and government web sites and information
brokers organizations that conduct searches to find
information on people for a fee. Amy Boyer’s murderer
used an information broker to locate Amy’s employer.
Amy’s mother later sued the broker for violating
her daughter’s privacy; the New Hampshire Supreme
Court ruled this year that information brokers and private
investigators can be liable for the harms caused by
selling personal information.
Web Wise Women also includes information on how to reduce
the amount of information that is available online.
It offers tips on how people can find out where their
personal information appears online, how to remove themselves
from the web sites and how to prevent further information
from being posted online. Finally, the document outlines
how advocates and others can promote privacy and safety
in cyberspace.
For more information on the National Safe and Strategic
Technology Project or to receive a copy of Web Wise
Women, contact Cindy Southworth via email: cs@nnedv.org,
or via phone: 202/543-5566.
we want to hear from you! Back to Top
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
(DVAM). In the past, Speaking Up has provided its readers
with examples of various activities that can be organized
to mark DVAM, from news conferences to proclamation
signings, candlelight vigils to marches. This year,
we’d like to update our sample activities list
and we want to hear from you!
Has your organization been the sponsor of a successful
DVAM event? Have you planned a DVAM event that could
be duplicated by other organizations? Would you be willing
to share your experiences with other Speaking Up readers?
If so, please let us know.
Please send Speaking Up editor Mariama Vinson information
about DVAM events that we can include as samples in
an upcoming issue of Speaking Up. Be sure to include
a description of the event, details on what planning
was involved, and how long it took to organize the event.
Please list your name, organization’s name and
phone number (we will include this information in Speaking
Up so that readers can contact you to get more information
about the event). Send information to Mariama via email:
speakingup@prsolutionsdc.com. Thank you!
building partnerships to end men’s violence
What can men do to help end abuse? How can men take
a more active role in reducing violence against women?
What steps can organizations working to end domestic
and sexual violence take to involve men in the process?
A new initiative from the Family Violence Prevention
Fund (FVPF) is working to answer these questions and
more.
Building Partnerships Initiative to End Men's Violence
(BPI) is designed to promote stronger partnerships among
advocates working to end violence against women and
other organizations such as batterer intervention and
fatherhood programs that could play a more active role
in prevention work. The goal of the initiative is to
inspire more men to take a stand against violence and
to play an active role in promoting healthy, violence-free
relationships.
Online Discussions
BPI will encourage a dialogue about increasing men’s
involvement in efforts to end violence against women
through an email discussion series that will run from
May through July 2003. The discussion series is designed
to promote partnerships among programs that work to
end violence against women and community-based organizations
that reach large numbers of men but do not make violence
prevention a top priority, such as trade unions, faith-based
organizations and schools.
The discussions will center on short, “overview”
papers. Participants will respond to the papers via
email with questions, reflections and resources, and
facilitators will respond to participants’ questions
at least twice per week. Four papers will be posted
online and discussed for two weeks each. The email discussions
will be archived and made available through the BPI
section of the FVPF’s web site, www.endabuse.org/bpi.
In addition, the web site will include links to longer,
more comprehensive papers on the topics addressed in
the discussions and a set of related case studies. The
web site also features a “resource room”
and a “community page” with additional information.
Participation in the discussions is free and they are
open to the public.
- Discussion One: May 5 16.
Building
a Big Tent Approach to Working with Men with Jackson
Katz, MVP Strategies (Mentors in Violence Prevention)
- Discussion
Two: May 26 June 6.
Innovation
within Batterer Intervention Programs: Community-based
approaches to enhancing safety and accountability
with Fernando Mederos, National Latino Alliance to
End Domestic Violence, and Julia Perilla, Georgia
State University
- Discussion
Three: June 16 27.
Building
Bridges between Responsible Fatherhood Programs and
Programs Working to End Men's Violence with Oliver
Williams, Institute on Domestic Violence in the African
American Community, Jacquie Boggess, Center for Fathers,
Families and Public Policy, and Jerry Tello, National
Latino Fatherhood and Family Institute
- Discussion
Four: July 7 18.
