299 - CANCELLED - At Our Doorstep: Silence and Violence in the Lives of Women

Session Description: It is estimated that approximately 1,000,000 people are trafficked each year globally and that between 20,000 and 50,000 are trafficked into the United States, which is one of the largest destinations for victims of the sex-trafficking trade. Every year, more than 10 million men and women in the U.S. are subjected to Domestic Violence. More than 1 in 3 women (35.6%) in the U.S. will experience rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Like the “War on Drugs”, the country’s primary efforts to combat sex trafficking and violence against women typically stem from law enforcement efforts. This presentation will consider historical lessons from the “War on Drugs” and why this approach cannot work to resolve the current crisis at our door step. It will also call on providers of behavioral healthcare to utilize their existing resources and their considerable voice on matters of violence to advocate for systemic change. After this presentation, attendee's will be able to: delineate the separation between restorative and criminal justice and explain how an intersection of these efforts can create change; identify and mitigate the stigma places on women who have been victimized and how gender inequality perpetuates cycles of substance abuse intergenerationally for women; and integrate "real world" strategies for reducing violence against women in their practice of counseling, advocacy, and/or medicine through their work with all gender.