Ironically, I am in South Carolina today, teaching at a course focusing in part on investigating and prosecuting domestic violence. I tell you this because the Charleston, SC Post and Courier has just published an expose on domestic violence in the state, Till Death Do Us Part. The series, a result of an 8-month investigation, specifically looks at how the state is failing victims (the murder rate for women in South Carolina is twice that of the nation), examining issues related to patriarchy, access to guns, religion, legislation and more. Even if you don’t live in South Carolina, it’s a worthwhile and powerful read; the online site includes videos featuring survivors and their families, timelines, and more. Take some time out for this one.
Tag: rape
I’d like to introduce a new series here on the site: Prepping for Court. The purpose is to introduce people to the articles and books that I think are solid, reliable publications that can help inform testimony. Of course I’ll start with adult sexual assault, since it’s still the most popular topic at FHO. For this first one I have broken it into different sections, because different cases will have different issues. But all of the resources listed here are ones that I think are quality, and since we don’t have the time (or will) to read everything that’s ever been published on a given subject, this should give clinicians (and attorneys) a good foundation. Disagree with any of these or think I’ve missed some? Let me know and we’ll address it.
I’m on my way to the NAC (for the 2nd of 3 trips down there in a month)–we’re kicking off the inaugural run of a fantastic (I hope) interactive testimony course for SANEs and prosecutors. Considering we started working on this about 18 months ago, it’s exciting to finally see it come to fruition. And a bit nerve-wracking, as all 1st time courses can be. I was pretty focused on prep this weekend and didn’t spend a lot of time surfing the interwebs, but there were still a few things that caught my eye since last we spoke:
VAWnet has updated their special collection on intimate partner homicide prevention. You should range around the site a bit–there’s a lot here for clinicians and for the collaborative teams in which we participate.
Today is my sweet kid’s 13th birthday, so I am officially the parent of a teenager. I have no idea how that happened. A minute ago she was a newborn and now she’s this funny, interesting, incredibly smart kid who makes me proud every day. Naturally we spent the weekend celebrating (ziplining and dim sum, anyone?) and gorging on homemade Hostess-type treats (my spouse whipped up Twinkies, Ho-Hos and Cupcakes complete with squiggly frosting). Pretty much the only thing I could do after the weekend calorie bombardment was to loll around last night and surf my social media sites. Which is what I did. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:
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#STD Surveillance
Surveillance data is extremely useful for us; the CDC guidelines are one resource for making decisions about how we treat our patients, but the actual information about what STDs are being seen in our communities, what problems may exists regarding things like antibiotic resistance, and other considerations, are also part of the calculus. For instance, if you have a high rate of syphilis in your community, you may choose to test as a part of your patient care.
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Since Last We Spoke 7-21-14
We finally cleared the last of our houseguests yesterday (that’s 10 days of people in our tiny place for those of you tracking), so we’re back to status quo. I head down to the NAC for the Army this week, but aside from that it should be relatively mellow. I was busy playing tourist in my own city this weekend, but there was still plenty of time to catch up on the news of the day. Here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:
This week’s Full-Text Friday offering addresses the issue of multiple perpetrator rapes of adolescent girls (sad commentary: I can’t combine those words in the title of this post because of the disgusting trolls that come out of the woodwork). I hear a lot of speculative testimony, and occasionally it is about expectations of injury following sexual assault by multiple assailants. There’s not a ton of research on this topic, so I am pleased to offer this article up as a way to help inform us about the clinical picture of this patient population:
The TB dye guide is one of the original guides on this site and it hasn’t been updated since I posted it first in 2009. So I’ve remedied that–hopefully you’ll find it helpful. Let me know if you think I’ve forgotten any valuable resources. I’m always happy to add them.
If you aren’t looking to your state anti-violence coalitions for continuing education, you’re missing some great opportunities. State coalitions do a lot of training, and many are putting on webinars and online courses that have relevance far beyond their state’s borders. Click through for some of the upcoming events, and feel free to add others in the comments (I’ll take those outside the US, too, please):
This weekend was all about the big promotion, with family descending upon DC and filling every corner of our tiny dollhouse of a home. But it was pretty spectacular, and now almost everyone has gone home, and life should return to normal. Normal, of course, includes travel, so I’ll head to the Air Force JAG school later in the week for a tick. Still, there was plenty of time to read, and as always, it appears sexual violence is dominating the headlines (including this massive and painfully familiar sounding article that appeared on the front page of the NY Times). Here’s what has caught my eye since last we spoke:
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Trigger Warning: Breakfast
This is such a powerful, compelling piece– everyone should read it. Thanks to all of you who sent it my way.
I am so excited to sit down with this: Delivery and Evaluation of Sexual Assault Forensic (SAFE) Training Programs (PDF). The report addresses the initial offering of the online SAFE training + 2 day clinical practicum provided by IAFN and evaluated by Debra Patterson and her team. There’s some really promising results here and it gives us some direction for rethinking how we deliver both didactic and clinical education. Definitely a worthwhile read, especially for those of you conducting SAFE training or debating ways in which to get new clinicians educated.
Here we go: vacation is behind us and a modified (but still busy) travel season resumes for our household. Happily it’s not me on the road this week, but after taking a week off, I can hardly corral my to-do list. Always a trade-off, that whole taking time off thing. Hopefully US readers enjoyed a happy and relaxing 4th–we certainly did (and it was a far more social one than I am used to). But all in all, there was plenty of downtime and a good amount of reading therein. Here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:
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Since Last We Spoke 6-30-14
Greetings from Smith Mountain Lake! It’s the perfect place for lazing about, on the deck or down at the dock, doing nothing but eating and reading. Coincidentally, that is exactly what my plan is for the week. So here’s what has caught my eye since last we spoke:
Time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly overview of what’s new and noteworthy in the peer-reviewed literature. There’s plenty to check out for June–as always, links lead to PubMed abstracts. Contact me if you’d prefer this in a Word doc.
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Since Last We Spoke 6-23-14
I’m having a tough time ramping up for my work week this morning. Could be the impending vacation (no worries, there will be [some] posts while I’m away). Could be that I was so completely productive last week I just feel like coasting a bit. Either way, the internet can be a distraction when I’m in this mindset, so I have been happily perusing all of the links I’d tucked away from the weekend. Here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:
Oh man, I do love me a good research compilation, and CALCASA delivers: the 2014 Sexual Violence Research Review is now available. Read the executive summary here; download the full report here (PDF). Super excited about this one.
And speaking of excited, come back tomorrow for the 2014 TIP Report, being released tomorrow by the State Department. It’s like nerd paradise up in here.
The Tribal Forensic Healthcare project is hosting a new webinar, Straddle Injury vs. Sexual Abuse: Managing Traumatic Genital Injury in Children. The session will be held July 22nd from 3-4:30 pm ET. Jennifer Pierce-Weeks will be the featured speaker. 1.5 CEUs are available for nurses. Click through for details:
Did you have a fantastic weekend? We did for sure–a glorious, not-too-hot one in the DC metro area. And along with that, the awesome news that my spouse was promoted to Major, which meant some small celebrations around here (in anticipation of the big one that will come with the official ceremony next month). Still there was some down time, which almost always means being plugged in somewhere. So here’s what I’ve been checking out since last we spoke: