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2018 Leadership and Lobby Days

Although this is a website for online continuing education, every now and again I post live events, particularly ones important to me. And so I am pleased to announce this year’s Leadership and Lobby Days event is now open for registration. If you didn’t join us last year, I assure you it was a fantastic two days. I hope you will consider coming to DC this spring: the dates are 16-17 April, and unlike last year, participants will be staying in DC, in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. Up to 8.5 CEUs are available. Keep in mind, this is only for IAFN members, so if you aren’t one yet, consider joining. Also, this is not limited to US members–non-US members are encouraged to come and set up meetings with their embassy while US members are on the Hill.

Participants will learn how to effectively engage with legislators and staffers prior to heading out for meetings. Materials will be provided on the issues on which IAFN is focused. If lobbying sounds intimidating, please talk with colleagues who attended last year–I think you’ll hear that the process of talking with legislators and staffers is much less scary than some of you may think. People returned from their respective meetings excited and re-energized (I know because y’all came to my house afterwards and the stories you told about your experiences were really amazing).

Since I have already been asked by several of you, the one bit of bad news (for me, at least): I won’t be in attendance this year. As of right now, I have a trial that was continued to that week, so I will be out of the country. Should that change, I assure you I will be there (insert frownie face).

Please consider coming and help make #100ForensicRNs in DC a reality (again!).

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Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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DV/IPV Sexual Assault

Safety & Privacy in a Digital World

VAWnet has a new collection available: Safety and Privacy in a Digital World. If you’re not sure what this has to do with a clinical forensic practice, please remember that many of our patients use digital technology to stay connected to and discover new resources and sources of support; many of our patients are controlled by or exploited with digital technologies; and for some of our patients the digital technology is the form of abuse. The onus is on forensic clinicians to understand the myriad ways technology can both hurt and help our patients, so I encourage you to spend some time with the collection.

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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Since Last We Spoke, 1-29-18

A good Monday to you all–we actually thawed a bit in DC this weekend, and were able to take advantage of the nicer weather with a hike and some time down at the Wharf for an early meal. Naturally, snow is in the forecast here and in the 216 where I’ll be headed later in the week. But I’ll take it where I can get it, as I’ve become a bit of a delicate flower since moving south of the Mason-Dixon line. BTW, congrats, Alison C, you are the winner of our giveaway! Please email me your address so I can send out your book.

Bit of a sleepless night last night, so I had the opportunity to catch up on some reading. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:

Why women don’t get paps

What silences women (now I need to watch her TED talk)

Related.

A lawsuit seemed inevitable

Never underestimate the importance of journalism in our society

An excellent question

The female price of male pleasure (one of the most cited articles in my feeds this week, and for good reason)

What we mean when we say marriage is work

When sleep is elusive

I am absolutely here for this.

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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Child Abuse

A New Understanding of the Childhood Brain

{Don’t forget, we currently have a giveaway going on. You have until Friday to enter…}

I hadn’t seen this video until WHO tweeted it out yesterday; a lot of you will find it relevant to your work (and it’s a great teaching tool). Enjoy…

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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Articles of Note Child Abuse DV/IPV Elder Abuse/Neglect Sexual Assault

Articles of Note: January 2018 Edition

Time once again for Articles of Note our monthly(ish) romp through the peer-reviewed literature. Plenty of interesting research in this go-round, so spend some time looking through it. I dare say, a little something for everyone this month.

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Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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Child Abuse

Reading Now (and a Giveaway)

I was asked by an FHO reader if I would talk about what’s on my current reading list. It’s a favorite topic of discussion for me (I love hearing what people are reading), so here’s what is on my list THIS week (it could all change by next week, naturally). Note, I don’t usually have a ton of uninterrupted time for pleasure reading except on airplanes (I don’t work on airplanes–that is an unbreakable rule of self-care for me), but when it overlaps with my professional life, I make time. So in no particular order:

The General Appearance of Patients (Akshay Govind, which came to my attention because of the corresponding discussion on the IAFN community site–also, come on folks, document patient appearance and demeanor. Or at the very least, have a clinical rationale and not a courtroom rationale for not doing it, since it’s relatively common practice to include such documentation). {H/t Nancy Downing}

The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity (by Nadine Burke Harris on the health impacts of trauma in childhood)

Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say (Kelly Corrigan)

How Collaboration Wins (Harvard Business Review)

It’s been a tick since the last giveaway, so include in the comments something on YOUR reading list right now, and I will select one person at random (THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED) to receive their own copy of The Deepest Well (you can read more about the book here, or watch her excellent TED talk here). Leave a comment by 5pm ET on January 26th to be eligible. Giveaway open to all FHO readers, regardless of location.

