Run! Or walk for domestic violence this Saturday October 26, 2011

This Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 8am UNC School of Law’s Domestic Violence Action Project (DVAP) will be hosting their annual 5k.  DVAP is a student organization devoted to helping victims of domestic violence by hosting events to educate the community on DV, providing a pro-bono legal representation for dv victims seeking civil domestic violence protection orders, and hosting fundraisers to support local domestic violence organizations.

DVAP 5k

Saturday  October 29, 2011

8am

UNC Finley Fields

Registration fee: $15 in advance, $20 the day of the 5k

The registration fee includes a t-shirt and snacks.

To register email Fallon Speaker at fallon.speaker@gmail.com

Prizes will be awarded!

Put on your running shoes and come join DVAP this Saturday in supporting domestic violence victims!

LUNAFEST this Thursday! October 24, 2011

Tickets are now available for LUNAFEST 2011! This is our second annual LUNAFEST and it’s going to be a great night. 85% of proceeds benefit the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County and the other 15% benefits The Breast Cancer Fund. Can’t wait to see you there! The movie screening starts at 7:00 pm, but come early for cupcakes and drinks at our 6:30 pm reception.
There are three ways to buy:

1. Online through our website: http://www.lunafest.org/chapelhill

1. On campus on October 11th and 24th – look for our table in the pit

1. At the Family Violence Prevention Center at 207 Wilson Street in Chapel Hill

Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for the general public. At the door they will be $7 and $12. So plan ahead!

LUNA, the Whole Nutrition Bar for Women, created LUNAFEST to simultaneously promote women filmmakers, raise awareness for women’s issues and support nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Love Your Body Day! October 19, 2011

Everyone deserves love free from violence. FVPC strives to help survivors of domestic violence in their journey to safety, both physically and emotionally. It feels important for us to recognize that every one of us deserve to live in a world without violence, but also that each of us deserves love.

Today, October 19, The National Organization of Women (NOW) is hosting their 14th annual Love Your Body Day.  Love Your Body Day is a space to counter the harmful and unrealistic beauty standards society places upon women. We tend to focus on violence perpetrated on us by others, but today, I encourage you to take the time to consider the violence you do to yourself. Social pressures and images often tell us, women especially, that we are not good enough because we fail to follow the certain way that the cosmetic, fashion, diet, industries define beautiful.

The first step to overcoming any situation is to recognize it. Love Your Body Day helps us do just that!  Restricting yourself to a singular, unattainable body ideal breeds low self-esteem, body hatred, and issues of self worth. It is never okay for someone else to abuse you. So stop abusing yourself and embrace who you are in every way.

This year, to celebrate Love Your Body Day, NOW is hosting a blog carnival. They are inviting all bloggers to get their creativity flowing and write about issues surrounding body image. Blogs can be about eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, advertising and media influence on young girls/women, gender norms, stories about loving yourself, or a topic of your choosing. For more details click here. Not interested in writing? Go to NOW’s  Say it, Sister! blog to read the posts  from bloggers around the nation.

Celebrate Love Your Body Day today! You are beautiful! Believe it and tell a friend that they are too. If you need a reminder, just click here.

Free Health Opportunity October 13, 2011

This opportunity came to our attention and we wanted to pass it along to anyone who might be interested!

Community Health Coalition, Inc. and Rex Hospital Mobile Mammography Unit are offering free mammograms to “African American women, age 35+ who are underserved, uninsured and underinsured, or who have a history of breast cancer in their family.” on Tuesday October 18, 2011 at: 

Walltown Park Recreation Center

1308 W. Club Boulevard, Durham, NC

9:00 am – 3:00 pm

Call 919-470-8680 to make an appointment. No walk-ins will be accepted. You MUST make an appointment.

Early detection is important business! Please pass along this information to anyone who might be intersted.

Shop For A Cause October 12, 2011

In support of Domestic Violence Awareness month, T.I.E Resource Centers, Incc. and Triangle Center for Emotional Wellness are hosting a fashion show and silent auction. Hosted by Sandra Dubose-Gibson, Ms. Black North Carolina, USA the proceeds of the event will benefit the T.I.E Resource Center, whose goal is to “transform lives through encouragement, education, and inspiration from those who have survived domestic violence,”  and also CAARE Inc. P.A.W. support group. Both organizations are dedicated to helping survivors of domestic violence. Go support the centers and DV Awareness month.

