Domestic Violence Conference Explores Integrated Prosecution and Global Campaigns

Domestic Violence Conference Explores Integrated Prosecution and Global Campaigns

dv-conference-photo-950x365DA Thompson and Domestic Violence Bureau Chief Michelle Kaminsky address the Domestic Violence Conference

Marking the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office on October 1st hosted a Domestic Violence Conference titled Addressing Violence Against Women – Collaborative Approaches in the 21st Century. Presenters discussed methods of prosecuting these difficult cases, which often involve victims who remain emotionally attached to their abusers or bound by family, finances and other factors.

About 250 people, including assistant district attorneys, law students and victim advocates, were in attendance to hear from a variety of speakers. Those included District Attorney Ken Thompson, Domestic Violence Bureau Chief Michelle Kaminsky, Greg Schultz, senior advisor for Vice President Biden’s office and co-architect of the Man Up campaign and Rachel Tulchin from the Clinton Foundation’s No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project.

The conference included explanation of the Integrated Domestic Violence Court part, where one judge makes decisions for impacted families on a variety of issues, thereby sparing victims additional trips to Family and Civil Courts. There were also presentations on national and global campaigns to end violence against women.

“We need a cultural change in how we see gender norms, gender roles, [the idea that] women are supposed to be submissive, men are supposed to be masculine,” Kaminsky said, encapsulating one of the themes of the day.

She said her bureau handles some 10,000 domestic violence cases a year, with an emphasis on seeing that victim survivors are safe and defendants are held accountable.

Attendees left this important conference with a fuller understanding of the challenges in this field and approaches to overcoming them as well as a broader perspective of the cultural and societal issues that are interwoven into domestic violence prosecutions.

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KCDA Domestic Violence Conference 2015