Over 200 people gathered at last week’s Violence-Free Teens Conference organized by Peace Over Violence. In its fourth year, this conference brings together prevention educators, teachers, parents, and especially youth, to share ideas and resources to prevent teen dating violence and promote healthy relationships and communities. Through theater, flash mobs, presentations, policy and networking I saw some of the best work in prevention.

Keynote speaker Lyn Mikel Brown described the work done to combat the sexualization of girls through effort like Healthy Girls Hearty Women, SPARK Summit and Powered by Girl. She described each of these efforts as demonstrating how “fighting like a girl” means being an activist to promote change. I especially liked the Projection Project as a creative way to use the arts to build a movement.

We learned about the exciting work done by Start Strong Los Angeles and the 13 other Start Strong sites. By hearing the voices of youth, I am reminded how much their work will take prevention to the next level.

Soon I will share my presentation on trends in teen dating violence prevention. Thanks Peace Over Violence for this event.

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) last December, there was discussion on the PreventConnect email group about the use of the term “sexual coercion” in NISVS.  PreventConnect forwarded these questions and concerns to the CDC.

I am pleased to be able to share the response from the CDC below.  For more information about NISVS, check out the archives of the PreventConnect web conference about NISVS Findings  (which includes more links and recordings of the sessions.)

Here is the full CDC response:

We have seen the listserv posts with questions regarding the use of sexual coercion language in the NISVS measure, and we wanted to share some background information in hopes that it helps bring more understanding to the report.

http://www.preventconnect.org/mail/newsletter/NSVRCNewsletter2012Part2.html

The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence is hosting three events in recognition of Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Month. The first will share strategies for advocates to engage youth through social media, and the second and third will highlight the critical role of parents and caregivers in preventing and responding to teen dating violence. Check them out!

• Twit Chat – Engaging Youth Through Social Media - Wednesday, February 15, 2012 ~ 1pm Eastern, 12pm Central, 10am Pacific
• Webinar - Helping Youth Develop Healthy Relationships: The Role of Parents & Caregivers - Thursday, February 16, 2012 ~ 1pm Eastern, 12pm Central, 10am Pacific
• BlogTalkRadio Program - Helping Youth Develop Healthy Relationships: The Role of Parents & Caregivers - Thursday, February 23, 2012 ~ 2pm Eastern, 1pm Central, 11pm Pacific

Join Dr. Dorothy Espelage and Dr. Kathleen Basile as they discuss their recent Journal of Adolescent Health article, “Bullying Perpetration and Subsequent Sexual Violence Perpetration Among Middle School Students.” Heather Carter of the Youth Suicide Prevention Program in Seattle, Wash., will join the conversation as she will describe efforts to prevent LGBT-based bullying and harassment. In this interactive web conference, we will explore the potential implications for sexual violence and other prevention efforts.

Monday, February 27, and repeated on Friday, March 2, 2012
SESSIONS ARE FULL (Join the wait list)

This ninety-minute (90 min) session will start at 11 AM Pacific Standard Time (2 PM Eastern, 1 PM Central, Noon Mountain, 10 AM Alaska, 8 AM Hawai’i).

February 27 Web Conference is FULL

March 2 Web Conference is FULL

Click here to add your name to the wait list (if space becomes available and to be notified when the recording is available)

Host/Presenter: David Lee, CALCASA, PreventConnect

Guest Speakers:

• Dorothy Espelage, Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign;
• Kathleen Basile, Ph.D., Division of Violence Prevention, CDC
• Heather Carter, MA, OUTLoud Project Manager, Youth Suicide Prevention Program

Cost: Free

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will describe the findings of a the study “Bullying Perpetration and Subsequent Sexual Violence Perpetration Among Middle School Students.”
2. Participants will explore a potential bullying sexual violence pathway.
3. Participants will identify potential implications for prevention efforts.

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.

Compatibility
The iLinc web conference software used by Prevent Connect is compatible with both Microsoft® Windows® and Apple® Macintosh® computers. Click here for detailed system requirements.

PreventConnect loves this SAAM toolkit! For Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month (SAAPM), the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) has a national campaign that will employ both traditional and non-traditional methods through the use of social media, social marketing and social change.

Rose Luna writes on the agency blog,

The theme of TAASA’s 2012 SAAPM packet is “Get Social”. The intention behind this theme is to emphasize the connection between community, it’s stakeholders and our agency. It also represents the importance of collaboration and building of relationships in creating awareness and change.

The comprehensive 32-page packet includes information about social media; how it can be used at your agency; social media activities; how social marketing differs from social media; and ideas that rape crisis centers can use during April and the rest of the year to raise awareness about sexual violence. For agencies that are new to social media, this packet is a great starting place with plenty of supportive content.

PreventConnect will be using parts of this great resource during our SAAM 2012 activities!

Download the “Get Social” SAAPM packet.

