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NEWSLETTER / April 19, 2010

In this issue of the PreventConnect Newsletter, we are pleased to share the following stories:

Uniting Asian communities in Iowa
Examining the college hook up culture
Building healthy teen, vampire, and werewolf relationships
Supporting the prevention of teen dating violence through media

Mira Yusef

Uniting Asian communities in Iowa

(20 min) Monsoon-United Asian Women of Iowa (MUAWI) is a non-profit committed to helping families of Asian descent in Iowa. The organization’s long-term mission is to eliminate domestic violence and sexual assault by promoting the social, economic, and political self-determination of all women.

In this interview, Executive Director Mira Yusef discusses the foundation and ongoing work of MUAWI. She describes their innovative work that bridges intergenerational perspectives about gender and violence, and empowers Asian youth to frame their experiences with violence in their own terms. The work of MAUWI generates culturally-appropriate prevention messages, and fosters critical community conversations about rape and domestic violence.

Denice Ann Evans

Examining the college hook up culture

(18 min) Spitting Game: The College Hook Up Culture is a documentary where “…students, experts, and parents speak openly about alcohol, drugs, sexual assault, and the state of relationships on college campuses. It is a candid and, ultimately scandalous, expose on the reasons, risks, and realities students face within the college hook up culture.”

In this interview Denice Ann Evans, the documentary’s writer and director, discusses the “hook up culture” on high school and college campuses. She talks about making Spitting Game, how the film explores the hook up culture, and how violence prevention educators can use the film to foster conversations about sex, consent, and hooking up.

Building healthy teen, vampire, and werewolf relationships

(13 min) Start Strong Idaho: Building Healthy Teen Relationships is an initiative in southwest Idaho to promote healthy teen relationships and prevent teen dating violence by helping 11- to 14-year-olds develop relationship knowledge and skills. It is part of the Start Strong Initiative, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collaboration with the Family Violence Prevention Fund.

In this interview, Kelly Miller from the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence and Laura Hampikian, a teen advisor for Start Strong Idaho, talk about a teen dating violence survey they gave to teens waiting to see the film New Moon on it's premier night in Boise, Idaho. By spreading a message about Team Respect, the film gave them an opportunity to talk to teen audiences about the difference between healthy relationships and what they were about to see on the movie screen. Click here for the survey and related press releases.

Christy Chung

Supporting the prevention of teen dating violence through media

(12 min) The Respect for All Project (RFAP) is a program of GroundSpark, a nonprofit film production company founded in 1978 that creates and distributes documentary films on issues of social and economic justice. This project is one of the models used for the California Department of Public Health’s Teen Dating Violence Primary Prevention Project.

In this interview Christy Chung, Community Programs Manager at GroundSpark, talks about her work in helping under served school communities take steps to build more safe and inclusive learning environments. RFAP engages these communities through films, workshops, community actions, and curriculum guides that are available on the GroundSpring website.

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PreventConnect is a national project of the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA) and is sponsored by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The views and information provided in our activities do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Government, the CDC or CALCASA.