Young Men
as Allies in Preventing Violence Against Women and
Girls: Building Effective Partnerships with Schools
with activists Carole Sousa, Alan Berkowitz and Dean
Peacock; Peter Jaffe, London Family Court Clinic;
and Barri Rosenbluth, SafePlace
BPI is
a collaborative project of the Family Violence Prevention
Fund, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Institute
on Domestic Violence in the African American Community,
Institute on Domestic Violence in the Asian &
Pacific Islander Community, Minnesota Center Against
Violence and Abuse, Men Can Stop Rape, National Network
to End Domestic Violence, National Sexual Violence
Resource Center, and Prevention Institute. It is funded
by the Office on Violence Against Women within the
US Department of Justice.
For
more information on the Building Partnerships Initiative
to End Men's Violence, or to participate in the discussions,
visit the Family Violence Prevention Fund’s
web site, www.endabuse.org/bpi.
in the news…
NATIONAL Back to Top
Calls to
the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-HOPE)
have increased 24 percent during the first three months
of this year, compared to the same period last year,
USA Today reports. The Hotline, which is operated
by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN),
directs callers to more than 1,000 counseling centers
across the country. RAINN attributes the increase
in calls to the recent surge in news coverage on rape
and sexual assault, including high profile incidents
such as the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case, the child
abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and the sexual
assault scandal at the Air Force Academy.
NATIONAL
Mark
and Dave Wellstone, the sons of the late Senator Paul
Wellstone and Sheila Wellstone, have launched a new
organization to honor and continue the work of their
parents. Wellstone Action will promote progressive
change and, among other things, continue Sheila Wellstone’s
work to prevent domestic violence. The organization
will motivate and train people to be active in politics
and organizing at “Camp Wellstone,” and
develop a national “Wellstone Action Network”
to organize support for the causes Senator Wellstone
promoted, such as universal health care and economic
justice. Senator Paul Wellstone and Sheila Wellstone
died in a plane crash last year, along with their
daughter, members of the Senator’s staff and
the plane’s pilot. More information about Wellstone
Action is available through its web site, www.wellstone.org.
CA
Scott Peterson
pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering his pregnant
wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child. Scott
was arrested this month after the bodies of Laci and
the fetus were found near the San Francisco Bay; the
bodies were identified through DNA testing. Laci Peterson,
who was eight months pregnant at the time of her murder,
had been missing since December 24. Scott Peterson
told police he had last seen his wife the day of her
disappearance and that he had gone fishing at Berkeley
Marina, about three miles from where Laci’s
body was found. Police had intensified their investigation
of Scott Peterson in January after a woman announced
she was having an affair with him and that he had
told her he was not married. Scott Peterson has been
charged with capital murder with the special circumstance
of double homicide.
CA
This month
Governor Gray Davis granted parole to Maria Suarez,
who had been convicted of first-degree murder for
the death of Anselmo Covarrubias, a self-proclaimed
witch doctor who bought Suarez as a sex slave when
she was 16. Suarez, who will be released from prison
next year, is the fourth woman convicted of murder
to whom Governor Davis has granted parole. An immigrant
from Mexico, Suarez was sold to Covarrubias for $200.
She claims he physically and sexually abused her and
“exerted complete physical, financial and emotional
control” over her, according to the San Francisco
Chronicle. In 1981, a man who lived behind Covarrubias’
house beat him to death with a table leg, and Suarez
washed the weapon and hid it. She says that was her
only involvement in the crime.
CA
Last
month actor Robert Blake pleaded innocent to murder
and conspiracy charges in the death of his wife, Bonny
Lee Bakley. Blake and co-defendant Earle Caldwell
agreed to waive their rights to a speedy trail. The
case will likely go to trial in October, reports USA
Today. Blake was recently freed on bail after spending
close to a year in solitary confinement. Bakley was
shot to death in May of 2001 after eating in a restaurant
with her husband.
