Texas Bar Foundation Awards Grant to TCFV

Austin, Texas – May 27, 2010 – The Texas Council on Family Violence (TCFV) today announced the launch of a new statewide partnership with the Texas Bar Foundation to help domestic violence victims with limited English proficiency better understand their rights and the laws in Texas.

TCFV continues to train legal advocates across Texas on current laws and helps them understand the barriers for limited English proficiency victims of domestic violence. This new collaboration enhances these efforts.

“The legal system imposes significant barriers for survivors of family violence,” said Gloria A. Terry, TCFV’s president. “Those barriers become even more daunting for survivors that do not speak English. We join with the Bar Foundation to offer information and solutions for these victims, who may face the most danger at the hands of isolating and controlling batterers.” Continue Reading »

The Crisis Center of Comal County is accepting applications for a Crisis Response Specialist.  The position will provide crisis intervention, emergency room accompaniment, legal advocacy, case management and other services to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in Comal County.  Position requires ability to work a rotating on-call schedule.  A Bachelor’s Degree in the social services is required, however, work experience in the crisis services field or related field will be considered in lieu of a degree.  Experience with domestic violence and sexual assault issues preferred. Salary is $25,000 annually. Employee benefits include health and dental insurance, 401K, and vacation/sick leave. Submit resume and letter of intent to Crisis Center of Comal County, Attn:  Lynette Whitlock, P.O. Box 310344, New Braunfels, TX 78131-0344 or email to lwhitlock@ccccnbtx.org.  Position is open until filled.

Domestic violence is a serious crime with stiff penalties in Texas. Get a brief overview about what constitutes domestic violence, or assault, and what kinds of punishment an offender may be facing.

Domestic violence is a serious issue facing thousands of Texas citizens every day. A 2005 study shows that 73% of all Texans feel that domestic violence is a serious problem in the state and 74% of the respondents said that either they themselves or a friend or family member have been a victim of domestic violence. During that year there were 187,811 domestic violence incidents reported with 11,996 adults and 17,105 minors requiring shelter.

The Texas Penal Code uses guidelines for domestic violence that are identical to simple assault. A person can be found to have committed an assault crime if they intentionally, knowingly or recklessly threaten to cause or actually cause bodily injury to another person.

Additionally, one can be charged with assault if a person intentionally or knowingly causes physical contact with another person if they know or should reasonably believe that the other would find the contact offensive or provocative. When a weapon is used or serious injury occurs during these incidents a charge may be escalated to aggravated assault. Under Texas law these assault charges are considered domestic violence if the victim is a family member, a former spouse, someone with whom you share a romantic relationship or someone with whom you share parenthood of a child.

Domestic assault is a misdemeanor for a first time offender under Texas law yet it is regarded with such severity that it is one of the only misdemeanor crimes for which police may make an arrest with only probable cause.

Buzzle.com

By Karen Billing

On the popular FOX show “So You Think You Can Dance,” Mary Murphy is the loud, bubbly judge who expresses approval with a scream and books dancers passage on her “Hot Tamale Train.”

In Murphy’s nontelevised life, her Champion Ballroom Academy in downtown San Diego just celebrated its 20th anniversary, she has danced on Broadway, and she is becoming a more vocal advocate for victims of domestic violence.

Last year, Murphy broke her silence about being physically abused by her husband of nine years and it has become an important step for her to raise awareness about the issue.

Delmartimes.net

The Crisis Center of Comal County is accepting applications for an adult Counselor.  Position will provide individual and group counseling for resident and non-resident clients as well as crisis intervention, case management and referral services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.  Masters degree and LMSW or LPC required, Bilingual preferred.  Salary is $32,000 – $34,000 annually commensurate with experience & education.  Employee benefits include health and dental insurance, 401K, and vacation/sick leave. Submit resume and letter of intent to Crisis Center of Comal County, Attn:  Lynette Whitlock, P.O. Box 310344, New Braunfels, TX 78131-0344 or email to lwhitlock@ccccnbtx.org.  Position is open until filled.

The 2010 TCFV Statewide Economic Justice Summit will be held June 17-18 at the Workforce Solutions Center of the Upper Rio Grande Workforce Development Board in downtown El Paso. The 2010 Economic Justice Summit is being funded in part by Allstate Foundation.

Domestic Violence Expert Sheds Light on Why Many Women Stay with Abusive Partners

(CBS)  Toby Myers helped to found, worked in, and is active in organizations working to end domestic violence. She was one of the original organizers of the Texas Council on Family Violence, where she was first called the “mother of the Texas Battered Women’s Movement.” She is also a founding board member of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence.

The life of a battered woman is one of inconsistencies. Some call her behavior counterintuitive – not what one would expect.

Why She Stays is Not Hard to Understand

She values her family. She wants to give up the violence and abuse, not the man and the marriage. Her socialization tells her to stand by her man, that marriage is not a bed of roses, that she should stick it out for better or for worse, and that she has to take the bitter with the sweet. She buys in to her being part of the problem. It is her job to make it work. She works hard at adapting and adjusting; if she does not make it work, she is a failure. She may wonder how she will make it without him. Women on their own with children have tough economic problems. He may have threatened to kill her if she leaves, or take the children, or do some other terrible thing. If she is with him, at least she knows where he is and what she has got. After a killing spree by a man in Arkansas, women left shelters and went back to husbands. If she leaves, she will have the unknown. As long as she holds out hope, she will be in there pitching to adjust, adapt, and make it better.

CBSnews.com

WASHINGTON, May 11 /PRNewswire/ — Actress and domestic violence prevention activist Mariska Hargitay, of NBC-TV’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” will introduce and appear in “Telling Amy’s Story,” a powerful documentary on domestic violence that will premiere May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Newseum, prior to being broadcast on PBS stations nationwide starting in June. The documentary, created by Penn State Public Broadcasting, chronicles the time leading up to the death of Amy Homan McGee, a mother of two who was shot and killed by her husband. A question-and-answer session to include Sheryl Cates, president and CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, will follow.

 Cwrichmond.tv