Family Violence Prev
| Family Violence Prev |
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| Written by Staff ID12 | |||
| Saturday, 14 May 2005 00:56 | |||
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Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) Our mission: For more than two decades, the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) has worked to end violence against women and children around the world, because everyone has the right to live free of violence. Instrumental in developing the landmark Violence Against Women Act passed by Congress in 1994, the FVPF has continued to break new ground by reaching new audiences including men and youth, promoting leadership within communities to ensure that violence prevention efforts become self-sustaining, and transforming the way health care providers, police, judges, employers and others respond to violence. For more information, visit www.endabuse.org
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December 15, 2006 In This Issue: • Advocates Alarmed About Immigration Raids ADVOCATES ALARMED ABOUT IMMIGRATION RAIDS Leading domestic and sexual violence experts are raising serious concerns about potential violations of human rights in the aftermath of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on meatpacking plants in six states on Tuesday. Advocates for victims of domestic and sexual violence are reporting inhumane treatment of those who have been detained, with some parents being separated from newborns and not being allowed to relay information about children with serious medical conditions. The largest immigration raid in U.S. history resulted in the arrests of close to 1,300 people who work at Swift meatpacking plants in Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas and Utah on December 12. Many are now being held at a National Guard facility near Des Moines, or being bused to similar facilities in Atlanta. In the first days after the raids, advocates for victims of violence, clergy and others who tried to see the detainees were turned away. “The rights of victims of violence – and of all people – must be protected, even as the government enforces its laws,” said Family Violence Prevention Fund President Esta Soler. “All of those arrested are entitled to humane treatment and due process, and some of them may well have rights under the Violence Against Women Act. We ask officials to take all steps necessary to protect their rights and respect their dignity. It is terribly sad that during this holiday season so many parents have been ripped away from their children and subjected to callous treatment.” There are persistent reports that Latinos who are U.S. citizens were arrested during the raids. Candlelight vigils in support of immigrants are being planned in the affected states, including Denver and Greeley, Colorado; Omaha and Grand Island, Nebraska; Des Moines, Dubuque, Marshalltown and Sioux City, Iowa; and Austin, Minnesota. Those who wish to help can:
Friday, December 1 was World AIDS Day – the 19th consecutive year that individuals and agencies around the world have united to raise awareness and fight HIV and AIDS on this Day. "The issue of women and girls within the AIDS epidemic needs continued and increased attention," UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot said in a World AIDS Day statement. 2.9 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses this year, and there were 4.3 million new infections – 400,000 more new infections than in 2004, according to the UNAIDS 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update. The highest rates of new infections are among those ages 15 to 24 and among married women in their 20s and 30s. Two-thirds of all those infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, and women make up 60 percent of those infected in the region. Most experts agree that stopping violence is essential to slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS and to addressing the epidemic's disproportionate impact on women and children. Violence or fear of violence can keep women and girls from protecting themselves from infection, negotiating safer sex, getting counseling, getting tested, or getting treatment if they are HIV positive. "In the 25 years since the first case was reported, AIDS has changed the world," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan said in a statement. "It has killed 25 million people and infected 40 million more. It has become the world's leading cause of death among both women and men aged 15 to 59. It has inflicted the single greatest reversal in the history of human development. In other words, it has become the greatest challenge of our generation." The theme of this year's World AIDS Day is accountability, which Annan said "requires every President and Prime Minister, every parliamentarian and politician, to… work for real, positive change that will give more power and confidence to women and girls, and transform relations between women and men at all levels of society." Accountability also "requires fathers, husbands, sons and brothers to support and affirm the rights of women," he added. "It requires teachers to nurture the dreams and aspirations of girls. It requires men to help ensure that other men assume their responsibility – and understand that real manhood means protecting others from risk. And it requires every one of us help bring AIDS out of the shadows, and spread the message that silence is death." The World Health Organization reports that more than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981, and predicts another 117 million AIDS-related deaths in the next 25 years. The red ribbon is the symbol for AIDS awareness, worn in support of people living with HIV and in remembrance of those who have died. On Friday, December 1st, people around the world wore red ribbons for World AIDS Day. More information on World AIDS Day is available at www.unaids.org/en/.
There were 17 incidents of domestic homicide resulting in the deaths of 24 people (19 victims and five perpetrators who committed suicide) in Massachusetts in 2003, according to a new report from Jane Doe Inc. Three-fourths of the murder victims had been in an adult intimate relationship with the person who killed them, and the rest were known to perpetrators as being close to and supportive of the victim. “With this and future annual reviews of Massachusetts’ domestic violence homicides, we hope to raise awareness among individuals, communities, systems and policy makers around the Commonwealth about the lethal and often predictable consequences of domestic violence and to improve our response to domestic violence and prevention of homicides,” said Jane Doe Inc. Executive Director Mary Lauby. Researchers found that previous physical harm or threats were documented in eleven of the 17 relationships. Three victims were known to have been stalked by the perpetrators prior to their murders. Thirty-two percent of the victims were over age 50, bringing attention to elder abuse. Children were also victims in Massachusetts in 2003. One child was murdered and five children were in the home at the time of the homicide; three of those five children witnessed the murder. There are at least 41 surviving descendents of the homicide victims and perpetrators and more than half are minor children. All 13 female homicide victims were killed by adult males, and ten were killed by current or former partners, half of whom were their husbands. Five men were killed in domestic violence homicides in 2003. Three of the five were killed by current female partners, and one perpetrator had long been abused by the man she killed. One of the other two male victims was killed by a same-sex partner and the other was killed by the male fiancé of a former girlfriend. The report also notes that the media's coverage of domestic violence homicides often promotes myths and stereotypes about domestic violence, victims and batterers, missing opportunities to educate the public, hold systems accountable and provide the necessary context for understanding these crimes. The report profiles the victims and uses court documents and media accounts to detail the crimes. Researchers used more than 100 newspaper accounts to compile the list of possible victims. Incidents were considered domestic violence related if: the victim and perpetrator were former spouses or intimate partners, adults or teens with a child in common, or adults or teens in a current or former dating relationship; the victim was a bystander or intervened in an attempted domestic violence homicide and was killed; the motive for murder was reported to include jealousy, in the context of an intimate partner or dating relationship; or a relationship existed between the perpetrator and adult or teen victim that could be defined as exhibiting a pattern of power and control. For more information about the Massachusetts Domestic Violence Homicide Report, please visit www.janedoe.org/know/know_dv_homicide_report_2003.htm. During this holiday season, many advocates want to shop and contribute to a worthy cause at the same time. Here are some shopping opportunities made easy and charitable!
