PreventConnect

What does it mean to Embrace Intersectionality in the movement to end sexual and intimate partner violence, while eliminating all forms of oppression to create safe and equitable communities?

How do we center equity in all of our practices, from on the ground work and conversations to strategic planning to data and evaluation and everything in between?

It’s a question organizers are centering in the 2022 National Sexual Assault Conference, centered around virtual community to advance health equity.

We sat with prevention track organizers of the three day virtual even, to learn about what they have in store for attendee and got a sneak peak at some of the workshops they have in store.

This is PreventConnect, the podcast where we bring together voices across the movement to end sexual violence, to give you the tools you need to effectively practice primary prevention in your daily life, and at work.

This is part one in a two-part series previewing NSAC.

For more information and a link to register for NSAC, head to:

http://www.nationalsexualassaultconference.org/

Human rights and public health issues are impacting our communities from every angle. They’re impacting the way we work, the way we feel, the way we treat each other and the way we move through the world. 

As Audre Lorde said decades ago, “There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”

As violence prevention practitioners, we need to be listening. We can’t prevent sexual violence in a vacuum and expect anything to change. 

The CDC is clear that health equity is the way forward, that we must acknowledge and work to address differences in socially determined circumstances to improve whole person health. For those of us trying to do this work - equity is a big word. 

There is no formula for health equity, no standardized curricula, no checkboxes. But there are powerful resources and examples in the field that we can look to for inspiration and guidance. 

For this episode of PreventConnect, we combed through hours of web conferences and resource to find excerpts and examples of health equity in the field and hopefully tell a story on how to translate an academic term into real life practices and make a difference in the communities we serve.

How do we show up for our communities in the midst of collective trauma?

In a time when our country grieves more than 214 mass shootings so far this year… including a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 21 people, including 19 children, our communities need us. But how do we show up when we ourselves are hurting? When we struggle to pull ourselves out of bed and do the work, hoping that it reaches someone, maybe just anyone.

The conversation you are about to listen to is an excerpt from a conversation with The New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence, the Department of Women and Families and community organizers in South Jersey, about their partnership to engage communities, and men of color, in meaningful and authentic ways to prevent violence.

Parts of this conversation mention gun violence and could be triggering for some listeners. References to gun violence run from 32:49 – 36.27. There will be a content disclaimer before they begin.

Links for more information related to this podcasts, and resources mentioned, can be found at preventconnect.org/2022/05/finding-the-why-community-engagement-authenticity-in-practice/

PreventConnect sat down with two youth leaders in California, Zoe Meyer and Kaile Fernandes, to talk about how prevention practitioners can redesign our virtual and physical spaces, systems and policies to make room for and honor youth voices. This conversation highlights power dynamics, covert elitism, opportunities for prevention practitioners and the transformative impacts of transformative leadership.

PreventConnect staff Ashleigh Klein-Jimenez and Janae Sargent sat down Laura Palumbo and Mo Lewis, from the National Sexual Assault Resource Center, to talk about the 2022 National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Campaign, Building Safe Online Spaces Together. The conversation highlights how white supremacy shows up in online spaces, what’s missing in the mainstream conversation about online safety and what Preventionists and Practitioners can do to live their values online.

This Podcast is a preview of the 2022 Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Campaign. For links to all resources and links mentioned, visit PreventConnect.org.

PreventConnect staff Ashleigh Klein-Jimenez and Tori VandeLinde explore fundamentals of sexual and intimate partner violence prevention, through the Roots of Violence Tree Metaphor.

Ashleigh Klein-Jimenez explores fundamentals of sexual and intimate partner violence prevention, through the Moving Upstream metaphor.

This podcast is an excerpt from PreventConnect’s November 2021 web conference “Trauma-Informed Principles Are for Everyone: Supporting and Sustaining Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Practitioners.” Part 2 of this podcast is also available.

As 2021 comes to a close, PreventConnect staff reflect on the challenges and opportunities that sexual and intimate partner violence preventionists faced in the past year. This podcast picks up on PreventConnect's most recent podcast with David S. Lee and Ashleigh Klein-Jimenez, “Reflections from 2021." On this podcast, David and Ashleigh share what they’ve witnessed in the past year that has been a source of inspiration and hope for sexual and intimate partner violence prevention. They also share their visions for sexual and intimate partner violence prevention in 2022.