GA
Khalid
Adem, an Ethiopian immigrant, was arrested in Duluth
this month for allegedly circumcising his two-year-old
daughter. Female circumcision is a traditional ritual
in many African cultures, and advocates are concerned
that the practice may be increasing in the area as
more immigrants arrive, reports the Washington Post.
Adem has been charged with cruelty to children and
aggravated battery.
MA
Family
courts in the state routinely violate the human rights
of battered mothers and systemic flaws in the state’s
family court system cause and perpetuate serious human
rights violations that jeopardize the safety and well
being of battered women and their children. These
are among the findings of a new report produced by
the Battered Mothers’ Testimony Project at the
Wellesley Centers for Women. The report looks in-depth
at the experiences of 40 battered mothers who sought
help from family courts in Massachusetts, applying
a human rights standard to their experiences. Governments
throughout the world, including in the United States,
have specific responsibilities to protect and promote
the human rights of people within their jurisdictions,
the report states, concluding that, with regard to
battered mothers who seek help in the Massachusetts
courts, the U.S. is failing to meet those responsibilities.
Battered Mothers Speak Out is available online at
www.wcwonline.org/wrn.
MA
A committee
investigating Harvard University’s policy on
sexual misconduct recommended that the University
adopt new education programs on sexual assault and
rape, including a mandatory night of sexual assault
education during freshman orientation. The committee
also called for the University to create a single
office to address sexual misconduct issues and increase
training, reports the Associated Press. University
faculty will vote on the committee’s recommendations
next month. If they are approved, the recommendations
will be implemented next fall.
MI
Detroit
radio station WKRK-FM is facing a fine from the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) for airing “explicit
sex talk that included violence against women”
during the Deminski & Doyle Show, reports Reuters.
During a January broadcast, the DJs asked listeners
to call the station to discuss “strange sex
techniques.” FCC Commissioner Michael Copps
told Reuters that the station “presented graphic
descriptions of violent sexual acts against women
as entertainment at a time when children likely composed
a significant portion of the audience.” The
FCC is proposing fining WKRK-FM, which is owned by
Infinity, $27,500 and warned that similar incidents
by Infinity could cause its broadcasting licenses
to be revoked.
MN
A jury
of six men and six women cleared former baseball player
Kirby Puckett of all charges in a sexual assault case,
after deliberating for more than two days. Puckett,
who played for the Minnesota Twins and is a member
of the Baseball Hall of Fame, was accused of forcing
a woman into the men’s restroom and “grabbing
her breast hard enough to leave a bruise,” reports
the Associated Press. He was charged with false imprisonment,
fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct and fifth-degree
assault. Puckett denied the charges and his attorney
argued that the woman “willingly accepted Puckett’s
offer to escort her” into the men’s room
because the women’s room was crowded. If convicted,
Puckett would have faced up to a year in jail.
WA
Tacoma
Police Chief David Brame shot his estranged wife,
Crystal Brame, in the head and then shot and killed
himself in a shopping mall parking lot. Crystal Brame
is in critical but stable condition at a Seattle hospital.
According to media reports, the Brame’s two
children, ages eight and five, were in a car with
their mother when Chief Brame approached. He took
the children to his car, which was parked nearby,
and then returned to Crystal Brame’s car and
shot her and himself. Crystal Brame was seeking a
divorce from her husband, and the attempted murder-suicide
took place days after the details of the Brame’s
divorce papers became public. In the papers, Crystal
Brame claimed that her husband abused her and that
he had pointed “his service revolver at her”
and tried to “choke her” during two separate
incidents in the past six months, reports the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer. Advocates are questioning the
way the Tacoma police department handled the allegations
of domestic violence. In one incident when Crystal
Brame called 911 to report abuse, the police department
failed to send an officer or file a detailed report,
according to the P-I.
BANGLADESH Back to Top
A recent
study by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad finds that violence
against women is rising by 14 percent in the country,
reports the Associated Press. The study finds that,
every day, approximately ten women are “violated”
and 37 women and children are “repressed in
various forms.” During the period from January
to December 2002, 1,183 women were raped, 421 women
were the victims of “mass rape” and 132
were murdered after being raped. The study also finds
that approximately 891 women were murdered, 508 were
abducted and 173 women and children were victims of
human trafficking.
