Sexual Violence Prevention Network
For several years, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) has promoted the slogan Decide to End Sexual Violence as part of the annual campaign, usually with a tag line added. This year, the NSVRC 2005 National Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) Campaign still incorporates that basic starting point but adds a new emphasis on building healthy, respectful relationships. This focus brings together important elements of a positive approach to raising awareness and promoting prevention of sexual violence. NSVRC has more information on SAAM and planned activities, as well as information on healthy relationships.
Other healthy relationships resources
Choose Respect: Teaches young teens and the caring adults in their lives about dating abuse prevention and healthy relationships.
Positively Informed: Lesson Plans and Guidance for Sexuality Educators and Advocates: A resource kit of lesson plans and guidance for comprehensive sexuality educators, Positively Informed provides a handpicked selection of some of the best English-language sexuality education materials out there. Intended to serve as a source of ideas, examples, and inspiration for educators developing their own sexuality education curricula, the lesson plans use creative, interactive, learner-centered teaching strategies, and are adaptable to diverse cultural settings. The plans address gender issues, challenge discriminatory attitudes and behaviors, and present sexuality as a positive part of life rather than something to be feared and shrouded in taboos. These lessons are appropriate for 10- to 19-year-olds and are classroom ready.
The R Factor: Building Resiliency in Young Adults, A Dads Make a Difference™ Program: This is an umbrella program for two exciting curricula, 1) the original Dads Make a Difference™ curriculum taught by older teens to middle school-age youth, and 2) The R Factor: Building Resiliency in Young Adults™, taught primarily by teachers to students ages 16 to 20 years.
A Parent's Handbook: How to Talk to Your Children About Developing Healthy Relationships: Helps adults create an environment in which they can give their pre-teen boys and girls the skills with which to have positive, healthy relationships with peers and in dating situations.
Healthy Relationships Curriculum: Curriculum to help students analyze the culture of violence that condones abusive behavior to help empower them to create the violence-free culture of tomorrow.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month events sponsored by the Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education at the University of Minnesota
In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, the Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education at the University of Minnesota will be sponsoring several events. For more information contact Kelly Coughlan, (612) 626-2929.
Did you know?
According to research conducted at the University of Minnesota, approximately 500 men and 1,300 women at the University of Minnesota experience unwanted sexual contact each year.
These events are intended to raise awareness about sexual violence in our community and give survivors a chance to speak out:
Take Back the Night (March & Rally)
(co-sponsored by MPIRG, The Aurora Center, Coca-Cola, University of Minnesota Administrative Grant for Student initiatives, the Women's Student Activist Collective, Office for University Women, Al's Breakfast, Lavender Magazine, Sexual Violence Center and St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church)
Thursday, April 7th
Loring Park (downtown Minneapolis) - directions
Pre-rally events at 5:00 pm
Rally at 6:00 pm
March at 7:30 pm.
A march and rally to unite those who wish to make our relationships and communities healthier and safer, to celebrate survivors of sexual and domestic violence, and to demonstrate that violence and exploitation will not be tolerated! The route will be from Loring Park, south on Hennepin Ave, East on 24th, and North on Lyndale back to the Park! Keynote speaker: Patty Wetterling, Performances by: Jessica Lopez-Lyman, Barb Ryman, Lisa Kane and One Voice Mixed Choir, Also: DJ Unity, TBTN Art Cabaret, kid's activities, Clothesline Project, food, fun are more!
The Men's Program - 1 in 4
How to Help a Sexual Assault Survivor: What Men Can Do
Monday, April 11th
4:30-5:30pm, room 2-650
Moos Tower (directions)
- The Aurora Center
- Intercollegiate Athletics
- Office for University Women
The Aurora Center is co-sponsoring The National Organization of Men's Outreach for Rape Education (NO MORE), whose approach is to end sexual assault through groundbreaking research and educational programming, with Intercollegiate Athletics. Primarily targeting male audiences, this group of four men aims to empower men to be part of the solution rather than blame them for contributing to the problem.
