May 8, 2009 Vol. 15, Issue 6

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@....

AN EMERGING ISSUE

In Vermont and Nebraska, lawmakers are considering measures that would disallow felony prosecutions. In Pennsylvania, a federal judge issued a restraining order to stop a zealous prosecutor from filing criminal charges. But in jurisdictions around the country, teens are being prosecuted for child pornography.

It’s all because of sexting – a relatively new phenomenon made possible by ubiquitous new technologies that allow teenagers to send nude or semi-nude photos, usually of themselves, to someone else’s cell phone.

Most often, a teenage girl sends these photos to a boyfriend, intended only for him. But what happens if her boyfriend forwards it widely – right away, or perhaps later after an ugly break-up? And what if the photo was coerced, or taken by a third party of a teen who was incapacitated by alcohol or drugs? Then what is the appropriate response from the criminal justice system, lawmakers, educators, parents and communities?

Many are struggling to figure that out, and to create laws, rules and guidelines that will protect victims and punish offenders without creating criminal records for teenagers who make mistakes but don’t intend to cause serious harm.

Sexting is a highly emotional issue. Few want young people who make mistakes to be labeled child pornographers or sex offenders for life. But many prosecutors are determined to take a strong stand in order to stop this practice, even if it means prosecuting a teenage girl who sends a semi-nude picture to her boyfriend, or the boyfriend who forwards it to one friend. It’s easy to understand why; at least one mother attributes her daughter’s suicide to the trauma caused by her former boyfriend forwarding a photo she intended only for him (to read more about that case, please click here).

Domestic and sexual violence experts are being asked about sexting more and more. What is the appropriate response? What kinds of prevention can prevent this practice? What kinds of policies should schools and school systems adopt? What should parents be telling teens?

The Facts
A recent survey from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com found that one in five teen girls – and one in ten younger teen girls (age 13 to 16) – say they have electronically sent or posted nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves.

Even more teen girls, 37 percent, say they have sent or posted sexually suggestive texts, emails or Instant Messages.

That same survey found that more than half of teen girls (51 percent) say pressure from a guy is a reason girls send sexy messages or images, while only 18 percent of teen boys say pressure from a girl is a reason. Twelve percent of teen girls who have sent sexually suggestive messages or images say they felt “pressured” to do so.

The Response Today
Many experts are concluding that existing laws are inadequate, and damaging over-reactions are occurring. The result, right now, is a confusing mix of threats, prosecutions, rules, and guidelines that may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and even case to case.

After school officials in Pennsylvania’s Tunkhannock Area School District found semi-nude pictures of students on other students’ cell phones in March, they turned them over to the district attorney who concluded that they were “provocative” and “illegal.” Investigators identified the students involved, who had been caught with these photos on their cell phones.

Investigators considered charging the teens with sexual abuse of a minor, but instead offered a deal that required them to take a ten-hour class addressing pornography and sexual violence. Seventeen students (13 girls and four boys) accepted the deal in February. If convicted of the charges, they could have faced time in prison and likely would have had to register as sex offenders.

But three teenage girls and their parents refused the deal. MaryJo Miller, the mother of one of them, said the photos were harmless. She said the photo had been taken two years earlier at a slumber party and showed the girls from the waist up, both were wearing bras.

Feeling that charges would be unfair and illegal, the three families filed a lawsuit against Wyoming County District Attorney George P. Skumanick. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed the lawsuit on their behalf. It argues that by threatening to prosecute the girls for being in photos Skumanick considered “provocative” he was violating their constitutional rights, the New York Times reports.

Then a federal judge stepped in, granting a temporary restraining order which prevents the district attorney from filing criminal charges.

But prosecutions are proceeding in other jurisdictions.

State Legislators Act
This month, the Vermont Senate passed legislation that would remove the most serious legal consequences – child pornography charges with harsh sentences – for teenagers ages 13 to 18 who engage in sexting. The bill would exempt from child pornography prosecutions cases where a teenager who either sends or receives sexting messages voluntarily transmits the image. The legislation is pending in the state House.

