VAWnet Event Calendar

Our annual National Training Institute is held simultaneously with our National Crime Victim Bar Association annual conference. Improve your response to victims of crime through promising practices, current research, and effective programs and policies. Our multidisciplinary institute offers more than 80 victim-centered, practice-based, research-informed trainings to sharpen your skills, connect with peers, and reach across professions, including:

Trauma doesn't fit into one box–and neither does this Summit. With 6 tracks in person and 5 tracks for virtual attendees spanning trauma across the lifespan, you'll get a broader and deeper understanding of the issues that matter most. Follow one track from start to finish, or mix and match sessions to fit your interests–either way, you'll leave with new insights you can put into practice.

The CCAW Summit: Beyond the Bounds serves as an extension of the Conference on Crimes Against Women to highlight the specific gender-based challenges that are unique to coastal cities, rural towns, and resort communities. Victims and survivors of these areas are confronted with geographic isolation and transportation issues as well as a lack of anonymity and limited access to resources and services.

This advanced workshop delves deeper into the strategies for sustaining compassion and preventing burnout in victim services professionals. Participants will explore in-depth techniques for emotional resilience, learn about organizational practices that support compassion renewal, and engage in self-reflective exercises to identify personal strengths and areas for growth. This session aims to equip attendees with a robust toolkit for maintaining their compassion over the long term, ensuring they can continue to provide empathetic and effective support to clients.

Grief is a universal human experience, and no two people grieve in the same way. It cannot be rushed, fixed, or “talked away,” but there are meaningful, trauma-informed ways we can support those who are experiencing loss. This session explores best practices for showing up with compassion, creating emotional safety, and walking alongside clients through significant loss while honoring their pace, story, and resilience. The Grief M.E.N.T.O.R. Method is a trauma-informed, relationship-centered approach for supporting individuals through loss without trying to fix or rush their healing.

Suicide and domestic violence are often treated as separate issues, yet they frequently intersect, shaped by trauma, power, and systemic response. This training examines how domestic violence can elevate suicide risk for survivors and how institutional responses may either mitigate or intensify harm. Participants will explore survivor experiences, system-level challenges, and the importance of coordinated, trauma-informed responses. The workshop will highlight strategies for recognizing risk, responding ethically, and supporting survivors without reinforcing control or blame.