NO MORE has developed a program titled The Men's Program - 1 in 4, with the subheading How to Help a Sexual Assault Survivor: What Men Can Do. The program aims to increase victim empathy, teach men how they can help women recover from rape and sexual assault, and finally encourage men to change their own behavior and influence others.
The program is facilitated by four men who graduated from William and Mary College (Williamsburg, Virginia) in 2004. As founding members of their college chapter of NO MORE, they will spend nine months traveling across the country, bringing The Men's Program - 1 in 4 to college and high school campuses.
The program is presented in a non-confrontational nature and its objective is to increase men's empathy for survivors of sexual violence. A segment of the program focuses on how men can help survivors, as well as work to prevent sexual violence on a daily basis. The peer educators review the importance of discussing a survivor's medical and safety needs, and encourage the participants to listen, believe, and support the survivor's decisions. Peer educators also discuss the effects of sexist jokes and attitudes that are prevalent within our culture. They ask the men to examine their own behaviors, encouraging them to condemn sexual violence on a daily basis.
Susie's Story by Jayne Hanson
Tuesday, April 12th
7-8pm, room 2-620
Moos Tower (directions)
- The Aurora Center
Remember Suz is dedicated to educating people regarding the effects and prevalence of sexual violence. Myths surrounding sexual assault and rape help perpetrate a violent cycle that claims a woman every 2 minutes. Because of this correlation, education and understanding are imperative to ending sexual violence against women.
Jayne Hanson, founder of Remember Suz, lost her daughter Susie to suicide. Susie's case was not a high profile case involving abduction by a stranger. Susie was raped when she was 15 years old. Like most rape victims, she was assaulted in a familiar environment by a trusted perpetrator. After 5 years of silently suffering the fear, shame, trauma and depression that haunts survivors of sexual assault, Susie took her life. Her family is left to wonder - if she had access to programs available for sexual assault survivors, if she had been taught about the realities of sexual violence, perhaps Susie would be here today.
Jayne has been speaking about Susie's tragedy and her family's loss for over 3 years. She weaves her passionate and poignant story with facts of sexual violence in the United States. Blunt, educational, and most importantly personal, Susie's story brings a face and a name to the realities of sexual violence.
For more information, contact the Aurora Center or Kelly Coughlan, (612) 626-2929.
The workshop on Youth Prostitution Awareness is a panel presentation focusing on efforts to prevent the recruitment of rural youth in prostitution. Presenters include:
- Vednita Carter, Breaking Free
- Phyllis Beatty, Adults Saving Kids
- Sgt. Andrew Schmidt, Minneapolis Police Dept. FBI Taskforce on Child Prostitution
Workshop on Youth Prostitution Awareness
April 21, 2005
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Willmar Education & Arts Center
611 SW 5th St.
No registration required
Certificate of Attendance provided
Sponsored by the Kandiyohi County Child Abuse Prevention Council
For information call the Sexual Violence & Abuse Crisis Center, (320) 235-8001.
The Council on Crime and Justice has been conducting research on sexual violence in the culturally deaf community with a grant from the National Institute of Justice. Two reports have been produced detailing participatory approaches to conducting research in this cultural context and an analysis of the service provider perspective. We will be releasing two other reports-community member perspectives that include survivor stories and the deaf male perspective later this year.
Statewide Video conference with Victor Vieth, Director of the National Child Protection Training Center
Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota, with the support of the Minnesota Department of Health, is offering a six-location video conference with Victor Vieth on Wednesday, May 18th, 8:30 A.M. until noon. As the Director of the National Child Protection Training Center, Dr. Vieth has unveiled an aggressive plan to eliminate child abuse in the U.S. in 120 years. Join us and learn of that national effort its progress, and about the rapid growth of the Center’s new curriculum.
Victor will also provide a detailed look at the growth of child prostitution - including the frightening role played by Minnesota, the #1 source of child prostitutes for prostitution rings across the country.
Plans are to simulcast the video conference to these six locations across the state: Brainerd, Cloquet, Crookston, Mankato, Saint Paul (downtown), and Willmar.
After the presentation, Victor Vieth will be joining two panels that will provide local feedback on these crucial issues. One panel will include county prosecutors and the other panel will include child protection experts. The registration cost for this workshop is $5.00.