The legislation does not address instances in which a teen shows graphic images on his or her cell phone screen to a group of friends, or leaves a clip on a computer where it could be found by someone else – without transmitting it.

The law has sparked comment from all across the country. The Burlington Free Press editorialized that, “There must be strong evidence that the images were sent voluntarily. A lack of sufficient evidence to prove explicit coercion is insufficient because of the inherent power difference between a 13-year-old and an 18-year-old…We all know the incredible peer pressure that rules teenage society. In such an environment, determining whether an act was consensual or coerced might be nearly impossible in many instances.”

The Nebraska state legislature is considering a bill (LB97) that would bar registered sex offenders from using social networking sites and would increase penalties for some child pornography offenses, but exempts teens from sexting charges, the Lincoln Journal Star reports.

That bill would create an exception for teens who knowingly send nude pictures of themselves to another minor, and for those under age 19 who receive a picture from someone who is at least 15 and who does not then forward the image. Though sending nude pictures would be against the law, Nebraska is trying to craft a law that does not trap teen sexters but instead addresses more serious child pornography allegations, proponents say.

Other states are expected to act this year or next.

Appropriate Response
“ We advocate a common sense approach to sexting that recognizes that teenagers don’t always exercise the best judgment – but that also makes a distinction between mischief and poor judgment, on the one hand, and malice that causes real harm on the other,” said Family Violence Prevention Fund President Esta Soler. “Laws need to recognize the difference between a girl sending a private photo to her boyfriend or a boyfriend receiving that photo, and a boy taking and distributing a picture of a girl who’s been compromised by a date rape drug at a party. And police and prosecutors need to exercise sound judgment when enforcing those laws.”

Soler notes that the domestic violence field has seen cases of well-intentioned laws and over-zealous prosecution that caused more harm than good. Disastrous laws designed to protect children who witness domestic violence ended up ripping them away from their nonviolent mothers. Laws designed to protect battered women by requiring doctors to tell police if they suspected domestic violence ended up preventing women from getting medical care for serious injuries. And laws designed to cause more batterers to be arrested ended up causing more victims to be arrested.

“Above all, we should remember that the vast majority of prosecutions represent a failure to prevent,” Soler continued. “That’s why our primary focus is on helping teenagers connect the dots so they will recognize what is and isn’t okay. Teenagers are, by definition, still developing, still testing boundaries, still figuring out their lives. If we rely too heavily on the kinds of black/white solutions the criminal justice system offers, we will sacrifice too many of them to their mistakes rather than protecting them from their mistakes.”

The Family Violence Prevention Fund’s That’s Not Cool campaign, created in partnership with the Advertising Council and the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, is designed to start a conversation among teens about how controlling behavior and harassment from a boyfriend or girlfriend, online or via cell phone, can turn into abuse. Learn more at www.thatsnotcool.com. To read more about the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy’s survey, click here.

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PREVENTING VIOLENCE CAN REDUCE HEALTH CARE COSTS

The American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) National Advisory Council on Violence and Abuse convened violence prevention and health experts on April 16 to brief congressional staff about how victims exposed to violence and abuse access health care more frequently and at a greater cost than those without that history. Experts said that physical, sexual and psychological violence can have a significant impact on victims’ long-term health, and that effective intervention and prevention strategies can decrease the health care costs associated with the short- and long-term consequences of abuse paid by private and public insurers.

Studies show that women who have experienced domestic violence are 80 percent more likely to have a stroke, 70 percent more likely to have heart disease, 60 percent more likely to have asthma and 70 percent more likely to drink heavily than women who have not experienced intimate partner violence. Children who experience childhood trauma, including witnessing incidents of domestic violence, are at a greater risk of having serious adult health problems including tobacco use, substance abuse, obesity, cancer, heart disease, depression and a higher risk for unintended pregnancy.

The briefing featured: Phaedra Corso, Ph.D., University of Georgia; David Corwin, M.D., AMA’s National Advisory Council on Violence and Abuse Chair; W. Rodney Hammond, Ph.D., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Connie Mitchell, California Medical Association and University of California, Davis; and Kiersten Stewart, Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF).

