Victims' Voices:

Empowering Victims of Relationship Violence

WONDERFUL progress in Lousianna! Louisiana recently passed HB 46 sponsored by Rep. Nita Hutter, a member of the National Foundation of Women Legislators (NFWL), which requires teen dating violence education in grades 7-12 in the health curriculum. The law was passed as a collaborative effort as Rep. Hutter worked with Love Is Not Abuse Coalition member Louisiana Appleseed, a non-profit organization made up of pro bono lawyers that supports social change. The Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Louisiana Dept. of Education also supported passage of this law. Passage of a law is the first and perhaps the most important step toward prevention through education. But the work does not end there. Proper implementation of such a law is not always easy and requires much planning and work to make it successful. Although not required by law, Louisiana quickly recognized the need for teacher training on the topic of teen dating violence and training on how to teach the topic, as...

In the world of Rape and Abuse Advocacy it is rare to see the "fruit of your labors" whether it is a late night hot line call, a weekend hospital trip, an article written or a speech given more often then not you never see the end results of the work you. Because of the nature of our work it is not uncommon to never have contact with an individual who's phone call you take on the hot line or who's hand you hold at the hospital. It is even more rare that you will ever know who was moved to action by an article you've written or a speech you given. Still you go about doing it praying that some good is coming of it and that changes are being made. Because of the nature of our justice system even if you are helping a victim from start to finish through the legal process it is highly unlikely that justice will be received. More often then not plea bargains are made, charges are dropped or changed and the victim is left questioning whether it was even worth reporting. A...

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and typically I spend the month updating my blog with a huge volume of information to help raise awareness and to get resources into the hands of as many people as possible. This year, however, I took a different approach. Since this blog is fairly new and doesn't have as many followers as my facebook page has friends I decided to take my awareness efforts to facebook. Almost everyday in the month of October I updated my status with statics about domestic violence and my page with links to web pages for helps and information about events going on in a variety of areas. The response was great! People responded to what was posted by contacting me for more information, sharing their stories and asking for links to pass on to others. In sort it did exactly what I'd hoped it would do, it furthered the dialogue that was going on on a national level. October is a great month in that the awareness level is heightened, events take place and ...

I apologize that it has taken me 2 weeks to get this posted but I've been fighting a nasty cold/flu thing for 2 weeks and being upright was simply not an option. On Monday September 13, 2010 I had the opportunity to present the Love is Not Abuse (LINA) Dating Violence Curriculum to the 10th grade Honors English Classes. It was the first time the curriculum has been presented in Ohio and one of the first to present the revised edition, which includes information on digital dating abuse, in the nation. All of which was very exciting and nerve wracking. Some might think the idea of talking dating abuse with 100 teenagers would be the most difficult part but that wasn't the case, the most difficult part was not presenting the material as much as it was condensing the material. The curriculum is set up to be 4 to 5, 50 minute classes covering all aspects of Dating Violence. It covers what it is, the warning signs , helps for victims and abusers and has 2 classes on digital dating v...

Dr. Phil McGraw from the Dr. Phil show will announce an exciting new parternship with the National Network to End Domestic Violence on his show today, Monday, September 13. It will be the premiere of Dr. Phil's 9th season, throughout which he will be on a mission to end the silence on domestic violence! NNEDV's president, Sue Else, will appear on the show as an expert on domestic violence. To watch, check your local listing at http://www.drphil.com/shows/listing/ .

Since its inception I have fought the twitter bug. I didn't have time of another technological advance to take up time and energy in my life. Today, however, I joined the millions of other people in the world that are updating the universe as to their comings and going via twitter... well kind of. The Victims' Voices at least will be updating the world with information and resources via twitter. After a long conversation with a very dear friend I realized it is just another way to get information on relationship violence into the hands of those that need it and so starting today you can follow The Victims' Voices on Twitter . Add me as a friend and you will be able to find information on where I'm speaking, what I'm doing and where to get more information to help those dealing with abuse in their lives. All in all a win win for everyone don't you think? Hope you see you there!

Let me start by saying I am NOT an Eminem fan. I find him vulgar, jarring and although he is not afraid to tackle tough topics I find his use of foul language and shock tactics in his songs and videos unnecessary. His latest song is no different in those respects. Love the way you lie tackles the topic of Domestic Violence head on and he peppers the " song " (I use the term loosely) with the F word at least 3 times. All that being said I felt it needed to be discussed especially after reading this article on the Washington Post. Where they state "The debate has begun: Is the song a treatise against (or apology for) domestic violence or an irresponsible glorification of it? Or, is it something uncomfortable in between? And how to explain the role of Rihanna, who has said that she aims to help young people learn the lessons of her ordeal?" Personally I think it has the potential to be both. The reality is this video will do one of 2 things it will either desensitize...