Registration and other questions
E-mail Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota
Voices of Courage: From tragedy to triumph, inspiring lessons unfold in this one-of-a-kind book by twelve survivors of sexual assault. An eye-opening journal of personal growth and recovery, Voices of Courage will forever change your perspective on life after a sexual assault.
Pre-order the book and you will receive the audio CD of each survivor reading their chapter to you. Normally, the CD sells for $24.95 and the book sells for $16.95. By pre-ordering, you get the book & the CD shipped together for $16.95 plus shipping and handling.
Angela Fales from the New Horizons Crisis Center is featured in this book.
A note from Angela
"As many of you know, I am a survivor of sexual assault. I am e-mailing you because I am very excited to tell you that I have been chosen to be featured in a new book titled Voices of Courage: Inspiration from Survivors of Sexual Assault. Each chapter is written by a different survivor of sexual assault (I was selected to write one of the chapters). In the book, each survivor shares his or her personal journey from the trauma of the assault to how he or she has gone on to survive and live very productive lives. I wish I could have had this book to read after my assault. The top experts and organizations from around the country who read review copies of the book have stated resoundingly Voices of Courage is going to have a huge impact in the most positive ways for survivors and their families. FYI -- I do not make any money from the sale of this book (all profits are given to organizations addressing sexual assault). I simply believe in how much this book will help others! Your help will be greatly appreciated!!"
Web conference - Toward a Community Solution: Fostering Strategic Partnerships to Prevent Violence Against Women
The Violence Against Women Prevention Partnership will host a free web conference, Toward a Community Solution: Fostering Strategic Partnerships to Prevent Violence Against Women. Presenters will be Larry Cohen and Lisa Fujie Parks of the Prevention Institute.
Toward a Community Solution: Fostering Strategic Partnerships to Prevent
Violence Against Women
Thursday, May 5, 2005
2:00-3:30 pm EST (11:00 am - 12:30 pm PST)
Additional information and registration is available from Prevention Connection.
Prevention Connection is a program of the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA) that works to build the capacity of local, state, territorial, national and tribal agencies and organizations to develop, implement and evaluate effective violence against women prevention initiatives.
Prevention Connection web conferences are a series of bi-monthly online workshops
which explore the efforts to end violence against women before it happens in
the first place. You can attend by calling on your phone and watching a presentation
from your computer screen using only your regular internet connection. If for
some reason you are unable to join on your computer, you can print out slides
of the presentation and listen along on the phone.
David S. Lee, MPH
Prevention Connection Manager
1215 K Street, Suite 1100
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 446-2520 x309
(916) 446-8166 (fax)
In 2001, nearly 17 percent of arrests for forcible rape and 20 percent of arrests for other sex offenses involved youth age 17 or younger.
The problem of juvenile sex offending has another dimension. Many adult sex offenders began their abusive behavior as youth. Early intervention with juveniles who have sexually offended can be critical to preventing this progression.
To advance the knowledge base of policymakers and practitioners addressing this problem, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention published, in 2001, Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended: A Review of the Professional Literature. This comprehensive and documented Report examines the characteristics of juveniles who have committed sex offenses and the types of offenses they have committed, describes assessment methods and treatment approaches, and discusses program evaluation.
A limited number of printed copies of Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended: A Review of the Professional Literature are available from the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, or by calling (800) 851-3420. Please use the document number, NCJ 184739 when ordering.
Stop It Now! is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to create a public health response to child sexual abuse. Organized in 1992, it develops public policy, research and public education programmes. One programme brings survivors of child sexual abuse and recovering offenders together to talk about the impact of child sexual abuse. Joan Tabachnick, the director of public education for Stop It Now! describes the dialogue programme.
Working with Men and Boys to Prevent Gender-Based Violence is a comprehensive tool kit designed to help you work with men and boys to prevent gender-based violence. It provides readings, case studies, handouts, exercises, and other resources as well as community-building tools.
PLEASE NOTE: Sexual Violence Prevention Network E-News is brought to you by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) with support from the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Contributed items are solely the responsibility of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent official views of, or endorsement by the MDH or the CDC.
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