“Dating, domestic and sexual violence and child abuse are health care problems of epidemic proportions in this country,” FVPF Public Policy Director Stewart said. “Violence has immediate health consequences through injury, but it also can cause life-threatening conditions that affect survivors and witnesses throughout their lives.”

“Every year, millions of Americans are exposed to violence and abuse as victims, witnesses and even perpetrators, and these experiences lead to dramatically high costs to our health care system,” AMA National Advisory Council on Violence and Abuse Chair David Corwin, M.D., said. “The long-term costs of this violence are less obvious, but they are an even greater public health concern.” Corwin moderated the briefing.

It was sponsored by: FVPF, AMA National Advisory Council on Violence and Abuse, Academy on Violence and Abuse, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychiatric Association, and Nursing Network on Violence Against Women. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Lois Capps (D-CA), John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and James Moran (D-VA) and Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) were honorary co-chairs.

The Academy on Violence and Abuse recently released a white paper, Hidden Costs in Health Care, The Economic Impact of Violence and Abuse, which was available at the briefing. It provides an overview of the research in this area and finds that expenses related to violence and abuse may cost the health care system hundreds of billions of dollars each year. The full white paper is available at http://avahealth.org.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 1,200 deaths and two million injuries to women from intimate partner violence each year. On average, three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends each day in this country. 15.5 million U.S. children live in families in which partner violence occurred at least once in the past year, and seven million children live in families in which severe partner violence occurred.

“As health care reform advances, violence prevention needs to be an integral part of the discussion,” Stewart added. “As we heard here today, violence prevention can play a key role in reducing health care costs. In the current economic climate, saving valuable health care dollars is essential.”

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NEARLY HALF OF STATES FAIL TO PROTECT TEEN DATING VIOLENCE VICTIMS

For the second year in a row, Break the Cycle graded each state on its ability to protect victims of teen dating violence who seek protection orders against their abusers. This year, Break the Cycle gave only five states grades of “A” and 14 states grades of “B.” The five “A” states are: California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Oklahoma.

Just nine states (California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) allow minors to obtain protection or restraining orders without the involvement of a parent, guardian or other adult if they meet certain requirements, like age or relationship to abuser.

Ten states received an automatic failure because they do not specifically recognize dating relationships as valid domestic relationships for obtaining restraining orders or protection orders, and do not make restraining orders available to minors. Those ten states are: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Virginia.

For this year’s report, Break the Cycle refined its scoring system in order to better assess the way that state civil domestic violence protection order laws address the needs of teen victims. Eight states improved their grades: Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Four of them were states that received “F” grades last year: Iowa improved to a “D”; Maryland and New York to a “C”; and Wisconsin to a “B”.

“With several states changing their laws to better protect teens since 2008, we have already seen that these grades spur action among state legislatures throughout the country, as well as activism among our nation’s youth,” said Break the Cycle Executive Director Marjorie Gilberg.

Victims of teen dating abuse face overwhelming obstacles to getting help because, as minors, it is often difficult for them to move from their home, change their school or gain access to basic securities like money, shelter and transportation.

Break the Cycle’s “2009 State-by-State Teen Dating Violence Report Card” is available at www.breakthecycle.org/resources-state-law-report-cards-2009.html.

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GIVE RESPECT ON MOTHER’S DAY

Send a special e-card and Give RESPECT! this Mother’s Day in honor of all the women in your life. You can also make a donation or give the $5 RESPECT! bracelet at www.GiveRespect.org to show your support. The bracelet is sold at Macy’s and macys.com and half the proceeds benefit the Family Violence Prevention Fund.

Also featured on GiveRespect.org are valuable resources and tools to equip parents, coaches, teachers and mentors with ways to get involved and tips and information on how to talk to young people about healthy relationships. GiveRespect.org resource materials were developed in conjunction with the Family Violence Prevention Fund’s esteemed advisors: psychology and relationship experts Dr. Janet Taylor and Dr. Gail Saltz, and researchers Dr. Jay Silverman of the Harvard School of Public Health and Dr. Elizabeth Miller from UC Davis Medical Center.

