Archive for the ‘Public Policy’ Category
Articles of Note: November Edition
Time once again for a run down of some of the new and noteworthy articles in the current literature. All of these are from the October/November issues. As always, please keep in mind this in no way a comprehensive list; simply items that have caught my attention from a selection of peer-reviewed journals. Links lead to PubMed abstracts; from there you can choose what’s worth a.) paying for; b.) a pilgrimage to your nearest medical library; or c.) downloading via the full-text access you possibly have at your disposal. To be honest, it was kind of a light month; not nearly so much grabbed me in my rounds of the recent stuff.
Trafficking: New Offerings from the Week that Was
Over the past week there have been several new offerings related to human trafficking:
Phil Borges has an interview on his blog with Rachel Lloyd, founder of GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services). “Rachel told me that historically law enforcement in our country has punished the victims of the sex industry—the vulnerable and exploited adolescent girls that are coerced and trafficked into the trade. She said that labeling and jailing them as ‘teen prostitutes’ instead of what they are–exploited and trafficked children– while ignoring the 30 to 40 year old men that sell and buy these girls has been a crime in itself.”
Listen to the 8+ minute audio file here.
Physicians & Executions
ReachMD has a roundtable discussion on physicians and executions, facilitated by Dr. Atul Gawande. He is joined by Deborah Denno, professor of law at Fordham University; Dr. Robert Truog, professor of medical ethics, anesthesiology, and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School; and Dr. David Waisel, associate professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, in a conversation about lethal injection, the current protocol, possible alternatives, and the role of health care professionals in putting convicted criminals to death.
As with all ReachMD programs, they’re free of charge, but require site registration to access.
Intimidation of Domestic Violence Victims
Battered Women’s Justice Project will be presenting a 3-part webinar series on intimidation of DV victims. Participation is free, but registration is required in advance. The presenters will be Attorney Rhonda Martinson of BWJP and Jeff Greipp, Attorney Advisor with AEquitas.
Women’s Experience with Sexual & Domestic Violence
BWJP is hosting an audioconference, Wednesday, October 21st from 3-4:30 ET on women’s experiences with sexual and domestic violence. Speakers include Molly Dragiewicz and Walter DeKeseredy from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
Violence Against Sexually Exploited Women
I am thrilled to announce that AEquitas is offering our first webinar October 21st, 11:30-1pm ET: Prosecutorial Response to Violence Against Prostituted Women. This webinar will help prosecutors and allied professionals understand, identify, and respond to violence against sexually exploited women, i.e., women used in prostitution. It will discuss the dynamics of sexual exploitation, including the frequency and type of violence sexually exploited women experience. It will also explore issues, strategies, and defenses relevant to the prosecution of violence against sexually exploited women.
Preventing Violence
The Prevention Institute has created a new resource on their website: Preventing Violence: Quick Links. It’s a “web-based compilation of practical, solution-oriented resources for communities working to prevent violence before it occurs“. You’ll find some great tools for community-wide planning and engagement. Best of all, if this is an area of interest for you, you can sign up for email alerts, so that you’re informed as additional resources are added to the page.
Digital Safety: Cyberstalking
I love when readers (especially readers abroad) send me links I never would have run across otherwise: this summer in London, the UK hosted their inaugural digital safety conference, which “brought together thought leaders, policy makers, legal professionals, law enforcement agencies, government representatives, educators, industry leaders and those committed to protecting civil liberties to consider the health, reputation and environment of the digital world”.
This Week in Webinars
Just a reminder that there are two fantastic (and free!) webinars coming up this week that most of the regular FHO readership should find interesting: Victim Privacy, Tuesday, October 13th, 2-3:30 pm ET (read the original post here) and Medical Forensic Exams Conducted Without a Report Being Made to Law Enforcement, Thursday, October 15th, 2-3:30 pm ET (read the original post here). This is a great opportunity to get you and your team (and your SART or MDT or CCR) some continuing ed!
Engaging Men
An interesting coincidence (if you believe in those sorts of things) happened yesterday. I received an email from a reader asking about resources to engage men in ending violence against women; and I checked my Facebook page last night and saw that EVAW had posted some info about one of Canada’s latest campaigns to engage men in ending violence, It Starts With You. So I’ve taken that as a sign from the Internet gods, and am doing a post today on the topic. It’s in no means comprehensive (in fact, consider it more of a jumping off point)–if you have more to add, please do so in the comments section so readers around the globe can benefit from our collective knowledge. My resources are, for the most part, US and Canadian. I would love (love, love) to hear about campaigns in other countries, as well.
Council of Daughters
With all of the news focusing on Roman Polanski, it seems like a good time to post this:
GEMS, the organization featured in the documentary Very Young Girls (previous post here), has a new initiative: The Council of Daughters. It’s a campaign “to strengthen laws that protect victims, encourage Americans to support girls empowerment initiatives at the local level, increase support for recovery services, and bring this urgent issue into schools, offices, dorms, places of worship and other community spaces.”
Forensic Compliance: UPDATED
For those of you out there struggling with issues around VAWA 2005 forensic compliance, technical assistance is now available through EVAW International. Additionally, they have a variety of materials available on the topic, as well as a couple webinars coming up. The first webinar will be October 15th at 2pm ET: Medical Forensic Exams Conducted without a Report Being Made to Law Enforcement.
Weekly Wrap-Up @ the Sustainability Blog
Just back from a terrific trip to CO Springs/Alamosa (where, among other things, I got a tour of the gorgeous Memorial program and also ate my weight in Mexican food). We were also busy over at the Sustainability site this week:
- A reminder about the Victim Privacy webinar being hosted by SAFE TA on Oct. 13th (also posted here)
- Information about the hands-on, day-long leadership and program management workshop we’re doing at IAFN next month: there are still a handful of spots left, so if you’re interested, please register soon. The session will be capped at 45 participants (plus table faculty)
- Two great posts on critical management issues: delivering praise and managing pessimists on your team
It may have been snowing in Colorado this week, but it’s gorgeous and sunny in the 216, and I’m actually home for a sustained period of time (3 weeks!). So I’m very much looking forward to my weekend. Hope yours is a good one, too!
Disaster Medicine Series
ReachMD, available online and at XM Satellite Radio, has a huge feature this month on disaster medicine. There are more than 60 podcasts, all from within the past year (and many from this month) linked on their page right now. You can download several at a time and listen to them while you’re plodding through administrative tasks, or select one, like Ethical Issues Arising in Natural Disasters, and host a staff discussion around it. There’s a lot that’s conversation-worthy.
Drug Endangered Children
I received a request from a reader looking for information about the medical care of children pulled out of meth labs (also known as drug endangered children). I know several of you out there are doing this kind of work, so please chime in with recommended resources you like and use.
