Spotlight
DoD Announces Initiatives Targeting Sexual Assault
Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, announced several new initiatives to address sexual assault in the Department of Defense (DoD). The new initiatives include:
- Establishing a DoD sexual assault advocate certification program.
- Expanding assault victim support to include military spouses and adult military dependents.
- Increasing training funds for investigators and judge advocates.
- Creating an integrated data system to track sexual assault reports and monitor case management.
- Assessing how DoD trains commanding officers and senior enlisted leaders on sexual assault prevention and response, and strengthening that training.
Click here to learn more.
New DoD Sexual Assault Policies
The Department of Defense (DoD) has two new policies for addressing sexual assault. The first, Expedited Transfer of Military Service Members Who File Unrestricted Reports of Sexual Assault, provides a service member who has been a victim of sexual assault and filed an unrestricted report the option to request an expedited transfer from her/his unit and/or installation. The second, Document Retention in Cases of Restricted and Unrestricted Reports of Sexual Assault, standardizes the retention periods for sexual assault records across the military services. In unrestricted cases, specified documents will be retained for 50 years and in restricted cases, for five years, to ensure victims have extended access to documents related to the sexual assault.
Click here to read the DoD press release announcing the new policies.
Click here to read the new policies.
Click here to read the DoD Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies Academic Program Year 2010-2011.
Click here to visit the DoD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office website.
Research from Dr. April Gerlock on Screening for Intimate Partner Violence in Veterans
Dr. April Gerlock, Ph.D., ARNP, has published the results of her original research, Documentation of Screening for Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence in Male Veterans with PTSD. In addition, Dr. Gerlock was interviewed by the American Journal of Nursing about her work with veterans and her research. Click to read the article and listen to the interview.
Pentagon Channel: Domestic Violence
Awareness Month Program
Kenya Fairley, National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, Glenna Tinney, Battered Women's Justice Project, and Brian Namey, National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and the National Network to End Domestic Violence, discuss one of the most insidious and common crimes worldwide: domestic violence. This program aired on the Pentagon Channel on October 18, 2011 to increase public awareness for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Click here to watch video.
DoD Family Advocacy Program (FAP) Domestic Violence
Awareness Month Campaign launched
The Office of the Secretary of Defense FAP launched its 2011 DVAM campaign on the Military Home Front (MHF) and Military One Source (MOS) websites. Dual themes are promoted this year to highlight the importance of prevention programs as well as services for victims of domestic abuse. Click here to learn more.
DoD Family Advocacy Program Fiscal Year 2010 Data
This report presents fiscal year (FY) 2010 data related to domestic and child abuse from the Department of Defense Family Advocacy Program (FAP). Included in this document are: an information paper on domestic and child abuse data; briefing slides on the FY 2010 FAP spouse and child abuse data; key findings from the FY 2010 FAP data; and questions and answers on the data. Click here to see the report.
Policy Brief: Safety on the Homefront: Adequately Addressing Violence in Families Impacted by Military Service.
Glenna Tinney, Military Advocacy Program Coordinator for the Battered Women's Justice Project, recently co-authored a policy brief with Dr. Kathleen West from the University of Southern California, School of Social Work Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families. To view the brief, Safety on the Homefront: Adequately Addressing Violence in Families Impacted by Military Service, please click here.
Victim Advocate Guide – Intimate Partner Violence and Combat Experience
The Battered Women’s Justice Project is pleased to present the new Victim Advocate Guide – Intimate Partner Violence and Combat Experience. Over 2 million people have deployed to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most people returning from war zones will have stress reactions and will need to readjust to being home. This guide provides information that will help advocates understand these stress reactions and their relationship to intimate partner violence in order to provide effective information and referrals to victims whose partners have been exposed to the trauma of combat and are exhibiting violent or abusive behavior.
The development and production of this guide was funded under the auspices of the Avon Foundation’s Speak Out Against Domestic Violence initiative. More information about the Avon Foundation for Women is available at http://www.avonfoundation.org/.
Click here to access the Victim Advocate Guide – Intimate Partner Violence and Combat Experience.
BWJP Launches Military-Civilian Advocate Resource Network
The Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) is pleased to announce the launch of our new Military-Civilian Advocate Resource Network. The password-protected site is intended to be the first stop for advocates seeking information about intimate partner violence (IPV) involving military service members and veterans and their families. It includes information about the Department of Defense, Reserves, National Guard, and Department of Veterans Affairs systems and their response to IPV. The site also includes pertinent articles and research on IPV and co-occurring conditions such as combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and information on justice-involved veterans and veterans treatment courts. There are also links to related Websites and resources. The site includes a discussion component that will allow advocates to network and share information. If the information needed is not found on the site or obtained through the discussion, an advocate can request consultation with a subject matter expert with specialized expertise working with military members, veterans, and their families.
