This Thursday, June 24, 2010, a conference about relationship violence, “Everybody’s Business: Preventing Dating Violence and Domestic Abuse in Our Community” will be held at the Montgomery County Community College Science Center Theatre. Registration is free, and continental breakfast is provided. The conference starts with a welcome at 9 AM by Nancy L. Mellon, the director of New Choices, Dr. Karen Stout, the President of the Montgomery County Community College, and Daniel Reavy, the Director of External Affairs for Verizon-Pennsylvania. Then the two keynote speakers will present in hour and fifteen minute-long segments. Here is some information about them, from the event brochure:
- Wendy J. Murphy is a former prosecutor who specialized in child abuse and sex crimes cases. The first lawyer in the country to run a program to provide free legal services to crime victims, Wendy has been fighting for victims’ rights for more than twenty years and now represents crime victims in civil and criminal cases. She teaches an advanced seminar on sexual violence at the New England School of Law in Boston, where she also manages the Sexual Violence Legal News and Judicial Language projects. Wendy writes scholarly and pop culture articles, and lectures widely on victims’ rights, sex crimes, violence against women and children, media coverage of crime and the criminal justice system. She has worked as a legal analyst for CBS News, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. She appears regularly on cable and network news programs to provide commentary on legal news stories. Wendy’s first book, And Justice For Some, was published in 2007.
- Dr. Sandra L. Bloom is a Board-Certified psychiatrist, graduate of Temple University School of Medicine. She currently is Associate Professor of Health Management and Policy and Co-Director of the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice at the School of Public Health of Drexel University in Philadelphia. Dr. Bloom is President of CommunityWorks, an organizational consulting firm committed to the development of nonviolent environments and Distinguished Fellow of the Andrus Children’s Center in Yonkers, NY. From 1980-2001, Dr. Bloom served as Founder and Executive Director of the Sanctuary programs, inpatient psychiatric programs for the treatment of trauma-related emotional disorders. In 2005, in partnership with Andrus Children’s Center, Dr. Bloom established a training institute, the Sanctuary Institute, to train a wide variety of programs in the Sanctuary Model®. A new book, Sanctuary in the Workplace, has been submitted for publication. Dr. Bloom is a Past-President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and author of Creating Sanctuary: Toward the Evolution of Sane Societies and co-author of Bearing Witness: Violence and Collective Responsibility. Dr. Bloom is a recipient of the Temple University School of Medicine Alumni Achievement Award.
Ms. Murphy will lead this seminar:
Dating Violence: On Campus, In the News, In the Courtroom and Community
- Dating Violence in the News: Do magazine covers, news shows, and social media sites inflame or inform?
- Dating Violence and the Law: Is the legal system at fault for repeat offenders?
- Dating Violence and the Community: How can WE help?
One in four girls is affected by dating violence every day. Does media coverage create a “new norm” by desensitizing teens? And why do so many young offenders continue to commit violent acts? Is our legal system to blame? Former prosecutor Wendy Murphy, J.D. will help participants learn how the language in law and popular culture influences behavior and perception, and how we as individuals and community members can help.
Dr. Bloom will lead this seminar:
Breaking the Cycle of Violence: Helping Survivors Heal
- What are the long-term effects of domestic violence on the victim and the “village”?
- How the “Sanctuary Model” creates a safe environment that gives survivors a voice?
- How the community can help?
Using her groundbreaking program “The Sanctuary Model” as her guide, Dr. Sandra L. Bloom will discuss the roles and responsibilities of the community in recognizing, treating, and ultimately preventing domestic abuse and trauma. In Dr. Bloom’s program, survivors learn empowering strategies that promote healing. “The Sanctuary Model” presents a cohesive theory of healing that breaks the vicious cycle of abuse.
You can register for the conference here.
