Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "domestic violence"

Taking back the night at 32nd annual march to end domestic violence

2011-10-05T05:18:13Z

This Saturday – when the sun goes down, and the streets darken – women, men, children, survivors, activists and fighters of domestic violence will come together in Midtown to take a stand, speak out and reclaim the safety of the night.

Each year 1.3 million women become victims of domestic violence, and one in every four women in the United States will experience domestic violence, according to statistics from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said Diana Rosas, the press and media contact for Sacramento Women Take Back the Night.

The 32nd annual Women Take Back the Night March and Rally will be held from 6-9 p.m. The event will start with a resource fair at 5:30 p.m. at the Native American Health Center parking lot at 2020 J St., and the march will make a loop around Midtown. This year the theme is “Planting the Seeds of Change.”

“We’re planting the knowledge in someone who’s new to or doesn’t quite understand (domestic violence),” Rosas said. “We’re taking back the night – we’re planting seeds of change. Things are going to change going forward. It’s sort of the promise that we’re making to ourselves: educating people to save others from getting hurt.”

In honor of the theme, during the resource fair children will be able to plant flower seeds in miniature clay pots that they will be able to take home.

Hundreds of hand-folded paper flowers made by the group of 20 to 30 volunteers will be provided for marchers to hold during the event. Each flower will represent and memorialize a victim or survivor of domestic violence.

The thundering, rhythmic drumming of Sacramento Taiko Dan – a nonprofit group dedicated to promoting cultural awareness and diversity while preserving the art of Japanese style drumming – will lead the 16-block march around Midtown.

Volunteers will be walking alongside the expected crowd of over 500 marchers with flashlights to guide the way throughout the walk. The streets will not be closed for the event – marchers will be walking in an orderly fashion through sidewalks and crosswalks, Rosas said.

Prior to the march, a rally will be held beginning with the annual “Survivor Speak-Out” portion of the event organized by Women Escaping A Violent Environment, a source for crisis intervention services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and one of the founding organizations of the march in 1978. During this time, survivors of domestic violence will voice their personal stories and experiences with domestic violence.

“It’s a safe place for women, for men and for anyone that wants to bring an end to violence and gather to create a safe community,” said Julie Bornhoeft, director of development and community relations at WEAVE. “We need to work to create better communication to give survivors a place tell their stories and be supported.”

WEAVE is bringing three survivors to speak and share stories of their journeys through domestic violence and back. Members of the public will also be welcome to share their stories, Bornhoeft said.

“The survivors speaking out really makes it real for people who haven’t experienced domestic violence,” Rosas said. “When you hear some of these survivors speak, you learn what to look out for and how a simple argument or domestic dispute can turn into murder or death or kidnapping or children getting hurt. The more people that are educated, the more lives that can be spared.”

Other speakers and entertainment will include spoken word by Jovi Radtke and C. Foster – two poets actively supporting the eradication of violence against women – and representatives from sponsoring organizations working closely with Women Take Back the Night to fight for this cause: WEAVE, My Sister’s House, California Partnership to End Domestic Violence and Slutwalk Sacramento, a new organization still being developed.

New sponsors at the resource fair this year will include V-Day Sacramento, which is a benefit project of Sacramento Women Take Back the Night that raised over $15,000 through its first annual productions of the “Vagina Monologues” in April. The funds raised went toward Women Take Back the Night, as well as WEAVE and My Sister’s House – two of of the primary organizations that work together toward supporting women and ending violence, Rosas said.

Organizers of Slutwalk Sacramento will also be tabling to foster support to bring a Slutwalk to the city to fight for the rights of victims of sexual assault.

“It’s all a part of the same cause: violence against women,” Rosas said. “It doesn’t matter what you say, how you dress or where you are. Nothing that you say or do or wear should imply that you deserve to be raped or called a slut or hurt just because of your appearance.

“Violence against women and children is still a very serious issue, and there is crime going on all around us everyday,” Rosas said. “It’s easy for people to not think about it or for people to forget, and this (event) just reminds us that this is going on and we need to do something about it.”

For more information, visit the Sacramento Women Take Back the Night website.

Wash Away Domestic Violence

2011-06-21T21:54:08Z

Many of the women staying at WEAVE’s Safehouse have left their homes with only the clothes they are wearing. In their rush to escape they rarely have time to pack essentials like shampoo.

Please help WEAVE provide comforting essentials to the women seeking refuge at our Safehouse.

Help WEAVE Wash Away Domestic Violence. Purchase low-cost shampoo, conditioner, and lotion (an entire set of three is only $12! including tax and processing fee) through our Avon drive and you help in two ways:

1) Provide comforting essentials to the women and children in the Safehouse,
2) Fund life saving programs, because 30% of every sale is donated back to WEAVE by Avon.