During the Super Bowl last night, I was not watching the game but  following the Twitter hashtag #notbuyingit where people were protesting about the many sexist ads, such as those by Kia, Telefora, Fiat and GoDaddy. Today’s Mother Jones article Twitter Talks Back to Sexist Super Bowl Ads described how this campaign started by Miss Representation is taking off.

Do online petitions actually make a difference? After looking at recent events, I have to say the online activism can and does make a difference. Several articles in the last few days documented the role online activists have to make change. The AltanticWire article  2012 Is the Year of the Virtual Protest and Nickolas Kristof’s Sunday New York Times column After Recess: Change the World both  highlight the impact online efforts using services such as Change.org have. As Kristof wrote about these successes:

And therein lies a story of how new Internet tools are allowing very ordinary people to defeat some of the most powerful corporate and political interests around — by threatening the titans with the online equivalent of a tarring and feathering.

Our efforts to change the culture can start with online efforts. How will you use our new technology to promote a world free of sexual violence and domestic violence?

Yesterday, Men Can Stop Rape launched their new bystander intervention campaign geared towards addressing sexual violence on college campuses. “Where Do You Stand?” uses a number of tools such as trainings, posters, and media materials to encourage young men to become active bystanders to end sexual violence.

According to Men Can Stop Rape’s press release, “Where Do You Stand? continues Men Can Stop Rape’s commitment to primary prevention by creating everyday solutions to prevent men’s violence against women and girls,” said Men Can Stop Rape Executive Director, Neil Irvin. “This campaign builds on young men’s ability, desire, and commitment to being strong without being violent.”

Continue reading to view the full text of the press release.

PRESS CONTACT: Amy Terpeluk
Tel: (212) 593-2792
Cell: (917) 826-2326
amy@finnpartners.com

COLLEGE MEN LAUNCH WHERE DO YOU STAND?, A NEW NATIONAL INTERVENTION PROGRAM TO STOP SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUSES

Leading men’s prevention organization, Men Can Stop Rape, collaborates with American Association of University Women to increase the number of men on campus who intervene to prevent dating violence and sexual assault

WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 31, 2012 – Today, Men Can Stop Rape, a leading national organization mobilizing boys and young men to prevent violence against women, is launching a new nationwide intervention movement to empower college men to speak up and prevent violence on campus.

This new push to build safer college campuses is a direct result of the many recent incidents of rape, sexual assault and dating violence that have occurred on campuses. Sixty two percent of undergraduate students say they have encountered some type of sexual harassment⁽¹⁾, and a recent survey shows that nearly half (43 percent) of all dating college women report having ever experienced violent or abusive dating behaviors ⁽²⁾.

Men Can Stop Rape is taking an entirely new approach to preventing these incidents. For the first time, they are focusing on male bystanders who witness potentially violent situations and teaching them how to step in before situations escalate into actual physical or sexual violence.

This initiative involves several elements including the launch of an innovative public awareness campaign called Where Do You Stand?. This campaign uses a variety of media materials including billboards, posters and t-shirts, displaying provocative visuals and messages that illustrate how easy it can be for men to speak up and prevent violence.Where Do You Stand? also uses bystander intervention trainings and peer-education sessions that equip them with the necessary skills and tools to intervene.

“Where Do You Stand? continues Men Can Stop Rape’s commitment to primary prevention by creating everyday solutions to prevent men’s violence against women and girls,” said Men Can Stop Rape Executive Director, Neil Irvin. “This campaign builds on young men’s ability, desire, and commitment to being strong without being violent. We look forward to using Where Do You Stand? to deepen existing relationships and build new partnerships with college campuses across the country.”

The collaboration with the American Association of University Women’s 100,000 members nationwide, illustrates the spirit of teamwork that Men Can Stop Rape aims to incorporate onto every campus where this new campaign will take root. Men Can Stop Rape hopes to continue to build these powerful collaborations with women’s groups to help support existing rape and violence prevention programs on campuses and to increase these groups’ resources by bringing men and women together around these important issues.

“It’s crucial that both women and men address sexual harassment and violence on campus. This is not just a women’s issue,” said AAUW Program Manager, Holly Kearl. “By joining forces, we can work together to challenge the culture that fosters those dangerous behaviors, involve more men and give all students nationwide the tools they need to be part of the solution.”

The initiative will also seek to increase the presence of Men Can Stop Rape student leaders on college campuses by building more student-led chapters of their Campus Men Of Strength (MOST) Clubs. MOST Club members serve as activists for violence prevention on campus. They facilitate trainings, plan events and partner with other community and campus organizations to educate men about stereotypes that perpetuate violence, different ways to approach potentially dangerous situations and how to overcome men’s reluctance to confront their peers when they see unhealthy interactions they suspect could become dangerous.

Today, college men from Georgetown, American University and George Washington University, along with area high school students, will come together at Georgetown with collaborators from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and the School and College Organization of Prevention Educators (SCOPE, www.wearescope.org) to launch this new violence intervention movement at a meeting of Men Can Stop Rape student leaders.