Save the Date
May
29 30, 2003, Hilton Head Island, SC
Preventing
Youth Dating Violence
This train-the-trainer
seminar, sponsored by the Public Training Institute,
is designed for advocates, law enforcement officers,
school resource officials, social service professionals
and others who work to reduce and prevent dating violence.
The two-day seminar will examine successful prevention
strategies and provide information on how to develop
and implement effective programs to reduce dating
violence. Sessions include: “Where Do We Learn
Violence?,” “The Costs of Male Socialization/Eduction,”
“Recognizing the Signs of Abusive Behavior,”
“Bullying Behaviors & Dating Violence,”
and more. For more information, visit www.publictraining.com.
The registration deadline is May 24.
June
5 6, 2003, Minneapolis, MN
Institute
on Domestic Violence in the African American Community’s
Second Annual June Forum
This year
the Institute’s annual conference, entitled
African American Children and Domestic Violence, Prevention
and Intervention: Stop and Hear A Child’s Cry,
will focus on the impact of domestic violence, community
violence, child abuse and neglect on children; its
implications to various helping systems; and prevention
and intervention approaches. The conference includes
plenary sessions, workshops and panel discussions
featuring experts from the judiciary and child welfare
systems, faith- and community-based efforts, and social
service agencies. For more information, contact the
Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American
Community at 877/643-8222. On site registration is
available.
June
13 14, 2003, Austin, TX
From Bullying
to Battering: Building Partnerships for Safe Schools
This
two-day seminar, sponsored by SafePlace, is designed
to build partnerships between schools and community-based
organizations for responding to and preventing violence
in students’ lives. The seminar will examine
the latest research in bullying and innovative strategies
and solutions for increasing safety and respect among
students. It will examine strategies to address bullying
and peer sexual harassment, guidelines for implementing
school-wide anti-violence programs, federal and state
laws designed to protect students from harassment
and discrimination in schools, and more. For more
information, contact Lesley at 512/267-SAFE or llandry@austin-safeplace.org.
Registration is available on a first come, first serve
basis; there is no registration deadline.
June
20 22, 2003, Glenelg, South Australia
12th
International Conference of the Nursing Network on
Violence Against Women, International
This
year’s conference, Violence Against Women Evidence
of Difference? Rethinking Current Paradigms and Exploring
Innovative Approaches to Ending Violence, will provide
a forum for advocates to discuss their work to end
violence against women and children and promote safe
and healthy families. The conference will explore
successful prevention strategies and look at the social
issues that affect the lives of victims of violence
and their families. Sessions also will examine the
social, political, economic and physical factors that
affect communities and the advocates who serve them.
For more information, visit www.nnvawi.org/conferences.htm.
The registration deadline is May 30.
July
20 22, 2003, Baltimore, MD
International
Conference on Domestic Abuse Pursuing Truth, Justice
and Righteousness: A Call to Action
This conference, sponsored by Jewish Women International,
is designed to create a collaborative movement of
Jewish communities from around the world to end violence
against women. The conference, the first-ever forum
of its size, will bring together advocates and survivors
of domestic violence from around the world. It will
feature panel discussions and plenary sessions on
different aspects of domestic violence and its prevention,
and workshops organized under six themes incorporating
diverse perspectives. They include Illuminating the
Issue: The Dynamics of Abuse in the Jewish Community,
Promising Practices: The Forefront of Innovation,
Intervention & Social Change, and Creating &
Sustaining Change: Research, Policy, Advocacy and
Funding. For more information, visit www.jwicalltoaction.org.
Registration is available on a first come, first serve
basis; there is no registration deadline.
Does your organization sponsor a conference that you
would like to highlight in Speaking Up? If so, please
let us know about it! Send conference information
to Speaking Up editor Mariama Vinson via email: speakingup@prsolutionsdc.com,
or via fax: 202/371-9142. Be sure to include the registration
deadline!
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