Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Is dillution the solution? Proposed name changes make no mention of sexual or domestic violence.
The Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force of Pasco County tentatively voted in late May to drop "domestic and sexual violence" from its common-use name and expand its services in East Pasco. While the new name is "Family and Community Enhancement Task Force of East Pasco," the goup is still operating as the only countywide domestic and sexual violence task force. In addition, West Pasco's Domestic Violence Task force is not included in these changes at all and is a separate operation. Why change the name? It's a different name for “marketing purposes” while the grant money still rolls in under the official legal name, according to the explanation provided by Sunrise of Pasco. That means for bylaws and grants, it's legal name remains as "…
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Find out how men can help fight sexual assult
It certainly takes a few good men to end sexual violence. Fortunately, the good guys are running ahead and fighting on the frontlines. At least 257 men took the Men’s Pledge at the Take Back the Night event to raise awareness and stop sexual assault April 16 in Tampa, according to preliminary numbers from Marilyn Bray, outreach and empowerment coordinator for Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. Total attendance of men and women at this year’s Take Back the Night was estimated at 750. Take Back the Night, originally known as “Reclaim the Night,” is an international march, rally, protest and call to take action against rape and other forms of sexual violence. It started in Europe and has been around for more than thirty years, since a Tribunal on …
Saturday, April 9, 2011
No means no! That means stop rape! Welcome to Sexual Assault Awareness Month throughout the USA. Join Pasco County survivors and advocates to help stop sexual violence at Take Back the Night and let our voices be heard!
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. It's time to speak out against rape and other forms of forced sex. To give you some perspective on the problem of sexual assault, here are just a few startling facts provided by Terri O’Brien, executive director of Sunrise of Pasco County and co-chairperson of the Pasco Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force: "No!" means "No!" No consent means it is rape! If you are incapacitated and cannot consent, it is rape. We need to pull together as a community and stop this. Here's what's horrifying: If we start counting the minutes that pass while reading this article, how many will have been sexually assaulted by the time you get to the end? How many mothers, sisters, daughters, cousins, nieces, …
Saturday, March 12, 2011
To end abuse, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Pasco Sheriff Office have staggering information about the prevalance of domestic violence in Florida and Pasco County
I recently wrote an e-mail to Lynn Needs, director of the Salvation Army's West Pasco Domestic Violence program, asking how serious a problem domestic violence is in our county. The answer was alarming. “Homicides related to domestic violence doubled from three to six” in Pasco County in 2009, she wrote back, citing numbers from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. In Florida, domestic violence results in one out of every five murders, according to information from Needs. Get help with safety planning to leave abusive situations so you don't become a statistic. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement Uniform Crime Report for 2009 had more grim news, as reported by the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence: The state had a 15.6 …
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Pasco Sheriff's deputies are on the front lines in it assisting those breaking free from domestic violence
“We arrest them. We don’t issue citations.” That's the answer Kevin Doll, spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, gave when asked how deputies respond if someone violates a domestic violence injunction. Consider that information to be a knock at your door and a wake up call if you are thinking about crossing that line: violating a civil domestic violence injunction can land you in jail in this county. A civil domestic violence injunction is issued in civil court and is different from a criminal one because it does not require a criminal prosecution in order for it to exist to protect you. Although the injunction is civil, violation of it is not a civil matter. It is important to know that violation of a civil domestic violence …
Joe Sprowls
1:27 am on Wednesday, June 15, 2011
You wrote a great article more ›