How High School Coaches Can Help Stop Sexual Violence

http://www.vox.com/2014/9/23/6831641/domestic-violence-sexual-assault-nfl-violence-against-women

In an recent Vox article, Libby Nelson highlights the work of a high school basketball coach in Juneau, Alaska. Alaska has the highest rates of any state for violence against women so John Blasco took education and prevention into his own hands. He has weekly conversations with his team domestic violence, respect, aggression, how to treat women, and sexual violence. 

I think that while, all young boys and girls need to have these conversations, athletes is good place to start. It is important to discuss with teams who are encouraged to be aggressive, that this behavior is not appropriate off the field. Currently, with so much focus on the NFL, it is especially important to reach out to young boys who may be confused about the actions of those they look up to. 

Blasco's conversations are inspired through a program called Coaching Boys into Men that was started by Futures without violence. The program has proven to be successful in reaching out to young boys through their coaches; however, my concern lies with the fact that their conversations end when the season ends. Because violence against women is embedded in our society's culture, in order to combat that, I think we need to have programs such as this happening year round for teams and starting in middle school. 


Nelson, Libby. "How High School Coaches Can Help Stop Sexual Violence." Vox. 13 Sept. 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.vox.com/2014/9/23/6831641/domestic-violence-sexual-assault-nfl-violence-against-women>.

Why are we here?

The the arena of domestic violence (DV) work, we most often hear of our resources being allotted to DV survivors and their children.  Survivors are empowered to be independent, be in control of their safety, and provide their children with physically and emotionally safe situations.  Children receive counseling to process the violence they witnessed and the terrifying fact that someone you love could treat another person you love with such disrespect for safety.  This blog is NOT intended to negate the extremely important and vital work being done with survivors and children, but it is intended to challenge our thoughts around intervening in the cycle of violence. 

If you were asked to pick a charity to donate to, are were given the following two options, which would you choose?

1. Counseling services for *women  that have endured violence at the hands of their intimate partner. 
2. Services provided to *men who batter and abuse their intimate partners.  

If you are like more of our population, you likely chose number 1.  Helping victims/survivors of DV again, is very important.  With each person you help in this respect, you are helping them heal from a painful past, hopefully increasing their ability to recognize battering tactics, and reducing the amount of violent relationships she, and possibly her children, are part of in the future.  When we intervene with men, we have the ability to not only help someone heal from a likely painful past, but potentially ending their pattern of battering, which could impact every intimate partner they have hereon out, which prevents future women falling prey to DV. 

The life of this blog will aim to not only challenge our thinking toward perpetrator work, but also away from the currently heavy emphasis of "reaction" and toward a place of "prevention."  How can we implement this material in our schools?  How can we prevent our youth from not only being victim to violence in relationships, but perpetrating violence in relationships?  Join us as we uncover these questions...


*Throughout this blog you will hear us often refer to victims/survivors of domestic violence as women, and perpetrators of domestic violence as men.  While these are the typical statistics that we see, we are not ignorant or ignoring the real fact that women also are capable of using battering tactics against men, and DV can exist within the LGBTQ community.