Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • How K9s are helping law enforcement track child predators

    Specially trained dogs help law enforcement catch child sexual abuse predators. The dogs can sniff out electronic storage devices like cell phones, USB drives and SD cards, where child sexual abuse material is often stored. The dogs use their keen sense of smell to find devices, which they indicate by pawing at it or putting their nose up against the object. The dogs also provide emotional comfort to the victims, and their trainers, as well as serve as good public relations messengers raising awareness about child sexual exploitation.

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  • Hello? This Is Colombia's Antimachismo Hotline.

    Bogotá’s city government started the Calm Line to give men a way to connect by telephone with psychologists trained in therapeutic responses to the machismo that leads to gender-based violence. Despite doubts that Colombian men would use the service, the line fields about a dozen calls a day. "Fear, shame and confusion pervade many of the conversations," but also can lead to breakthroughs in understanding the attitudes that oppress women. That understanding is the first step toward cultural change, the Calm Line's supporters believe.

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  • ‘Every man was drinking': how much do bans on alcohol help women in India?

    The Bihar, India, state government banned drinking and selling alcohol in 2016 after women in the mostly rural state mounted protests blaming men's alcohol abuse for rampant violence against women. Hundreds of thousands of arrests, carrying severe penalties, resulted from the ban. Previous bans in Bihar and other states failed because of unpopularity and loopholes. This one has some evidence to suggest a 15% decline in drinking, but only a 4% decline in violence, while bootlegging and other crimes have increased. The prohibition protests have spread to other states.

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  • Sexually Abused Women Are Running To This 'Secret Safe House' For Healing

    In Nigeria's Oyo state, survivors of sexual abuse and gender-based violence can find emergency shelter and a host of services at Women Safe House. The stigmas attached to these crimes and the government's failure to enforce the relevant laws leave women and girls with emotional challenges that can be addressed through counseling and support groups. The safe house supplements its limited bed space with a network of volunteers willing to house survivors. The safe house's services include low-interest loans to help women achieve independence by starting their own small businesses.

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  • The Unlikely Story of a Sex Trafficking Survivor and the Instagram Account That Saved Her Life

    One woman's use of an Instagram account in her personal journey from sex-trafficking victim to sociology researcher enabled new sources of research, teaching, and victim aid. Megan Lundstrom's community of fellow sex workers formed through Instagram became the source for qualitative research into the experiences of sex workers, without being filtered by authorities. That led to the first peer-reviewed journal article of its kind, a new university program in sex trafficking, and the creation of a nonprofit, The Avery Center, aiding victims and collecting data on the industry.

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  • "I Wouldn't Take No For An Answer"

    Married off to an abusive older man at age 9, Akkatai Teli could not read or write. But she recognized how the rural India justice system neglected women like her in a misogynistic society with high rates of domestic violence, creaky legal machinery, and social pressure to cover up abuse and stay in awful marriages. Teli built a sisterhood movement throughout 50 villages that has helped more than 1,000 women fight for their rights by agitating for attention from police and courts.

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  • Philly teen starts a motor rally to help end sexual violence

    The Main Line Motor Rally provides events for car enthusiasts, who drive through Philadelphia suburbs and rural areas, as a way to raise money for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the country’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. The event specifically aims to educate men on issues like consent, as well as the ways that they are impacted by violence against women and girls.

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  • Can ‘Bad Men' Ever Change?

    Among the many restorative justice programs in the U.S., the Domestic Violence Safe Dialogue program was one of the few to arrange face-to-face dialogue between survivors and men who had violently abused women. This form of surrogate dialogue – the pairings are between strangers – helps two people who want to change but can't do it alone. After extensive preparation and led by a facilitator, the meeting gives survivors a way to hear they were not to blame for the harm done to them, and for the men to admit responsibility and help someone else in ways that traditional punitive justice often cannot.

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  • In Egypt, online group Qawem saving hundreds of women from sextortion

    The Egyptian Facebook group Qawem (Arabic for resist) helps victims of sextortion by turning threats around to target the attacker. Sextortion, in which threatened disclosure of a person's nude or other embarrassing photos are used as a tool of extortion, is illegal in Egypt. But women – the typical victims – are often reluctant to report incidents to the police, out of shame or fear. When victims report sextortion attempts to Qawem, volunteers counsel the victims while other volunteers track down the extortionists and threaten to expose them to their family or friends. About 200 cases per week get resolved.

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  • Western's sexual assault prevention program is up for renewal — does the online training do more harm than good?

    Research shows that online training isn’t successful at changing attitudes or beliefs on sexual assault. This article takes an in-depth look at EverFi, an online sexual assault module that students at Western Washington University are required to take. The program is used at 1,300 other institutions. Researchers recommend programs that target specific individuals. Other methods that have been successful include implementing activities like group discussions, lectures, and policy changes. The programs should also take a long time to complete, for example, a semester-long training versus the few minutes,

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