Advocates must join the Military-Civilian Advocate Resource Network to be a member. This involves receiving an invitation to join and setting up an account. To submit a request to join the Network, send an email to military@bwjp.org and put “Join Network” in the subject line. An invitation and instructions for joining will then be provided. This same email can be used to ask questions or obtain assistance with technical problems.
If at any time you want to discontinue network membership, send an email to military@bwjp.org with "opt-out" in the subject.
Special Collection: The Intersection of Domestic Violence and the Military: Working across Disciplines
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
This collection examines co-occurring issues experienced by veterans (PTSD, TBI, MST) and provides information related to best practices when addressing these co-occurring issues through a multi-systems approach. Challenges experienced by female service members and veterans are explored through the lens of violence against women.
Click here to see the collection.
Avon Foundation Awards a Gift to the Battered Women’s Justice Project
The Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) is pleased to announce the receipt of a gift from the Avon Foundation to develop an e-learning course and awareness materials for military and civilian victim advocates who serve the military and veteran populations and their families. The goal of the course is to increase the capacity for advocates to work more effectively with military-related victims of intimate partner violence and address the co-occurrence of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder. These materials will also be helpful for social service and mental health practitioners who are working with these victims and their families. This initiative supplements the current BWJP project, Building Effective Civilian Responses to Military-Related Victims of Intimate Partner Violence, which is funded by the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.
When completed, the e-learning course and supplemental materials will be posted to the BWJP Website and available for downloading. When the materials are available, BWJP will provide a series of Webinars introducing the course and awareness materials.
This gift was made under the auspices of the Avon Foundation’s Speak Out Against Domestic Violence initiative. More information about the Avon Foundation is available at http://www.avonfoundation.org/.
National Domestic Violence Hotline: Military Calls 2006-2010
The National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) has released statistics for the number of calls received from 2006 to 2010 from people affiliated with the military. NDVH reports that military-related calls have more than doubled in that time frame. The report provides a demographic breakdown of the calls and identifies barriers to obtaining services. More information about the NDVH is available at: http://www.thehotline.org/.
Click here to see the report.
Special Report: For U.S. Veterans, the War after the Wars
Glenna Tinney, the BWJP Military Advocacy Program Coordinator and Connie Sponsler-Garcia, the BWJP Training and Technical Assistance Manager, among others, were interviewed by Nick Carey of Reuters for this special report. The report provides an in-depth look at the experiences of military personnel and their families as service members return from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan bearing the visible and invisible wounds of war. The report includes some information on domestic violence as it relates to these returning veterans. Click here to read the article.
Article: Building Effective Civilian Responses to Military-Related Victims of Intimate Partner Violence
The Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) is currently working on a project funded by the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. The project focuses on building effective civilian responses to military-related victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). Military-related includes active duty, Reserve, and National Guard personnel, veterans, and their families. Click here to read the article.
BWJP Advisory Group Meeting Summary
Alexandria, Virginia
July 27, 2010
The Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) held the first meeting of the Advisory Group for the Building Effective Civilian Responses to Military-Related Victims of Intimate Partner Violence project on July 27, 2010 in Alexandria, Virginia. The U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women funds the project.
Click here to continue reading...
Article: Veterans in the Justice System
Glenna Tinney, Military Advocacy Program Coordinator for the Battered Women's Justice Project, recently co-authored an article for the Los Angeles Daily Journal (August 17, 2010), along with veterans' advocates Amy Fairweather and Guy Gambill. To view the article, Veterans in the Justice System: Treatment of Violent Offenders, please click here.*
* Posted with the permission of Daily Journal Corp. (2010)
BWJP Presents at National Conference
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence 14th annual national conference, Changing Faces of the Movement, was held in Anaheim, California, August 1-4. The Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) provided several workshops at the conference. Glenna Tinney, the BWJP Military Advocacy Program Coordinator, co-presented a workshop on Building Effective Civilian Responses to Military-Related Victims of Intimate Partner Violence. She presented with Ellen Schell, the Director of The Legal Project’s new program to develop legal resources for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault who are affiliated with the military.
The workshop clarified distinctions between active-duty, National Guard and Reserve personnel, and veterans; explained unique issues and problems for military-related victims; discussed what advocates need to know to advocate effectively for victims who are connected with the military; provided an overview of military-related offenders and the various justice systems they may be involved with; and explained the importance of a coordinated community response in providing effective advocacy.
For additional information, contact Glenna Tinney at gtinney@bwjp.org or (703) 822-8118.
Please click here to view the presentation.
Analysis in progress. Permission to use with proper citation.
