Prevent Together Blog!

Congratulations to Coalition Members PreventConnect & Ms. Foundation for Women!

Check out this blog by Cordelia Anderson and Joan Tabachnick, co-hosts of the Ending Child Sexual Abuse (ECSA) Web Conference Series that PreventConnect is co-sponsoring with Ms. Foundation for Women. The first web conference focused on highlighting Efforts to End Child Sexual Abuse within the Sexual Violence Prevention Movement. The three speakers, Gina Scaramella, Executive Director, Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, Donna Dunn, Executive Director, Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Sally J. Laskey, Director Special Projects, National Sexual Violence Resource Center all agreed that ending child sexual abuse was essential to their own work to stopping sexual violence across the lifespan of women.

Ms. Foundation for Women will be launching a national series of web conferences on Ending Child Sexual Abuse. This project is designed to foster an online community that brings together the wide range of people and organizations working to end child sexual abuse across the country.
 
The specific goals of the web conference series are:
(1) Raise the visibility and level of dialogue about child sexual abuse within the larger prevention community;
(2) Build new communities who care deeply about this issue and engage them in the movement to end child sexual abuse; and
(3) Increase the level of knowledge, resources, and strategic action aimed at ending child sexual abuse.
 
Finally, we would like to thank our partners on this project including longtime CSA prevention leaders Joan Tabachnick and Cordelia Anderson, who will be hosting the series, and Prevent Connect, a national project of the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, who will be supporting the series through their online platform.

For more information, visit http://www.ms.foundation.org 

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM).

"This year’s theme for Sexual Assault Awareness Month encourages communities and individuals to join the conversation on how we connect and respect one another in order to prevent sexual violence. Promoting healthy behaviors encourages interactions and relationships that are consensual, respectful and informed," said Kristen Houser, PCAR vice president of communications and development. "By starting the conversation, this dialogue can build safe, healthy relationships."

For more information about Sexual Assault Awareness Month, call the National Sexual Violence Resource Center at (877) 739-3895 or email resources@nsvrc.org.

In Hip Hop artist Dessa Wander's op ed Free speech and hip-hop: When talk is cheap in the StarTribune on March 1, 2012, she responds to a reporter who asked, "Isn't it an exercise of artistic license and freedom of speech for rappers to call females 'bitches' and 'hoes?'" Her op ed gets at the heart of the Coalition’s efforts to counter the normalization of sexual harm and to work to create a healthier environment with norms supportive of healthy behaviors rather than abusive ones. This op ed may be useful in your prevention efforts to help answer some difficult questions about freedom of speech balanced with the need to change harmful social norms. At the end she points out that, “The question posed by my reporter friend becomes one of deliberate consumerism. If your conscience wouldn't let you say it, don't buy it. Leave your wallet in your pocket and keep your money off a mic you wouldn't put your mouth to.”

Check out this recent article from the National Child Protection Training Center's CenterPiece In the Neighborhood:Enforcing Child Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation Statutes in Strip Clubs and Adult Bookstores.

by Cordelia Anderson

Rapidly changing technology has dramatically changed the reach of pornography. Unfortunately, today, pornography is often the prime source of sex education for our children and youth in America. Unfortunate because the content of this pornography is degrading and body punishing AND it is being marketed as normal.

This booklet offers a deeply researched and shocking overview of the impact of pornography on children and youth. The author also describes the clear shifts in our culture that demonstrates how yesterday’s pornography is part of today’s mainstream advertising for children. This booklet also provides clear information and resources about what can be done to counter the harm to our children and teens and offers practical tips about how to focus on and promote sexual and relational health.