The RESPECT! Campaign is an awareness and action campaign created by the Family Violence Prevention Fund with founding national partner, Macy’s. It uses a positive approach to engage parents on the importance of teaching young people about healthy relationships early and often. Visit www.GiveRespect.org today!

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GROWING UP IN POVERTY CAN AFFECT A CHILD’S BRAIN

A new study, one of the first to look at cognitive responses to physiological stress, finds that chronic stress from growing up in poverty can affect a child’s brain and diminish a child’s ability to develop language, reading and problem-solving skills.

Researchers rated stress levels using an “allostatic load” scale – measurements of levels of the stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine, blood pressure and body mass index – and tested children at ages nine, 13 and 17. They also measured working memory at age 17. They found that, the longer children lived in poverty, the higher their allostatic load and the lower their working memory. Children who spent their entire childhoods in poverty scored about 20 percent lower on working memory tests than children who were never poor.

“When you are poor, when it rains it pours” the study’s author and Cornell University professor Gary W. Evans told the Cornell Chronicle. “You may have housing problems. You may have more conflict in the family. There’s a lot more pressure in paying the bills. You’ll probably end up moving more often. We know that produces stress in families, including on the children.”

The study’s authors suggest that government policies and programs aiming to reduce the income-performance gap should consider the stress children experience at home.

“Other researchers cautioned that more work is needed to explore and confirm the findings, and that chronic stress is probably one of the many factors affecting a child’s development,” the Washington Post reports. “But they said the results provided insight into the connections between poverty and achievement.”

“Childhood Poverty, Chronic Stress, and Adult Working Memory” is published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read the complete study here.

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NIKE FOUNDATION SUPPORTS SOCIAL NORMS CHANGE

On March 30, the Nike Foundation joined more than 450 leaders at a symposium in Brazil to explore research and best practices by international programs that challenge gender norms, engage men and boys in reducing violence against women and girls, promote sexual and reproductive health, prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, and support fatherhood and caregiving. At the first-ever symposium, the Nike Foundation announced that, with the support and collaboration of the NoVo Foundation, it has made grants to programs directed at men and boys that help shift harmful gender norms that impede progress in educational achievement, sexual and reproductive health, and economic prospects.

The Nike Foundation awarded $1.6 million to the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) for work in India with the International Center on Research on Women. The program, modeled after the FVPF’s Coaching Boys Into Men campaign, is designed to engage well-known cricket coaches and players to educate boys about treating girls with respect and understanding that violence is wrong.

The Nike Foundation also awarded grants to PATH for its work in China and Kenya, Tostan for its work in Senegal, and Instituto Promundo for its work in Brazil and India.

“Our investment in FVPF expands on an approach that has already demonstrated effectiveness in other countries,” said Nike Foundation Managing Director Lisa MacCallum. “We are excited to be supporting customization and delivery of this vital program on the cricket field.”

“This grant is a wonderful opportunity to build on the success of our Coaching Boys Into Men program, which is successfully transforming harmful attitudes about women and girls,” FVPF President Esta Soler said. “Because of its immense popularity and large formal and informal networks, cricket provided the ideal dissemination vehicle. And, when these messages come from respected coaches and players, men and boys listen.”

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NEW RESOURCE

The Family Violence Prevention Fund, National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and Greater Hartford Legal Aid have just released a new guide to improve outreach and responses to domestic violence victims who are in contact with their partners or children’s fathers. This new resource addresses how to identify safety strategies, find resources and to know what to say when a victim’s focus and goals are to remain in contact, remain in the relationship or to improve their children’s relationship with their father. It also recommends what kinds of new partnerships need to be developed to benefit these women and children, how to talk to women and children about what helps men change, and organizational opportunities and challenges to become more relevant in communities. To download the new guide click here.

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IN THE NEWS

MILITARY – Reports of sexual assault in the military rose nine percent over last year, but only a small number of cases went to military courts or were referred for non-judicial punishment. In about 20 percent of cases (643 of the 2,923 reported), the victim sought care or made a report but refused to provide all the information necessary to pursue an investigation. The Associated Press reports that, “The Defense Department allows those limited reports on the theory that it encourages victims to at least seek care when they might otherwise keep silent.”

