We are trying to prevent a social problem: sexual violence is epidemic. Since we are tackling such a large issue, our efforts can draw disagreements or resistance. It is easy to fall into the argument trap, and try to fight fire with fire. After all, if they only understood, how could they possibly disagree?
Statistics are a natural thing to reach for when justifying arguments or preparing presentations. For you and me, statistics might tell a rich…
Sitting through a presentation or training can be difficult, but every now and then there is one that just works. You are excited, engaged, and alert! You care! You want to be there!
What separates the wheat from the chaff? What made that training matter to you? If it mattered to others in the room as well, it is very likely the trainer's methods were informed by understanding adult learning styles.
Adults have specific needs around learning. We want to know what is in it for…
When youth in one study were asked if they knew "where to find resources for GLBT youth experiencing dating violence," only 10% identified domestic violence or sexual assault services (Freedner et al., 2002). Many sexual assault programs struggle to reduce barriers for teens to access their services; in the case of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning) youth, the barriers may be even more substantial. It's important to note that the term "teen dating violence,"…
When you have a staff member who has a negative attitude and doesn't really seem to care about the work, the first thing that comes to mind is "burnout." However, it is important to distinguish whether the attitude and behavior is a result of vicarious trauma — the changes in a person's inner experience that come about because of handling an overload of other people's traumatic experiences — or burnout, which is dissatisfaction with the job itself. In either case, it is important to assess…
The bystander approach is a promising approach to sexual violence prevention as it encourages the community to take ownership of sexual violence as a problem and speak up when they witness potentially dangerous situations or sexist language. Other benefits of this approach include reducing victim blaming, includes everyone (gets men involved in a community issue, not a women's issue), and gives the community an opportunity it foster social change. Even so, it can be intimidating to become an…
Have you ever wondered whether it was okay to include a portion of someone else's work on your website, in your training curriculum, in a community presentation, or in a publication? Have you had concerns about protecting work that your organization has developed? These are important issues, and a little basic knowledge about intellectual property rights will be helpful to any manager in the nonprofit field. As a manager, you will want to ensure that you inform others about policies and laws…
"For someone to heal from PTSD, one must learn how to control bodily reflexes. PTSD causes memory to be stored at a sensory level-in the body. Yoga offers a way to reprogram automatic physical responses…What is beautiful about Yoga is that it teaches us—and this is a critical point for those who feel trapped in their memory sensations—that things come to an end."
—Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Trauma Specialist
As therapists working with sexual abuse…
We've all heard the phrase "break the silence" and it has been an important part of raising awareness of sexual violence and giving survivors a chance to speak out. We must remember that if sexual violence occurs on a continuum then our prevention efforts must also. Taking a stand against gender-based street harassment is a good opportunity to reinforce the message that we are working to create social change and live in a world free of language, attitudes, and actions that support sexual…
It's almost back to school time so let's really talk about what we can do to help protect youth from some of the dangers associated with sexting.
Check out the report Interdisciplinary Responses to Youth Sexting: Recommendations from the Youth Online Safety Working Group (YOSWG), which synthesizes current research findings and gives recommendations to respond and prevent to sexting as…
There's a lot of prevention work happening all over the place. There's lots of ways to get "plugged in" to find out what is being done out there.
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I suggest a couple generic phrases like "sexual violence prevention" and "sexual assault…
