Fall 2012 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

30th anniversary cake
As many of you know, KCSDV hosted an event at our office on Friday, September 14th to celebrate our 30th Anniversary. We were thrilled to see almost 200 old friends, new friends, community partners, advocates, and their friends and family. Many shared stories, kind words, and encouragement for the work that has been done and that which continues. Programs across the state incorporated KCSDV’s 30th Anniversary into their own events. I was honored to attend events hosted by the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA) in Kansas City, Emporia’s SOS, Inc., and the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Center in Hutchinson.

It is hard to put in to words the gratitude that I feel and that many others feel about the compassion, commitment, and collaboration that have gone into these last 30 years of coalition-building. I know I speak for all of us at KCSDV when I say – thank you! Thank you for the cards and notes, thank you for your support throughout the years, and thank you for standing with KCSDV and with survivors in Kansas.

Every one of us has played a role. You may be a community member who has given a victim the hotline number or provided comfort and safety. You may be a teacher who has responded appropriately to a child afraid to go home. You may be a law enforcement officer who has put his or her life on the line to keep a family safe. You may be an advocate who has listened and supported and listened some more. You may be a public official or legislator who has gone the extra mile to make sure our policies and laws protect victims and our communities. You may be someone who has donated the funds to keep the work going. You may be the scout leader who has encouraged boys to choose respect.

And, all of us know today that the real work is done every day by survivors of sexual and domestic violence who get up each morning and try to figure out how to recover from the trauma they have experienced or who try to keep their families together and their children safe.

Ending domestic violence and sexual assault is a community responsibility. We must all do our part.

As I asked on the 14th, I ask again – where do we go from here? How will we stay energized for the future? I am constantly telling staff this is a marathon not a race. There is so much to be done, even in the face of having done so much. It is difficult not to be overwhelmed.

Here’s what I think is on our plate:

Survivors and victims and their families will always need safety and support. We must sustain that work.

Allied professionals and advocates will always need information and training in order to provide this safety and support. We must sustain that work.

But, primary prevention is really our next big piece of work. For eons, women and children have been subjected to abuse and trauma because our culture, our laws, our religions all said it was okay. Two centuries ago, courts told men how they should beat their wives not that they couldn’t. Thirty years ago, it was legal to rape your wife. Today, that is not the case in Kansas. This is culture change.

As we have moved forward with our primary prevention work, research shows us that changing our attitudes and beliefs about violence against women and girls will lead to real change. Teaching our children about healthy and respectful relationships will lead to real change. Involving men and boys in the work of ending violence against women will lead to real change. Raising the social status of women will lead to real change. This is what will end domestic and sexual violence.

So, Stand with Us, as we end sexual and domestic violence against women, children and men. Commit yourselves for the long haul. Stand with Us as we lead the way toward real change. Only with the help of all of you, and with the work of all of us, will we be able to make the real change we need.

Sincerely,

Joyce Grover,
Executive Director

Event pictures at Shutterfly.com

WHEREAS, family and relationships are often counted among life’s greatest blessings, and tragically, many Kansans’ relationships are tarnished by violence and fear; and

WHEREAS, the crime of domestic violence violates an individual’s privacy, dignity, security, and humanity, due to the systematic use of physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, economic and coercive control or abuse; and

WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner, which translates into 12 million people nationally and approximately 557,275 Kansas or 20% of the Kansas population; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Justice reports that intimate partner homicides comprise 14% percent of all homicides in the United States and women are twice as likely as men to be killed by an intimate partner; and

WHEREAS, the Kansas Bureau of Investigations reports that 30% of all homicides in Kansas in 2010 were related to domestic violence; and

WHEREAS, on average, 22 adults and nine children are murdered each year in Kansas as a result of domestic violence, with 20 adults and 13 children dying in 2010; and

WHEREAS, violence against women is inconsistent with the values of our community and will not be excused or tolerated; and

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sam Brownback, Governor of Kansas, do hereby proclaim the month of October 2012 as “DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH”

in Kansas [and] encourage all citizens to speak out against domestic violence, to provide support for survivors of these crimes, to encourage community leaders to hold perpetrators accountable, and to make domestic violence prevention efforts a priority by hosting events, by creating policies at school and work, and by working with your local domestic violence victim service providers.

DONE: At the Capitol in Topeka under the Great Seal of the State this 28th day of September, A.D. 2012

Signed by: Governor Sam Brownback, Sec. of State Kris Kobach, and Assistant Sec. of State Eric Rucker.

