Lynn Rosenthal was recently chosen as White House Advisor on Violence Against Women by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Rosenthal has been a champion in the movement against domestic and sexual violence for three decades and played a key advocacy role in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. She currently serves as the Executive Director for the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence and and is a previous Executive Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence and of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Rosenthal will advise President Obama and Biden, and work with government agencies including Justice, State, and Health to ensure that violence against women is addressed and the perpetrators are held accountable. Biden has said that creating the advisor position will allow the White House to revive its focus on domestic violence issues.

September 1 -2, 2009

Note: registration for this event is now full.

The Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) Annual New Workers’ Institute (NWI) is a training opportunity for professionals working with victims of family violence to gather information about current trends and methods of working with victims and new initiatives; share ideas and network with victim advocates, program coordinators and other professionals working in closely related systems for the purpose of increasing victim safety. The conference convenes professionals from across Texas and is the only conference in the state with this focus.

NWI is a two-day training for professionals new to the family violence field across Texas including victim advocates, program coordinators and other professionals working in closely related systems for the purpose of increasing victim safety.
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By Juanita Lance, Fannin County Family Crisis Center

Fourteen were selected from Fannin County to attend STAR (Students Taking Action for Respect) Youth Conference at TWU Campus June 12-14.  The conference was sponsored by Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) from Austin,TX.  The conference gave students from across Texas an opportunity to come together to learn more about the issues of sexual and dating violence, the root causes of these forms of violence and what they can do to create schools and communities free from violence.

Teams of students participated in training sessions that follow the standard STAR curriculum.  These students attended all day classes on prevention model taught by peer educators with the STAR State Youth Council.  The adults /sponsors were attending classes with prevention focus to help support youth in efforts to build STAR programs and combat sexual and dating violence.

Ntxe-news.com

The Allstate Foundation responds with new financial curriculum for abuse survivors

NORTHBROOK, Ill., June 23 /PRNewswire/ — While 70 percent of Americans know people who are or have been victims of domestic violence, nearly the same percentage of Americans fail to see a connection between domestic violence and “economic abuse,” according to a new national poll released by The Allstate Foundation.

Economic abuse is a tactic commonly used by abusers to control their victims’ finances and prevent them from leaving a dangerous relationship. However, the survey also revealed nearly eight out of 10 Americans link economic abuse to Wall Street woes or irresponsible spending.

prnewswire.com

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY

LOS ANGELES – Chris Brown has pleaded guilty to one count of felony assault on pop star Rihanna. Brown entered his plea before a preliminary hearing was scheduled to start in Los Angeles on Monday.

Rihanna had been on standby to testify.

After Brown left the courtroom, Rihanna entered and was addressed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg, who explained to the Barbados-born singer that she had issued a stay-away order.

Rihanna had not been seeking a stay-away order, but the judge imposed one. The order requires that Brown and Rihanna stay at least 50 yards from each, except at industry events when the distance is reduced to 10 yards.

News.yahoo.com

Greetings from the other side of the session!  Despite my best intentions, I did not manage to keep up with this blog during the last couple months of the session.  But now that things have finally slowed down I am able to provide some updates. 

Although some may be critical of the success of the 81st Session, Texans can be proud that legislators in the house and the Senate overwhelmingly supported domestic violence legislation. Realizing the increasing need across the state, the legislature fully funded family violence programs.  The legislature also passed several key measures that will add significantly to the state’s response to family violence. In the coming weeks, I will post a summary of the great legislation passed during the session.

But for now, please find attached to this posting three op-ed pieces you might be able to use in your community to publicize the passage of three important pieces of legislation. SB 82 requires family violence offenders to pay a $100 fee to a local family violence center.  SB 83 allows victims of family violence and sexual assault to terminate their leases without adverse financial repercussions. HB 2066 makes intimate partner strangulation and suffocation chargeable as a felony level offense. 

Take a look at these pieces for a more complete summary and consider submitting them to your local newspaper.  Feel free to edit them as you please and to fit the needs of your local news outlets.  

Senate Bill 82
Senate Bill 83
House Bill 2066

It’s Father Day. Time to celebrate our dads and thank them for all the special things they do for us.

It’s also an opportunity for dads to not only receive a gift for Father’s Day, but to give a gift to their kids that can’t be exchanged — the gift of knowledge about healthy relationships. Here are a few simple ways to do this:

Be a role model for supportive, healthy relationships with your own partner and discuss the importance of violence-free relationships as a family.

Tell your children that domestic violence is preventable and that the only relationships worth having are healthy ones.

Courierpostonline.com

David Froiland has been having the time of his life raising his daughters.

“There is a certain magic in seeing the world through the eyes of your kids and sharing the wonder that they have,” said the 41-year-old married father of Madelyn, 12, and Elisabeth, 9.

Froiland is one of 57 fathers being featured in the Father’s Day weekend release of “Men We Love.”

The photo journal book, an annual fund-raiser for the Alma Center, celebrates the lives of men who serve as role models in their families and extend that positive influence into the community.

“There is a great satisfaction that comes with teaching your kids and sharing your values,” said Froiland, an attorney with Foley & Lardner. “We know that our values will be shared whether they are good ones or bad ones.”

He knows this firsthand.

Over the past several years Froiland has represented victims of domestic violence pro bono. He learned early on that successfully helping women get no-contact orders against their perpetrators did little to assist the youngest victims, the children, who witnessed the violence.

Jsonline.com