300 bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion will meet the needs of WEAVE’s Safehouse families for one year. Please help by making a purchase today. The products will be sent directly to WEAVE.

If you would like to purchase additional products for yourself, please click here.

In full disclosure, this article was written by a WEAVE employee in the hopes of spreading the word far and wide. We are grateful to Sacramento Press for this forum to get the word out!

Volunteers Needed at the Kaiser Women’s Fitness Festival

2011-05-25T00:41:05Z

4,500 women will race in the Kaiser Women’s Fitness Festival benefiting WEAVE on Sunday, June 5th to raise awareness about domestic violence and sexual assault. Now in its seventh year, the event is the largest women’s-only run in the region and runners travel from the Bay Area and the central valley to compete. WEAVE needs volunteers! Sign up now!

All volunteers are required to attend a Mandatory Volunteer Training on Wednesday, June 1st from 5:30 - 6:30 PM at WEAVE.

Volunteer shifts run in 3 – 5 hour blocks from Thursday, June 2nd to Sunday, June 5th. Questions? Contact Ashley.

In full disclosure, this article was written by a WEAVE employee in the hopes of spreading the word far and wide. We are grateful to Sacramento Press for this forum to get the word out!

Volunteers Needed at the Kaiser Women’s Fitness Festival

2011-05-19T00:10:34Z

All volunteers are required to attend a Mandatory Volunteer Training on Wednesday, June 1st from 5:30 - 6:30 PM at WEAVE.

Volunteer shifts run in 3 – 5 hour blocks from Thursday, June 2nd to Sunday, June 5th. Questions? Contact Ashley.

In full disclosure, this article was written by a WEAVE employee in the hopes of spreading the word far and wide. We are grateful to Sacramento Press for this forum to get the word out!

Ask the County Law Librarian - Domestic Violence Restraining Orders

2011-03-25T01:32:44Z

Q-
I am afraid of my boyfriend. We just moved in together last month, and ever since then, he has been shouting and cursing at me. He also pushed me down and punched a wall. I want to break up with him, but I am afraid he will hurt me. Can the law help protect me?

Anonymous in Midtown

A-
I am sorry to hear about your situation! If you feel in are in immediate danger, call 911!

California’s Domestic Violence Protection Act defines domestic violence as abuse toward an intimate partner or family member. The abuse can range from verbal threats, annoying telephone calls, stalking, hitting, and destruction of personal property. If you ever have to call the police, ask for an emergency protective order. A police officer that answers a domestic violence call can ask a judge for an emergency protective order at any time of the day or night. Explain in detail to the police officer why you're afraid. The emergency protective order starts immediately and can last a week. The judge can order the abusive person to leave the home and stay away from you and your children for up to a week.

If you want protection for more than a week, you can ask to the family court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). If the restraining order is granted, it typically requires the abuser to stay at least 100 yards away from you, and have no contact with you, including no email or telephone contact.

The Sacramento family court offers a free workshop on form preparation fro domestic violence restraining orders, Monday and Friday, excluding court holidays, at 8:45 a.m. This class is for both men and women and is held in the Self-Help Computer Room, Room 113A, on the first floor of the William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse, 3341 Power Inn Road. No appointment is necessary. For those who cannot attend the workshop, the court encourages you to complete your forms using TurboCourt. This program uses simple questions to gather all of the necessary information to apply for a domestic violence restraining order. If you will be filing in Sacramento, be sure to include the mandatory local forms.

You may want to contact WEAVE, INC. (Women Escaping a Violent Environment). WEAVE is a local nonprofit organization that was created to serve domestic violence survivors and their families in Sacramento County by offering counseling and other services including; dissolution & restraining order workshops, and a pro bono legal clinic or free attorney consultation for domestic violence.

Keep in mind that a restraining order can help protect you, but it is still just a piece of paper. A restraining order can lower, but not eliminate the risk of ongoing violence.

Do you have a question for the County Law Librarian? Just email sacpress@saclaw.org. If your question is selected your answer will appear in next Thursday's column. Even if your question isn't selected, though, I will still respond within two weeks.

Coral Henning, Director
@coralh & @saclawlibrarian

www.saclaw.org

Click a Button. Help WEAVE Earn a $10,000 Grant from Sutter Medical Center. It's That Easy.

2011-01-21T00:49:29Z

Want to help end violence in our community? Right now, it's as easy as clicking a button.

Sutter Medical Center has launched an innovative campaign to help raise $10,000 for a deserving charity. WEAVE is one of the nonprofits participating in the contest. By clicking a single button to cast your vote online, you can help WEAVE earn this critical grant.

What will $10,000 pay for? WEAVE, a 501c3 nonprofit, is the only provider of comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Sacramento County. The agency plans to eliminate violence by: educating kids to break the cycle; improving laws to protect victims; and healing survivors.