NATIONAL – In late April, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will approve the sale of Plan B, emergency contraception, over-the-counter to 17-year-olds. Plan B is highly effective at preventing pregnancy and is most commonly used by rape victims and women who want to avoid pregnancy after having unprotected sex. For years, many violence prevention and reproductive rights advocates have urged the federal government to make it available without a doctor’s prescription; some accused the FDA of putting politics ahead of science when it refused to do so during the Bush Administration, the Washington Post reports.

FL – The Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence found a 37 percent increase in the demand for emergency shelter services from August to December 2008, the Pensacola News Journal reports. Florida advocates cautioned that domestic violence occurs when the economy is good or bad, but said the economic downturn is taking a toll.

MA – State legislators honored the Bridgewater-Raynham public school district for its work with high schools to provide skill groups and peer and adult mentoring programs to help students build safe and supportive relationships, the Raynham Call reports. Bridgewater-Raynham was one of 30 schools and districts that received funding through the innovative Safe and Supportive Learning Environments program. Each grantee program addresses the educational and psycho-social needs of children who witnessed violence and had other adverse experiences. The Bridgewater-Raynham program has been extended to middle school to better prepare eighth grade students making the transition to high school.

NC – A gunman entered a Carthage nursing home and opened fire in March, killing seven elderly residents of the home and one nurse. Robert K. Stewart was wounded by Carthage police and taken into custody. Officials believe that Stewart may have targeted the nursing home because his estranged wife, Wanda Luck, was on duty when the shootings occurred. However, she was in a locked ward for Alzheimer’s patients and not hurt, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. Several members of Luck’s family told reporters that Stewart drank heavily and was prone to violent rages.

AFGHANISTAN – President Hamid Karzai said the Afghan government will change a law that critics say legalizes rape within marriage. A review of the law, which has been the subject of broad international criticism because it introduces Taliban-era restrictions on women and sanctions marital rape, was ordered last month. President Karzai told activists last month that he had not read the legislation when he signed it, Reuters reports. President Obama and many U.S. lawmakers have been among the critics. Three hundred Afghan women walked through the streets of the capital to protest the new law, and then delivered a petition calling for its repeal. The law was crafted to affect only the Shi’ite Muslim community, 15 percent of Afghanistan’s population. Critics have accused Karzai of signing the legislation in haste because he faces re-election this summer and wants to curry favor with Shi’ite voters.

INDIA – An article on the Lancet’s web site finds that more than 100,000 young women age 15 to 34 were killed in fires in 2001. Researchers believe that kitchen accidents, self-immolation and homicides related to different forms of domestic violence – including bride burnings and dowry deaths – are the main reasons that young women are dying in fires. The article said, “Fire-related injuries are an important public health problem in India, and need urgent attention.” The number of young women killed is six times higher than the number reported to police.

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS

“Afghan President Hamid Karzai has just signed a law that forces women to obey their husbands’ sexual demands, keeps women from leaving the house – even for work or school – without a husband’s permission, automatically grants child custody rights to fathers and grandfathers before mothers, and favors men in inheritance disputes and other legal matters. In short, the law again consigns Afghan women to lives of brutal repression… The ugly truth in Afghanistan is that it has long been sliding back into the violent chaos that is friendly political ground for the Taliban and other extremist groups. Women have, as usual, been among the chief victims. There is indeed a lengthy and urgent to-do list for the Obama administration, which says it is determined to abandon a failing course. But that does not mean the United States should again fail Afghanistan’s women.”
-- Marie Cocco, “Silence Meets Despair of Afghan Women,” Denver Post, April 3, 2009

“Sexual assault scars the lives of millions in the United States. To increase awareness about this issue, prevent future crimes, and aid victims, this month we mark National Sexual Assault Awareness Month… To make continued progress, my Administration supports efforts to help Americans better understand this issue. Working together, we can reduce the incidence of sexual assault and help all who have experienced this heinous crime… I urge all Americans to respond to sexual assault by creating policies at work and school, by engaging in discussions with family and friends, and by making the prevention of sexual assault a priority in their communities.”
--United States President Barack Obama, National Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2009 Proclamation, April 8, 2009