The Colors of Change Benefit Fashion Show and Silent Auction

Sunday October 16, 2011, 3:00 pm

Searle Center, Duke University

10 Searle Center Drive

Durham, NC 27710

in the Seeley G. Mudd Building

Tickets are $ 25 in advance and $30 at the door.

“Not Guilty”: The Barbara Sheehan trial October 7, 2011

Barbara Sheehan killed her husband. That fact has never been debated. Yet, in the month long trial that reached its end just yesterday: Thursday, October 6 there was constant debate. The debate was over Ms. Sheehan’s claim of the battered woman’s defense. Ms. Sheehan’s attorney, Michael Dowd, a lawyer who has defended many battered women, portrayed Ms. Sheehan as a chronically abused wife who shot her husband in self-defense. The prosecution portrayed Ms. Sheehan as a cold, exacting killer who hated her husband, killed him, and then fabricated an abuse narrative to escape justice.

The battered woman’s defense came about in the late 1970s as an extension of the battered woman’s syndrome, coined by Dr. Leonore Walker. Battered woman’s syndrome attempts to explain the mindset and emotional state of women who have suffered long term abuse. It is based on the idea that abuse victims begin to operate in a reality different from non-victims due to the continual violence, fear, and manipulation connected to the abuse.  This syndrome has been more recently linked to post-traumatic stress disorder. Legally, the battered woman’s defense, allows the use of domestic violence related testimony, which otherwise would not play a large bearing in a murder trial.

The problem with using the battered woman’s defense is that the defense still has to maneuver the jury’s opinions and perceptions of victims of domestic violence. The prosecution used a barrage of domestic violence myth based questions in the examination of Barbara Sheehan and her son. They exploited the fact that Barbara stayed with her husband; that there were no police records of violence; that some neighbors and friends described her husband as a “nice guy” who coached youth leagues and threw his daughter a sweet sixteen party. Reading the comment boards on some news sites, this line of prosecution was more effective than one would wish to think.

Abusive relationships are very difficult to get out of. Victims are often in very powerless situations and have very limited options if they want to leave. It is also a fact that lethality drastically increases aftera victim leaves an abusive situation.

And while the prosecution of the Sheehan case was more than willing to portray Raymond Sheehan as a dutiful police officer that helped in the aftermath of 9/11, what was left unsaid were exactly what options the wife of an abusive police officer husband would have by way of reporting the crime.

The surprise by outsiders that Mr. Sheehan was abusive is actually not shocking when coupled with an understanding of domestic violence and abuser methodology. It is to be expected. Abusers tend to be very charming and gregarious when they want to be. Despite popular belief, they do not walk around with an “A” tattooed on their forehead. Only in a society where domestic violence is not as widely understood as the pervasive and serious issue that it is, would a prosecution consider those lines of questioning the best route in swaying a jury.

While the jury in the Sheehan case, acquitted Barbara Sheehan of murder yesterday, the attitudes about the case in newspaper articles and websites, the comments made by those following the case, and the language used in reports of the case, make it very clear that domestic violence is still largely misunderstood.  It is important for the silence around domestic violence to be broken.

You can help debunk the myths and change the attitudes about domestic violence! Become informed. Reading this blog is a great first step! Talk to your friends, coworkers and family members about domestic violence and its effects. Speak up when you hear victim blaming or perpetuation of dv myths. Continue your support of FVPC and its efforts to educate others about domestic violence, and be an ally for those who have/are experiencing it.

LUNAFEST tix now on sale! October 7, 2011

Tickets are now available for LUNAFEST 2011! This is our second annual LUNAFEST and it’s going to be a great night. 85% of proceeds benefit the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County and the other 15% benefits The Breast Cancer Fund. Can’t wait to see you there! The movie screening starts at 7:00 pm, but come early for cupcakes and drinks at our 6:30 pm reception.
There are three ways to buy:

1. Online through our website: http://www.lunafest.org/chapelhill

1. On campus on October 11th and 24th – look for our table in the pit

1. At the Family Violence Prevention Center at 207 Wilson Street in Chapel Hill

Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for the general public. At the door they will be $7 and $12. So plan ahead!