PDF of this Proclamation

KANSAS CITY, KAN. 10/2/12 – The Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence and other agencies are doing outstanding work to help keep women safe in Kansas, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

“The Coalition speaks with one voice for women and children across Kansas who have been battered and raped,” Grissom said.

The Justice Department supports the Coalition and other agencies in Kansas with grants through the federal Office of Violence Against Women. The Justice Department this month is marking national Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the FBI show that nationally the number of women killed by an intimate partner declined 35 percent from 1993 to 2007.

“Yet we still have much work to do,” Grissom said. “Recent data suggest that one in four American women still experience severe physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner.”

Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure or wound someone. That includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse and psychological abuse.

Experts estimate that more than 2 million adults and more than 15 million children are exposed to domestic violence every year. Every day, an average of three women in the United States die as a result of domestic violence. It is estimated that for every woman who dies, nine more are nearly killed as a result of domestic violence.

Domestic violence can happen between current and former spouses, current and former boyfriends and girlfriends, people who cohabitate and people who don’t live together. It affects people of every background, ethnicity, age, ability or sexual orientation.

Experts say domestic violence costs our nation $8 billion annually in lost productivity and health care costs. It is responsible for the loss of 8 million paid days of work each year – or the equivalent of 32,000 full-time jobs.

“Domestic violence doesn’t just impact the immediate victims,” Grissom said. “It is felt by families, neighbors, friends and entire communities. Domestic violence impacts all of us. None of us is immune.”

Since 2009, Grissom said, the Office of Violence Against Women has awarded a record number of grants – totaling more than $1.5 billion – to states, local and tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations in order to launch, sustain and strengthen activities combating violence against women.

For more information, visit the Office of Violence Against Women at www.ovw.usdoj.gov and click on “October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.”

KCSDV extends warm congratulations to Gina Cooper on her invitation to attend the 2012 “Strengthening Military-Civilian Community Partnerships to Respond to Sexual Assault” Training of Trainers (TOT) event. Cooper, who is the Geary County Advocate at The Crisis Center in Manhattan, was selected to attend the TOT as a representative for the state of Kansas. The goal of this training was to develop a cadre of 50 local civilian victim advocates to conduct this training program in communities across all 50 states and territories that are home to U.S. military installations. The TOT event was an intensive 2-day training held on November 8-9, 2012 in Washington, DC. We are proud of the work that Gina has done with the military communities she serves and look forward to learning from her as we work to strengthen the military-civilian community partnerships in Kansas.

KCSDV has seen an increase in technical assistance requests over the last several years related to the military issues impacting survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking. Military related protection orders; immigration concerns for military dependents; family law and economic justice issues; and systems advocacy within military installations are just a few of the topics KCSDV has addressed.

Kansas is home to three military installations and multiple National Guard and Reserve units. KCSDV recognizes that survivors throughout Kansas are impacted by military service, even if they have never resided on or nearby a military installation.

To better respond to this increased need, KCSDV created an internal committee in January 2011 that focuses solely on military-related needs of survivors and building capacity to respond to those needs. The goal of the KCSDV Military Committee is to provide information, technical assistance and training to Kansas sexual assault and domestic violence advocates to increase their capacity to work with military members, spouses, family members and personnel impacted by sexual and domestic violence.

In order to accomplish this goal, the first task taken on by KCSDV’s Military Committee was an assessment of KCSDV staff’s needs and access to resources to respond to military-related issues. The Committee then made an intentional effort to attend training, review resources and gather information to increase the amount of in-house access KCSDV staff have to military-related resources and tools. Many of these resources and tools were also made available to sexual assault and domestic violence advocates across Kansas via KCSDV’s password website available to Kansas advocacy programs.

On a national level, the Battered Women’s Justice Project created the Military Advocacy Resources Network as an effort to provide technical assistance, resources and support for all advocates, military and civilian, who serve military and veteran families and work with survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault and stalking impacted by military service.

KCSDV Military Committee members include: Kathy Wood, Director of Advocacy, Education and Rural Projects; Jessica Haymaker, Rural Sexual Assault Coordinator; Erin Hankins, Accreditation and Technical Assistance Coordinator; Mallory Rousseau, Prevention Projects Coordinator; Stephine Bowman, Protection Order Project Attorney; and Jessica Vanderweide, Rural Outreach Projects Manager.

For more information contact KCSDV at coalition@kcsdv.org or 785-232-9784.

Resources

Building Effective Civilian Responses to Military-Related Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: http://www.bwjp.org/military.aspx

American Overseas Domestic Violence Center: www.866uswomen.org