Content by Keyword: Community-Based Violence

Statutes from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia were the primary sources of information for this report. Each state’s statutes were accessed via the Internet—usually through the state legislature’s Website. As of this writing, all of the statutes were current through at least 2003. This report is not intended to be a legal

This report focuses on laws that criminalize voluntary sexual acts involving a minor that would be legal if not for the age of one or more of the participants. The report does not include laws where the legality of the sexual acts is dependent on the relationship of the participants (e.g., incest, sex between teachers and students or doctors and p

Unlike most rape laws, in which force is a key element of the offense, statutory rape laws assume that all sexual activities with individuals below a certain age are coercive, even if both parties believe their participation is voluntary. Generally, statutory rape laws define the age below which an individual is legally incapable of consenting to

[2] The Alan Guttmacher Institute (1994). Sex and America’s Teenagers. New York.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is concerned about the health of adolescents, including unwanted sexual contact at a young age. For example, research finds that:

Work on this project was funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a contract to The Lewin Group.  This report benefited greatly from the oversight and input of Jerry Silverman, the ASPE Project Officer.

(1) Throughout this report, domestic violence is generally used to refer to abuse (physical, verbal or emotional) of a woman by an intimate male partner (husband, ex-husband, current or former boyfriend). While women can also perpetrate violence in intimate relationships, this occurs less frequently than violence directed at women (Council on Scie

Aron, L. and Olson, K. 1996. " Efforts by Child Protection Agencies to Address Domestic Violence: The Experience of Five Communities," Washington, DC: The Urban Institute. Bachman, R. 1994. Violence Against Women: A National Crime Victimization Survey Report . Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics. Burt, M.

A community's response to domestic violence should take into account the fact that not all battered women come into contact with or seek services from any agencies. To address the needs of all battered women requires a response that includes every member of the community. In this way, a community's response may have an impact on even the most isol

Recognize the roles of all community members

 

The previous discussion raised issues about identifying which types of service each of the agencies did best. In addition to thinking about these types of skills, it is also important to think about where women are most comfortable going, and the context in which they will be most likely to accept and benefit from services. This is particularly pe

To formulate a broad coordinated response, a range of agencies in a community must work together to identify agency service strengths and weaknesses, as well as complete gaps in the system of available services. Then, these agencies must work out arrangements whereby agencies agree to provide services that they are best at, and to develop and use

To begin to address domestic violence among its client population, an agency must first develop screening protocols to identify women who experience battering, and then decide the circumstances under which they will use these protocols. An agency could, for example, decide to use the protocol for every case seeking services of any kind, or any per

Understand the extent of domestic violence among your own clients Determine which agencies can do which services best Determine which agencies can serve which women best Commit your agency to using the expertise of traditional domestic violence providers, both initially and on an ongoing basis

Screening and reporting policies by themselves are unlikely to accomplish a better response for battered women if they are not part of a larger effort to serve the victim. Providing resources and services for battered women identified through these efforts offers an incentive for providers to be more aggressive in their screening efforts. In setti

Medical providers reach some battered women who do not come into contact with other service systems (i.e., criminal justice and domestic violence). However, many battered women come into contact with the health care system because they require medical attention for their injuries, not because they have sought help for the domestic violence. Batt