News: Week of 2/21/2011

02/25/2011

In the Headlines
Twilight novels inspire Californian to write  memoir of past abusive relationship. After the teen vampire romance novel "Twilight" helped her realize that she had suffered abuse at the hands of her boyfriend as a teenager, Elin Stebbins Waldal has written a book aimed at helping other girls in her situation, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Mother of murdered dating violence victim from Washington State uses her daughter's story to educate. Dayna Fure is everywhere. Even now, almost seven years after her daughter's death, Melody Hafner gets calls from people who've seen her. Dayna Fure shows up in domestic violence campaigns around the country. She shows up on TV and websites and plaques. She's been at college campuses, mental health conferences and hundreds of violence prevention programs. She wasn't supposed to die.

Connecticut teens spread the word about teen dating violence. A group of students from Wilton High School has recognized February as National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month by launching a campaign around the statistic that one in three teenagers will experience some sort of abuse in a relationship.

Florida teens take action against domestic violence.  Ad 2 Tampa Bay, a non-profit group made up of advertising professionals under the age of 32, have constructed the anti-teen dating violence awareness campaign, I Own Me, to educate teens on dating abuse and other at-risk behaviors.

Ohio teen dating violence survivor, Johanna Orozco, tells her story.  Cleveland, O.H.  Almost four years ago, on March 5, 2007, Johanna Orozco's ex-boyfriend shot her in the face after she accused him of raping her.  The 22-year-old Cleveland native told her story to more than 200 area middle school, high school and college students. 

Ohio peer education program addresses dating abuse. Port Clinton High School upperclassmen are sharing an anti-abuse message with younger students through Teen PEP, an abuse prevention program organized by Toledo Children's Hospital. PEP stands for Peers Educating Peers, and for some 20 years juniors and seniors at Port Clinton have put on role-playing presentations and discussions for all the freshman English classes.

California college students pledge to prevent sexual assaults.California State University, Sacramento, students are participating in a national program to help end sexual.  More than 700 students signed the online pledge "One Student," which would commit them to try to prevent sexual assault by doing a number of things: respecting a partner's sexual boundaries, talking to friends about the importance of mutual consent in sexual relationships and intervening if they see someone taking advantage of an intoxicated person.

Florida school district teaches students about dating abuse. State lawmakers said teen dating violence is an epidemic, though most parents don't know the problem could be happening to their own children. Lake County's school district is currently teaching teens about dating violence. It's a type of abuse that hasn't received a whole of attention in Florida, until now.

In Minnesota, domestic violence kills 28 people in 2010. The Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women has issued a challenge to prioritize safety after 28 state residents were murdered last year as a result of domestic violence. And 2011 is looking like it will bare witness to similar results with recent events such as the murder/suicide of 36-year-old Jesse Oakley and his ex-girlfriend Nicole Meier, 26, in Circle Pines earlier this month.

Utah teens share stories of dating violence. On a day devoted to expressions of love, the Utah Health Department Monday released disturbing statistics about teen dating violence.  A couple of young women who are survivors shared their stories in hopes of helping others. They call themselves survivors, not victims. Nationally, one in four teens is in an abusive relationship. In Utah, it's closer to one in 10, but equal to the fear these young people have of someone close to them, is the fear of talking about it. The booklet, "Teen Dating Violence, It Happens in Utah" tells the stories of six young women, ages 12 to 19, who were raped or beaten by young men they were dating or knew.

Legal Matters
Tina Croucher Act in Ohio finds problems with implementation.  Implementation of the law, known as The Tina Croucher Act, hasn't gone perfectly, said Cheryl Tarantino, executive director of the Warren domestic-violence shelter Someplace Safe. Because the Legislature didn't provide any funding to carry it out and because the law didn't specify what kind of education is required, some schools are doing almost nothing, Tarantino said.

Florida school board approves dating violence policy. Dating violence and abuse is so serious that Lake and other school districts across Florida are enacting policies to try to protect victims of these incidents. Lake County School Board members approved a policy on first reading last week.  The policy includes administrative steps to combat, report and prevent date violence and abuse and a curriculum to teach students about it.

Research
New study from the University of Illinois finds abused lesbians are in double jeopardy. "A lesbian mom's abuse situation is unique in that she fears losing her kids to the biological father or the state instead of the abuser," says Jennifer Hardesty, associate professor of family studies at the University of Illinois. The study, the first to examine help-seeking for intimate partner violence among lesbian or bisexual mothers, is published in the journal Violence Against Women. For the study, 24 mothers—in a relationship for on average six years who had been abused by a same-sex partner—were interviewed about their experience.

Opinions
In Oklahoma, legislation geared toward teen education is needed but faces uncertain future. Two bills - House Bill 1195 by Rep. Jeannie McDaniel, D-Tulsa, and Senate Bill 535, by Sen. Connie Johnson, D-Oklahoma City - would require local school boards to develop courses in human growth and development that include instruction on "human sexuality, self-esteem, stress management, interpersonal relationships, domestic abuse, sexually transmitted disease" and HIV/AIDS.

Events
Crimes Against Women Conference will be held in Texas in March. The 6th Annual Conference on Crimes Against Women seeks to bring together all those who may respond to crimes of female victimization and arm them with the most effective, most relevant, and most up-to-date training available to battle this worldwide epidemic.

Massachusetts police and peer leaders work with students to stop violence. Peer leaders at the high school launched a campaign this month, which is national Teen Dating Violence month, to raise awareness about the subject. Students involved had candygram sales, made posters, stickers and T-shirts, and the week was topped off with a presentation given by Norling. The initiative is just one of many the town engages its teens in to spread knowledge about the teen dating violence.

California advocates and legislators convene teen dating violence summit.  Citing a report by the U.S. Department of Justice that one in every three teen girls is a victim of teen dating violence, several local and national experts and victims gathered at the State Capitol for a summit.

Categories: News