{This post is not sponsored. However, some links take readers to Amazon affiliate links. Purchases provide a nominal commission to this site that helps offset the cost of regularly maintaining FHO.}

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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Since Last We Spoke, 1-22-18

I had the pleasure of attending a night of arts and empowerment at the synagogue we attend here in DC. Both Ilyse Hogue from NARAL and Fatima Goss Graves from the National Women’s Law Center spoke (among others), and as I listened, I could only think about how everything being discussed directly related to the work we do. We are so much more than collecting evidence, and I hope everyone doing this work is able to see, expansively, our role in the health of our communities. It was a really thought-provoking evening.

Plenty to keep us occupied this weekend on the interwebs. I didn’t make it to the march this year, but I followed along online, and was thrilled with the sustained movement as hundreds of thousands showed up around the world. Here’s what I’ve been reading since last we spoke:

Love these pics from the marches this weekend

The best take on this.

Related.

On this, the 45th anniversary of Roe v Wade

You may have heard that the US Dept of Health and Human Services has rolled out a new division, the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division (I can barely type these words, I have so much rage). Lambda Legal is tracking denial of services, for anyone who may need to report such an occurrence.

Seems like the time is right (finally)

Forensic nurses need to be paying attention to the opioid crisis

This should be the biggest story in sports. I’m not surprised it isn’t.

A concept I live by:

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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Sexual Assault

Sexual Harassment in Medicine — #MeToo

I haven’t spent a lot of time on this site devoted to the reckoning that is the #MeToo movement. In part, that’s because there is just so much of it, it would be impossible to keep up; in part because I don’t think it’s terribly difficult to find the avalanche of think pieces and first-person accounts. However, NEJM just published this essay, and it feels worthy of space here.

BTW, if you are looking for one of the best takes, I encourage you to check out the latest episode of Full Frontal. Be warned, though–it is definitely NSFW (or for anyone who is easily offended by swearing 😉 )

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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Sexual Assault

Neurobiology of Trauma Series

The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative has an archived webinar series from last week on the neurobiology of trauma. Dr. Rebecca Campbell was the presenter, and you can register to listen to all 3 parts:

Part I:  In part one of the three-part series, The Neurobiology of Trauma, Dr. Campbell presented on how the brain and body react to major traumas, including sexual assault. This module has emphasized understanding victim behavior during an assault and the immediate aftermath.

Part II: In part two, participants were provided with information regarding how the body and brain & body react to major traumas, including sexual assault, with an emphasis on understanding memory formation and recall during an assault and in the immediate aftermath.

Part III: In the final module of The Neurobiology of Trauma series, Dr. Campbell continued the discussion on the neurobiology of trauma as related to sexual assault and how the brain and body react to major traumas. This module focused on understanding implications for cold case investigations and victim notifications.


Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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Sexual Assault

Abused and Betrayed

In case you missed any of it, NPR has been airing a series on adults with intellectual disabilities and sexual violence: Abused and Betrayed. They’ve been a great listen, with the longest being just 12 minutes; too easy to fit into a team meeting with time for robust discussion afterward:





Still to air: How Prosecutors Changed The Odds To Start Winning Some Of The Toughest Rape Cases
(1/16); Morning Edition: Therapists Nora Baladerian and Karyn Harvey talk about the violence in the lives of their clients (1/18); and All Things Considered: Self-advocates speak–thoughtfully–of the effects of sexual violence (1/18).
 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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Since Last We Spoke, 1-15-18

I’m down at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, SC for a couple days working on a new project, so while many of you are off today for the MLK Day observance, it was a travel day for me. After managing to avoid it for months, the garbage virus going around took hold while I was in Portland last week, and I actually spent the better part of the last 3 days in my bed. That gave me plenty of time to surf–here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:

Fitting:

A portrait of men in nursing

Toxic political conversations and objective truth

How to speak grief

Connecting the opioid epidemic to an HIV outbreak

I was sexually abused as a boy

The best thing I’ve read in 2018

2018 Women’s March

No one is coming to save us from Trump’s racism

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here

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DV/IPV Sexual Assault

From Margins to Center: A Video Dialogue & Report

The Center for Survivor Agency and Justice is hosting a really compelling webinar (that I wish I could attend–hopefully it’ll be archived)–From Margins to Center: A Video Dialogue and Report. The session will be held January 18th at 1pm ET. From the announcement:

CSAJ and Partners on the Racial & Economic Equity for Survivors Project (REEP) are thrilled to announce the release of a report and host a video dialogue with From Margins to Center Listening Sessions on January 18th!