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SAVE THE DATE

May 12-15, 2009, Minneapolis, MN
International Conference for Batterer Intervention Program Professionals
The Domestic Abuse Project in Minneapolis will host the Bridging Perspectives Conference 2009. Building on the successful Michigan conference of 2005, the Bridging Perspectives Conference 2009 will bring together nearly 600 people interested in working with men who use violence in their familial relationships with women and children. It will offer a chance to simultaneously explore multiple issues in the field of batterers’ intervention, such as accountability, culturally specific approaches, new and emerging research, fathering and battering, interdisciplinary cooperation, chemical dependency, mental health issues and more. For more information, visit www.bridgingperspectives.org/.

May 21-22, 2009, New York, NY
Stand Up and Speak Out
A Call to Men, a national association of men and women committed to ending violence against women, will host its fourth national conference at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. At Stand Up and Speak Out, women and men will come together and strategize about how best to end violence against women – with a solution that engages men in addressing the issue. For more information, visit www.acalltomen.org or email conferences@....

May 27-29, 2009, Washington, DC
National Child Welfare Evaluation Summit
The Children’s Bureau will host a National Child Welfare Evaluation Summit at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel for Children’s Bureau discretionary grant evaluators, state and Tribal child welfare administrators and analysts, evaluation experts in child welfare and other human service fields, and other interested professionals. The Summit will explore the state of evaluation practice in the field of child welfare and promote cohesive, strategic and sound approaches for evaluating child welfare systems, programs and projects. For more information, email evaluationsummit@....

May 27-30, 2009, New Orleans, LA
Children, Courts and Custody: Back to the Future or Full Steam Ahead?
The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts 46th annual conference will be held at the Sheraton New Orleans and will examine how family law research, practices and processes have evolved. It will feature 70 workshops, including three-hour advanced sessions, three plenary sessions and a choice of six daylong pre-conference institutes. Sessions will address challenges to conventional child custody wisdom including assertions about 50/50 parenting, the child’s role in the process, the resiliency of children after divorce, the changing role of court systems in resolving family disputes, and more. For more information, visit www.afccnet.org.

June 2-4, 2009, Jackson Hole, WY
The Next National Summit: Exploring Effective Interventions in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment
The Family Violence Prevention Fund and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, will host this Summit on the intersection of domestic violence and child welfare. Professionals working on issues related to co-occurrence will share strategies for transforming the way child welfare agencies, domestic violence organizations, courts, other service providers, and communities respond to families in need. For more information, call 216/707-9499 or visit http://endabuse.org/content/features/detail/1081/.

August 3-4, 2009, Long Beach, CA
A Journey to Healing: Finding the Path
Organized by the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community, this conference will offer informative and engaging presentations, practical information, interactive sessions and artistic expressions focused on learning how to help battered women and those who witnessed domestic violence as children. Featured speakers will include: Brenda L. Thomas, author of Laying Down My Burdens; Carolyn West, Ph.D., a scholar specializing in violence in the lives of black women; and Mildred Muhammad, former wife of the ‘DC Sniper’ John Allen Muhammad. For more information, visit www.idvaac.org/healing/.

September 3-4, 2009, San Diego, CA
A New Direction for a Safer Tomorrow: A National Conference on Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the Office on Violence Against Women will host a conference to inform professionals about how to provide safe, supervised visitation and exchange services that take domestic violence into account at the Omni San Diego Hotel. National experts will discuss safety for adult victims and children; services for diverse populations; community collaboration; and advocacy. For more information, contact Michele Robinson at 775/784-6427 or mrobinson@....

November 6-7, 2009, Collegeville, MN
First National Conference for Campus-Based Men’s Gender Equality & Anti-Violence Groups
This conference will be the first chance for male students from across the country to explore how to find positive ways to reach campus men with messages against dating and other forms of men’s violence, and for gender equality. It will provide opportunities to discuss how to deal with backlash and hostility, and how to work in partnership with women’s groups. St. John’s University will host the conference. For more details, email gkellom@....