You can help in three easy ways: 1) cast your vote online; 2) tell all your friends to vote; and 3) share the voting link on your Facebook and Twitter pages.

I am an employee of WEAVE, and am posting this story in response to an invitation to share this news from Sacramento Press staff. We are very appreciative to Sacramento Press for providing this powerful venue to spread the word.

Mary Kay provides healing space for domestic violence victims

2010-12-01T02:04:12Z

For children who have been victims of abusive environments, a new outdoor classroom was built, with a performance stage, a mini “Delta Prince” boat-themed playground and a vegetable garden.

Enormous pink-handled scissors were used to cut the ceremonial ribbon at the classroom revealing for Sacramento’s primary crisis intervention provider WEAVE on Tuesday.

Pink balloons also brought color to the ceremony as cosmetics company Mary Kay gifted WEAVE’s Executive Director Beth Hassett with a $20,000 grant check from the Mary Kay Foundation for improvements to the shelter.

WEAVE Director of Development Amber Stott said there are hopes to build new transitional housing units at the site, but future plans are contingent on funding.

Mary Kay Government Relations Manager Theresa Flores said these Nature Explore Classrooms--a program working to provide resources to educators that connect children with nature--are usually constructed in public areas where children can access them.

However, children at the WEAVE shelter rarely have access to these classrooms because of their need for protection from their potential abuser, Flores said.

“We believe in our responsibility as a corporate citizen to do something about women being abused,” Flores said, “And to do something about protecting children.”

Mary Kay partners with WEAVE Inc. and women’s shelters nationwide to implement this classroom project into shelter facilities. WEAVE's classroom was the eighth dedicated to women’s domestic violence shelters by the foundation, which donates $20,000 to 150 different shelters every year.

Flores claimed that Mary Kay is committed to projects like these because, quite simply, “it’s what we do.”

The Mary Kay Foundation has given $20,000 grants to 58 different shelters in California alone.

The 2.4 acre safe-house campus is situated in a confidential location in Sacramento and serves 300 - 400 families each year, Hassett said.

With the revamped outdoor space, charter school and shelter all at one location, children escaping abusive environments can continue their education without exposing themselves or their mothers to possible encounters with their abusers, Hassett said.

Retired news anchor and reporter Stan Atkinson manned the podium at the event and commended Flores and Mary Kay for the work they do to raise awareness about domestic violence issues. Atkinson referred to the outdoor space as calming and said it would act as a healing force for the children who would use it.

Children of WEAVE staff dressed in vegetable outfits demonstrated the many uses of the new space by playing percussive instruments on the outdoor stage, climbing around the playground and planting vegetables plant varieties in a small garden.

Hassett said that children raised in abusive environments don’t learn as well as those raised in safe homes because of fears and anxiety surrounding their unstable home life.

“Part of what we’re doing here is giving (children) a safe place to learn, and the addition of this Nature Explore Classroom is going to be a wonderful linkage with the traditional (indoor) classroom setting that we offer to kids,” Hassett said.

Sacramento County Sheriff-elect Scott Jones referred to WEAVE as a collaborative community partner that he relies on heavily to change the lives of victims of domestic violence.

“WEAVE will undoubtedly be able to rely on us and the Sheriff’s Department, and other regional law enforcement partners, as partners to your efforts as well,” Jones said.

Assemblywoman Alyson Huber’s representative, Elizabeth Kim, presented a certificate of recognition on behalf of the California State Legislature to WEAVE in honor of its dedication ceremony and in welcoming the Nature Explore Classroom.

Kim expressed a special appreciation for being able to represent Huber at such an event given the fact that she is a survivor of domestic violence.

“Having a program like this where women with children have a place to go is very important to have in our community,” Kim said.

Domestic violence survivor Shonquinta Jones came from two generations of abuse, and continued it into a third generation when she married an abusive partner. Jones briefly shared how WEAVE helped her to realize that the cycle of violence was being repeated, and gave her the tools she needed to move on to forge a new future for herself and her daughter.

“Without this (outdoor classroom), the children will grow up to repeat that cycle,” Jones said.

Sacramento Turns Purple

2010-10-25T02:34:25Z

At 3:04 PM on Monday, October 25, Sacramentans will join together, wearing purple, to Break the Silence on Domestic Violence. At the appointed time, Sacramento city sidewalks will fill with a sea of purple as community members walk in remembrance of survivors of domestic violence.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 3:04 PM represents the 3 out of 4 Americans who know someone that has been a victim of violence. October 25th represents the 25% of women who will experience interpersonal violence in her lifetime.

