Emory Report
October 5, 2009
Volume 62, Number 6



Domestice Violence Month Events

 Wednesday, Oct. 14
Tiana’s Story and Clothesline Project Workshop. Noon.
Center for Women.

 Sasha Smith, assistant director of the Center for Women, will share the story of how she became a secondary-survivor of domestic violence when her sister Tiana was killed by her ex-boyfriend on Valentines’ Day 2008.

Attendees are encouraged to create T-shirts for the Dekalb Rape Crisis Center Clothesline Project, which will be displayed at Emory.

Friday, Oct. 16
Band Party and
Candle Light Vigil
10 p.m. McDonough Stage.

Wednesday, Oct. 21
Women’s Health
and Wellness
5:30 p.m. Center for Women.

Empowering Women to
Have Positive Intimate Relationships: Discussion about the ingredients of a healthy relationship. Paula Gomes, Faculty Staff Assistance Program, facilitating.

Thursday, Oct. 22
Intimate Partner Violence and the Faith Community Sheryl Heron, presenting. 10:30 a.m. Wesley Woods.

Thursday, Oct. 29
Intimate Partner Violence and Emergency Medicine
Sheryl Heron and Doug Loury, presenting. 11 a.m. Grady Campus, Steiner Building Auditorium.

Look for more about
Take Back the Night programming in the Oct. 19 edition of Emory Report.

Share your story
Emory Take Back the Night is seeking anonymous stories from sexual assault survivors, friends and family of survivors, or from anyone who would like to share their concerns and/or words of hope, support, encourage-ment and courage toward healing and living in a community free of sexual violence.

Selected submissions will
be read aloud at Emory’s Speak Out and Rally on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. on the Quad.

Submit here by Friday, Oct. 16.




    

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October 5, 2009
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Jane Fonda Center’s strong start to stop dating violence

By Kim Urquhart

“Love hurts…but it doesn’t have to,” a Grady High School senior’s poem read. The teen mentors, who performed at the Jane Fonda Center, joined actress Jane Fonda and community partners to launch a campaign aimed at stopping teen dating violence.

The Jane Fonda Center at Emory University was chosen as one of 11 community organizations nationwide to receive $1 million in funding through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s national Start Strong initiative. This is the largest national public health initiative ever funded, targeting 11-to-14-year-olds, to stop teen dating violence.

“October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and this program’s launch is the perfect tie-in, aimed at middle school youth, for reducing the nation’s unacceptable level of intimate partner violence through early prevention,” said Melissa Kottke, assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Jane Fonda Center.

Kottke, principal investigator of the national initiative at Emory, highlighted the importance of this grant to the Atlanta community at a Sept. 30 kick-off.

Teen dating violence and abuse is a significant public health issue in this country. According to the 2007 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, one out of 10 high school students nationwide has been hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend. Alarmingly, a new study released at the Start Strong launch revealed that dating violence is beginning as early as 6th grade.

“Regardless of race, culture, or socioeconomic background, teen dating violence and abuse impacts the lives of more than 1 million young people and their families each year, perpetuating a cycle of intergenerational violence, and abuse and victimization,” said Fonda, who is also founder and chair of Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.

“In order to give young people a healthier start in life, promoting healthy relationship and preventing dating violence and abuse, must be seen as a public health issue.”

The Jane Fonda Center along with its partners, Atlanta Public Schools and Grady Memorial Hospital Teen Services Program, have together developed a comprehensive community plan for this initiative to address the community's needs and prevent violence among youth. This plan will focus on four core strategies involving education, policy change, community outreach and social marketing campaigns to empower local teens to develop healthier relationships.

The Start Strong campaign will involve policymakers, parents, educators, health organizations and youth leaders to stop the cycle of violence.

Other Atlanta collaborators include: Metro Atlanta Violence Prevention Program, Department of Juvenile Justice, Fulton Family Care Network, Rock of Escape, Journey Girls, Young Adults Talk, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Girl Scouts and Georgia Campaign for Pregnancy Prevention, and the list continues to grow.

More on Emory Health Now blog.