“Intervening in the presence of disrespect toward a woman can be easier said than done,” said Matt Scott, sophomore at George Washington University and Campus MOST Club member. “Everybody faces challenges in life where women, and men for that matter, are being degraded in front of them. It is tough to know how to handle it but Men Can Stop Rape makes it easier for men to challenge stereotypes and take a stand.”

Universities across the country have already requested the new Where Do You Stand?intervention materials and programs and are highly anticipating the opportunity to introduce this national campus movement to their students. Additionally, partners from the District of Columbia Office of Victim Services have joined with Men Can Stop Rape with the goal of distributing Where Do You Stand? materials to campuses city wide. The college men leading this movement are working to ensure every campus has violence and sexual assault prevention and intervention programs in place.

The Where Do You Stand? materials, trainings and programs and the Campus MOST Club programming are available to be activated on campuses nationwide. For more information about Men Can Stop Rape, visit www.mencanstoprape.org.

About Men Can Stop Rape
Men Can Stop Rape is the leading national organization mobilizing boys and men to prevent violence against women. The program has reached over 2 million boys and men in the past 10 years with a message of “strength without violence.” Men Can Stop Rape’s cutting-edge prevention programs are grounded in the social ecological model which recognizes that individual actions profoundly affect entire communities and ultimately all of society. Utilizing a proven curriculum, awareness campaigns, prevention and intervention trainings and programming, Men Can Stop Rape is engaging men and boys to build safer and healthier communities. For more information about Men Can Stop Rape, visit www.mencanstoprape.org.

¹ Harris Interactive® online survey conducted on behalf of the AAUW Educational Foundation, 2005

² Liz Claiborne Inc.’s Love Is Not Abuse 2011 College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll, 2011

Today marks the beginning of Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month.  In February, there will be activities throughout the country addressing violence in young people’s relationships.  I appreciate that this month is not only about awareness, but includes a focus on prevention.  This is a time to take action.  During this month there will be rallies, forums, media campaigns and flash mobs to mobilize young people to prevent teen dating violence.

In his Presidential Proclamation on National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, 2012, President Obama said

     Reducing violence against teens and young adults is an important task for all of us.  This month, we renew our commitment to breaking the silence about dating abuse and fostering a culture of respect in our neighborhoods, our schools, and our homes.

Check out some of PreventConnect’s archived materials about teen dating violence, including

• Healthy Break-Ups and Why They Matter
• Prepare for National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month with That’s Not Cool
• Campaign for the third choice: dating violence prevention and Eclipse
• Understanding teen dating violence prevention: CDC’s Dating Matters
• Respect WORKS!: a comprehensive teen dating violence prevention model

Here is a response to a recent Washington Post opinion column about rape statistics from the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault:

The recently released findings from the Center for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) National Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) recognized that almost 1 in 5 American woman have been raped in their lifetime. This is a wake up call to recognize how sexual violence is widespread. However, last week, in a Washington Post opinion column, Christina Hoff Sommers claims this report is comprised of “inflated statistics and sensationalism.”

Sommers, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, has a long history of criticizing information about violence against women in her articles and books such as “Who Stole Feminism?” In the Washington Post article, she argues the validity of the CDC’s research in comparison to the number rapes reported to the F.B.I. (which used a definition that recently changed because it was too restrictive) and those reported on the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey. Sommers writes,

The [CDC's] figures are wildly at odds with official crime statistics. The FBI found that 84,767 rapes were reported to law enforcement authorities in 2010. The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey, the gold standard in crime research, reports 188,380 rapes and sexual assaults on females and males in 2010. Granted, not all assaults are reported to authorities. But where did the CDC find 13.7 million victims of sexual crimes that the professional criminologists had overlooked?

The CDC survey finds so many more victims than the criminal justice-based statistics because it asks about people’s actual experiences. It is a strength of this survey that it asks behavior-specific questions and includes many types of unwanted sexual violence experiences, in addition to rape. The FBI — until this month — only recorded statistics of vaginal rape that are voluntarily reported by the police departments. The National Crime Victimization Survey asks only about rape as part of series of questions regarding various crimes. The CDC has developed a survey that recognizes sexual violence is not only a crime, but it is also a public health problem.

At the same time as these crimes are continuing to occur, funding is in jeopardy for rape crisis centers across the nation. There are already more survivors than social service agencies have the ability to serve. In order to provide services to more survivors — and also to do the primary prevention work to stop violence before it occurs — the rape crisis centers need to increase funding.

Whether your rape statistic is 84,767 or 188,380, sexual violence is still happening, which should make this a priority issue for rape crisis centers, media, funders and other social service agencies. This survey suggests that the problem is even bigger and requires more attention.

Instead using energy that minimizes the prevalence of sexual violence, let’s put our energy toward creating more programs to prevent sexual violence and opportunities to support survivors in their healing.