VAWnet News Blog

On a daily basis, advocates are exposed to trauma through the stories of the survivors that we work with – whether the stories are heard in person, in writing, over the phone or through social media. Constant exposure to any type of trauma can take a toll on an advocate’s well-being. As advocates, we carry these stories in our hearts and usually do not realize that we are also carrying the effects of compassion fatigue.

The Supreme Court ruled June 27 that the federal government can ban abusers from possessing guns. The 6-2 ruling in Voisine v. U.S. upholds a federal law that prohibits any person convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” from owning a firearm.

The NFL on Tuesday will announce $10 million in funding over the next five years to a coalition of non-profit organizations working to prevent sexual violence.

The Supreme Court struck down Texas’ restrictive abortion laws on June 27 in one of the most important abortion-related cases in years.

An Australian researcher has been designing an app aimed at 10- to 15-year-old boys, to help them create healthy relationships with their peers. “The National Survey of Youth Attitudes reported very disturbing findings about young men’s attitudes and behaviours,” said YSF CEO, Cath Bartolo.

In the 1980s, Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing developed a 20-question form based on risk factors for intimate-partner homicides. Her work became the model for the Domestic Violence Lethality Screen for First Responders, which was developed by the Maryland Network of Domestic Violence in 2003 for first responders such as police to use in the field.