Joining WEAVE on this important day of awareness are students and faculty of California State University Sacramento, Victim Compensation and Govt. Claims Board,CSUS Violence and Sexual Assault Support Services, CSUS Women's Resource Center, Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center, Sacramento Police Department, My Sister's House, and California Coalition Against Sexual Assault. For a complete list of participating agencies and businesses, visit WEAVE’s website.

Community members are also invited to unite in support. Here’s how:

1) Visit WEAVE’s website and sign a pledge to commit your participation to this momentous event.
2) On Monday, October 25, wear purple—the color of domestic violence awareness. Join on Facebook!
3) At 3:04 PM that day, take a short break and walk around the block in solidarity with others to remember those who have survived domestic violence.

“This is an easy way for people to get involved,” says Beth Hassett, WEAVE Executive Director. “Grab your friends or office mates and take a short break. When you step outside, we hope you’ll see other people wearing purple and walking in solidarity. It’s a simple act, but we’re hoping the impact will demonstrate just how many people are affected by domestic violence in our community.”

Students at CSUS created an inspiring video to help spread the word. You can also find details about the event and make your pledge at www.weaveinc.org.

In full disclosure, this article was written by a WEAVE employee in the hopes of spreading the word far and wide. We're grateful to Sacramento Press for this forum to get the word out and help us break the silence!

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Mu Sochua visits Sacramento

2009-09-18T05:02:02Z

Mu Sochua had a request of her audience: "I ask you to please monitor [my] case, because it's very very likely that I will go to jail," the native Cambodian said in a speech in Sacramento.

The social worker and women's rights and democracy activist was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee in 2005.

About 40 people gathered Monday at noon in a conference room at the U.C. Center in Sacramento to hear Sochua speak. In the speech, presented by the World Affaris Council, she spoke about ending the sex trafficking of women and children, opposing land grabs and reforming the corrupt Cambodian court system.

Sochua came to Northern California in 1973. She earned a degree in psychology from San Francisco State and a master's in social work from the University of California at Berkeley in 1981. Before she could return to Cambodia, Sochua learned that her parents had been killed by the Khmer Rouge, the regime responsible for the deaths of more than a million Cambodians.

Sochua returned to Cambodia after 18 years of exile to help the government rebuild after the Khmer Rouge lost power. She is an outspoken member of Parliament, and spoke about her recent defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Hun Sen of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

"He said that I go around, grab men and take off my shirt," Sochua said. It's an insult that usually would not be challenged by a woman in a society rife with gender inequality, she explained, but added "that cannot be tolerated. The issue here is dignity."

"That situation was reverse, actually," Sochua said. "An official in the military who was campaigning for the ruling party assaulted me at the marketplace and my shirt came undone."

But before the prime minister could be brought to trial, he countersued Sochua's lawyer. "The Cambodian Bar Association put so much pressure on my lawyer that he would have been disbarred," Sochua said. "Then he left me without defense, apologized to the prime minister and joined the prime minister's party."

So Sochua defended herself in court.

In what she called a show trial in which no investigation was conducted, Sochua was found guilty of "speaking out," "speaking on behalf of women," "spreading disinformation" and "suing [the prime minister]," she said. After not paying a $4,000 fine and being stripped of her legislative immunity, Sochua, a member of Sam Rainsy, the leading opposition party, could face life imprisonment when she returns to Cambodia.

"That's why I'm going from place to place, talking to people like you," she said. In a recent meeting with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Sochua urged the United States to send a high level delegation to assess civil rights issues in Cambodia.

"If I were imprisoned, the situation would bring more attention to donors and the world community," Sochua said. "That is the symbol for struggle for justice, it will speak loud[est]."

Hers is not a poor country, Sochua said, citing Cambodia's natural resources and more than $1 billion of foreign aid per year. She pointed out that $53 million of that money comes from the United States. "It's just badly managed, losing about $500 million a year to corruption and a lack of political will."

Moderator Robert Cassinelli, on the board of the World Affairs Council, spoke of the importance of Sochua's speech. "I would like to thank Mu Sochua for illuminating something which is a [part of the] human condition: human rights and gender issues," he said.

A young Cambodian American asked what Cambodians in the United States can do to help reform the Cambodian justice system.

"I hope that you will take some action, because you can," Sochua said. "I would like you to go and write a letter to your legislators and ask your government, 'What are you doing in Cambodia?' "

Audience member Samedi Thach called for action. "I hope everybody listens to her and writes the letter she asks for and keeps tabs on her to make sure that she doesn't disappear and what she's fighting for doesn't go away.

"Instead of staying here and living the American Dream, like a lot of Cambodians, she's actually trying to make changes in Cambodia," added Thach, a 24-year-old Cambodian American living in Sacramento. "Knowing that she's going to go back to face 20-to-life, or assassination, it makes her message more powerful: She's willing to go back and be a martyr for the cause that she believes in."