Use the Stop Family Violence Stamp for your holiday correspondence! The Stop Family Violence Stamp is available at most local post offices, by phone at 1-800-STAMP-24 and online at www.usps.com. The price of the semipostal pays for first class single-piece postage plus a contribution to domestic violence programs paid out through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To view and purchase the stamp please visit, http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&categoryId=11834&productId=14113&langId=-1.
The California Department of Social Services and the California Family to Family Initiative launched the child welfare section of the California Family to Family Initiative website in October. Available information includes the demography of U.S. children of immigrants, best practices for working with immigrants and refugee communities, immigration guidelines for staff, and more. To download these resources, please visit www.f2f.ca.gov/Immigrants.htm.
NATIONAL – The House of Representatives approved a resolution (H. Res 1086) supporting the goals of National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week, to be held on February 5-9, 2007, by unanimous consent earlier this month. Representatives Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA) and Mary Bono (R-CA) sponsored the resolution. The Senate passed the same resolution in November. VA – Governor Tim Kaine appointed members to his Governor’s Commission on Sexual Violence in late November. The Commission will make recommendations to improve the treatment of sexual violence victims and prevent and respond to related crimes. “The physical and emotional trauma suffered by victims of sexual violence, often compounded by silence and stigma surrounding the crime, calls for special attention in our response and prevention efforts,” Governor Kaine said in a statement. For more information, visit www.governor.virginia.gov/MediaRelations/NewsReleases/viewRelease.cfm?id=289. PR – Domestic violence is more prevalent in the commonwealth’s central mountain towns than other areas of Puerto Rico, a study of police data has found, reports the San Juan Star. “Ideas and beliefs perpetuated in society about the subordination of women to men and inequality among genders” may explain the high incidence of domestic violence cases in Adjuntas and Utuado, said Director of Prevention and Education of the Women’s Affairs Advocate Office Sarinda Mirabal. Earlier this month, the commonwealth government held a five minute reflection and meditation to raise domestic violence awareness in 145 government agencies, public schools and private entities. So far this year, there have been 20 domestic violence related deaths. SPAIN– The Council of Europe, the continent’s top human rights organization, launched a Campaign to Combat Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence in Madrid last month. The Campaign urges governments to prosecute offenders, give more support to victims and deliver concrete results in combating violence against women. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain was selected to launch the Campaign because of the country’s efforts to address domestic violence. Two years after Spain passed comprehensive anti-domestic violence legislation, Spanish leaders are realizing that laws are not enough and greater awareness is needed, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The Campaign will run through March 2008. INTERNATIONAL – A new report finds that the world’s leading governments and international agencies are failing to meet their goals and provide treatment for AIDS and H.I.V. in the developing world. One goal that will not be realized is universal access to AIDS medications for 9.8 million people by 2010; it will fall short by five million people, predicts Missing the Target #3: Stagnation in AIDS Treatment Scale Up Puts Millions of Lives at Risk. The shortfall is particularly glaring when it comes to women and children, the New York Times reports. Drugs to prevent the mother to child transmission are only reaching nine percent of H.I.V. positive women in Africa, even though the drugs are inexpensive and readily available. The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition released the report in late November. “Accountability – the theme of World AIDS Day on Friday – requires every president and prime minister, every parliamentarian and politician, to decide and declare that ‘AIDS stops with me...’ But accountability applies not only to those who hold positions of power. It also applies to all of us. It requires business leaders to work for HIV prevention in the workplace and in the wider community, and to care for affected workers and their families. It requires health workers, community leaders and faith-based groups to listen and care, without passing judgment. It requires fathers, husbands, sons and brothers to support and affirm the rights of women. It requires teachers to nurture the dreams and aspirations of girls. It requires men to help ensure that other men assume their responsibility – and understand that real manhood means protecting others from risk. It requires every one of us to help bring AIDS out of the shadows, and spread the message that silence is death.” -- Kofi A. Annan, United Nations Secretary-General in a guest editorial “How the World can Conquer AIDS,” USA Today, November 29, 2006 “Is it rape if a woman agrees to have sex, then changes her mind after the act has begun and tells the man to stop? Not in Maryland, no matter how clear it is that the woman has withdrawn her consent. According to a ruling [in October] by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the state’s intermediate appellate court, forcing a woman to continue to have sex against her will is not rape under common law and state court precedents. If this is a correct interpretation of the law, the law should be changed… The real damage is done by this ruling, which promotes an offensively archaic view of women and is out of line with other states that have considered the question.” -- “Rape Is Rape,” Washington Post editorial, November 27, 2006
January 15, 2007, Call for Proposals Due January 27, 2007, Call for Proposals Due March 15-17, 2007, San Francisco, CA March 18-20, 2007, Baltimore, MD March 19-20, 2007, Long Beach, CA
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Copyright © 2003 Family Violence Prevention Fund
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