LUNA, the Whole Nutrition Bar for Women, created LUNAFEST to simultaneously promote women filmmakers, raise awareness for women’s issues and support nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Cargo: Innocence Lost film screening October 4, 2011

Carolina Women’s Center is hosting a film screening:

Cargo: Innocence Lost

Monday, October 24 

The Arts Center, 300-G East Main Street, Carrboro, NC.

The film documents the stories of the millions of people bought, sold, and traded every day, most of them ending up in the United States every year, invisible to the general public. Of all the people brought into the country, 70% are women and children. The film tells the stories of these people, interspersed with interviews of top national officials, two victims that were trafficked from Mexico into Texas, and the story of an Eastern European girl brought into San Francisco to work in a brothel.

North Carolina, as a state, is particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking. Please come out to view the film and engage in discussion to learn more about local and global effects of the sex trafficking industry.

The night will begin with registration from 6:00-6:45

7-8:30: Welcome from state senator Ellie Kinnaird and Cargo film screening

8:30-9:00: Q&A with Dr. Donna Bickford of the CWC

The film is free, however donations will be accepted at the event.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month October 3, 2011

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) or Relationship Violence Awareness Month (RVAM). FVPC is partnering with the Carolina Women’s Center (CWC), Project Dinah, UNC Counseling and Wellness (CWS), and Men@Carolina to host events all month long that bring awareness to the issue of relationship violence.

Please come out to as many events as you can and bring friends!

RVAM Kick Off Event: Monday-Thursday Oct. 3-5

10 am – 1pm, Polk Place

Come out to Polk Place to find out more information about healthy relationships and the various RVAM events. Groups in attendance include, FVPC, CWC, Project Dinah, Men@Carolina, and the UNC LGBTQ Center.

Sin By Silence movie screening

Wed. Oct 5 – Noon, Graham Memorial 039

CWC is sponsoring a Brown Bag Film Screening of Sin By Silence, a documentary following the creation of Convicted Women Against Abuse (CWAA).

Telling Amy’s Story

Monday, Oct. 10, 3pm Graham Memorial 039

CWC and Verizon are partnering to bring Telling Amy’s Story to campus. The film follows the time line of a domestic violence homicide. It follows the family, friends, and court officials perspectives of what happened to Amy in the time before her death. There will be a discussion following the film.

Speak Out!

Wednesday Oct. 12, 7-9pm, The Pit

Project Dinah and Men@Carolina are hosting the annual Speak Out! event. Members of the group will read anonymous survivor stories that have been posted on the Speak Out Blog. There will also be a key note speaker, and open mic portion when audience members will be allowed to share their own stories. It is a powerful night of empowerment, an effort to break the silence around relationship violence.

Lecture: Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor

Tuesday October 25 7pm University Room, Hyde Hall

Professor Elaine Lawless, is visiting UNC-Duke for the 2011-2012 academic year as a Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor. She will be giving a public lecture on her research on violence against women.

Wednesday, Oct. 26, 3pm Graham Memorial 039

CWC will be sponsoring a screening of Sisters in Law, a film following two women in a small town in Cameroon who are fighting for convictions in domestic violence cases. The documentary is both fascinating and at times humorous as the audience follows State Prosecutor, Vera Ngassa, and Court President, Beatrice Ntuba and their fight for justice.

LUNAFEST

Thursday, Oct. 27, 6:30 pm Reception, 7pm Screening, Varsity Theater

Sponsored by FVPC, LUNAFEST is a traveling film festival,that shows award-winning short films for and about women. The year there will be nine films shown. Proceeds will benefit FVPC and the Breast Cancer Fund.  Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for everyone else and $7 for students & $12  for general public at the door.

Mark your calendars and come to as many of these fabulous events as possible!

Got music? October 1, 2011

Gerri Gribi is an award-winning musician well as an historian and educator. As October is Domestic Violence Awareness month she would like to share an opportunity to obtain free downloadable songs. Gerri keeps a list of roughly 300 songs fully annotated, that relate to domestic violence and sexual assault. You can listen to and download the majority of these songs and compilations by visiting her site and registering for a free trial. The site, Creativefolk.com, also has an annotated list of DV and sexual assault related videos and dvds.

Domestic Violence is a pervasive issue and all types of awareness are valuable.