Throughout September, we held seven Listening Sessions in order to create a dialogue across the field to inform survivor-driven systems advocacy and practice recommendations that enhance racial and economic equity for domestic and sexual violence survivors. Calls were held with: advocates of color who also identify as survivors; attorneys sitting at unique intersections of law who are people of color and/or aspiring white allies; and economic justice or policy staff from state and tribal coalitions who are people of color and/or aspiring allies.

We are excited and honored to host a video conversation to lift-up voices from the Listening Sessions and to dialogue-back with the field about racial equity for survivors. 

Register for the webinar here.

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here.

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Sexual Assault

Linking Health and Criminal Justice Violence Data Provides More Complete Understanding of the Problem

Let’s just keep going with the research article theme for the week: new research published out of the UK that caught my attention. A shared data approach more accurately represents the rates and patterns of violence with injury assaults was recently published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. From the abstract:

[The purpose of this study is] to investigate whether sharing and linking routinely collected violence data across health and criminal justice systems can provide a more comprehensive understanding of violence, establish patterns of under-reporting and better inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of violence prevention initiatives.

This is a good article for discussion at SART meetings, and for communities considering how they gather (and share) violence statistics. It’s available free, full-text online.

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here.

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Sexual Assault

New issue of JFN Available

Greetings from an airplane somewhere between Houston and Portland, where I’ll be teaching the next few days. As part of my current reading list, I have several articles from the latest edition of the Journal of Forensic Nursing, which I thought I’d bring to your attention. Although I will likely do an Articles of Note post next week, there are a couple items that seemed worthy of highlighting in the new issue of JFN. Of particular interest (to me):

There’s also a fascinating CE article I’m looking forward to reading: Global Voyeurism or Sustainable Ethical Practice?

JFN is, of course, free to IAFN members (which I hope most FHO readers are at this point). To access the content as a member, enter the Journal sight via the IAFN website. Otherwise, the above links will take you to the abstract pages, where you can either purchase online or access via your institution’s library.

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here.

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Happy Birthday FHO! (We’re 9!)

via GIPHY

Well, we are celebrating 9 years here at FHO. Not too shabby for a nerdy little site that began as a place for me to refer folks for a few resources here and there. In 2017 we were visited by 63 different countries, with tens of thousand of users. In order of popularity, the 10 posts most visited this past year were:

1.) Creating a Fee Schedule for Expert Consultation and Testimony
2.) Clinical Guide: Court Testimony
3.) Patient-Clinician Communication: Basic Principles and Expectations (this was a surprise, since it’s pretty old)
4.) Injury Following Consensual Sex (our 1st product in the FHO store)
5.) How Trauma Lodges in the Body
6.) Clinical Guide: Toluidine Blue Dye
7.) 10 Things: Social Media Use for Forensic Clinicians
8.) Clinical Guide: Determining the Age of Bruises
9.) National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach
10.) Certificate vs Certification

Not too many surprises on that list, but a very different list from 2016, for sure. I’m so glad you continue to visit FHO, and I cannot wait to introduce some of the new content coming in 2018. Keep coming back as the store grows and a few features are added to the site. Glad so many of you have chosen to subscribe; if you haven’t yet, please consider signing up. It makes it simpler to get fresh content delivered to your mailbox 4(ish) times a week.

Thanks for reading FHO! Here’s to another great year…

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Sexual Assault

January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. NCJRS has a special collection now available with a variety of resources for service providers. They include both NIJ-funded research and DOJ publications, so there’s a lot to wade through. Worth the time, though–plenty of good stuff there for your next staff meeting, for instance 😉

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here.

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Sexual Assault

Project Connect: Improved Care for Sexual Assault Patients

The Tribal Forensic Healthcare project has a webinar coming up, Project Connect: Improved Care for Sexual Assault Patients. The session will be held February 5th at 11am ET. As with all offerings from this project, CEUs and CMEs are available. Register here.

From the announcement:

This webinar will discuss how to create partnerships between victims of violence and public health fields to improve health outcomes with safety and patient-centered care. Topics covered will include: Educating providers and public health professionals on assessment and intervention; Building partnerships with regional or tribal DSV programs; Evaluating progress and more!

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Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here.

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Child Abuse

Child Interviewing 2018: Update on Research and Practice

Happy New Year, all! Hope everyone had a relaxing and peaceful holiday. I really needed the downtime, but I’m ready to get back into the swing of things. The road beckons next week, so this is my week to organize and prep for the next several months of travel.

Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center is always on my short list for dependable continuing education, so it’s fitting we start the year off with one of their offerings. Child Interviewing 2018: Update on Research and Practice will be held February 22nd at 1pm CT. From the site:

[The session] will discuss the major research advances in 2017/2018 that help interviewers to do a better job when they question children, and whenever possible, provide videotaped examples of the novel procedures.

Register here.

 

Our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex is now available. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here.