Women’s Voices. Women Vote created the Voter Participation Center to register and motivate unmarried women, and other underrepresented groups to participate in the democratic process. Since its inception in 2004, the organization — known for innovative registration and turnout programs — has registered more than one million voters.

http://www.voterparticipation.org/

Domestic Violence and Girls - What Should You Teach Your Daughter?

Teach her to watch for red flags. Knowledge is power. Teach your daughter to watch for these warning signs of domestic violence: Controlling behavior: Domestic violence doesn’t usually start with physical violence. Typically, the abuser will begin to find ways to manipulate or control a victim: isolating her from her friends and family, controlling what she wears, stipulating where she goes and who she talks to. This is a major red flag that indicates the potential for domestic violence. Emotional abuse: Physical violence is often just around the corner when a partner begins degrading a person, calling her names, treating her disrespectfully, and harshly criticizing her. A violent temper. Someone who easily flies off the handle and uses violence to deal with his problems can easily choose to display that same violence in a relationship. This especially applies if he is already demonstrating violence and disrespect towards his family and friends. The cycle of violence. There’s a pattern—the cycle of violence—that regularly appears in abusive relationships. It begins with “the escalating phase” (typified by anger, arguing, blaming, controlling); then moves to “the violent phase” (where the victim is physically attacked); then to “the making-up phase” (where the abuser cries, begs for forgiveness, vows to change, etc); then it starts all over once the victim takes the abuser back. Help your daughter understand the danger in allowing herself to be treated badly the first time, so she won’t become trapped in the cycle of violence. http://www.justmommies.com/tweens-and-teens/dating-talking-about-sex/domestic-violence-and-girls-what-should-you-teach-your-dau

How to Assist Immigrants Who are Victims of Domestic Violence

http://www.vaw.umn.edu/documents/immigrantdvleguide/immigrantdvleguide.pdf

Social networking sites fuelling stalking, report warns Smartphones and social networking sites are making it much easier for stalkers to target victims, say charities

New forms of digital technology and social networking sites such as Facebook are increasingly putting people at risk of stalking, according to a report published on Wednesday. The study, from Women's Aid and the Network for Surviving Stalking, warns that mobile phones, particularly smartphones, are increasingly being targeted. Spyware could be installed on the phone in "less than five minutes", allowing a stalker to listen remotely to the phone's surroundings, intercept calls, track text messages and the location of a device if it has GPS hardware. Computer spyware could be installed remotely, via an email attachment, and then remain hidden on the computer, warned the report. "It's cheap, easy to use and very powerful," it said. Other methods of tracking can be more simple. One woman detailed in the report failed to change her eBay password after separating from an abusive partner. He tracked her use of the site online and when she bought something he contacted the seller claiming the item had not arrived and asking the seller to verify the address. Armed with his ex-partner's new address, he found her and targeted her in an attack that left her blind in one eye. "Online stalking is definitely happening more often because there is such an array of powerful tools at stalkers' disposal making it easier to do," said Jennifer Perry, author of Digital Stalking: A Guide to Technology Risks for Victims. Technology firms and social networking sites needed to do "much more" to protect potential victims, she added. "Software companies are absolutely not doing enough to mitigate this risk. The only way we will change things is by making the public aware of the dangers." Alexis Bowater, chief executive of the Network for Surviving Stalking, who was followed online for four years before her stalker was jailed, said the rapid rise of mobile phone and internet use meant cyberstalking was on the increase. "It is an old crime in a new, technological world," she said. "The internet gives stalkers a new weapon in their armoury, a new way to find people, to follow them, to research them, sometimes to be them." The extent of internet users' "digital footprint" – their use of social networks, work websites, forums and directories, could all leave clues that could enable a stalker to track their victim. Social networks are particularly risky, according to the report. "You can never make social networks 'safe' for victims to use, you can only make them 'safer'," it said. "Their commercial success depends upon encouraging users to exchange information with the widest network possible, which compromises the privacy and security of their users. Indeed, you could argue that it is in their interest not to encourage good privacy practices." Perry, an internet safety expert and consumer advocate, said the advice Facebook provided to victims of domestic violence was "wholly inadequate and was putting victims at risk". She called on the site to change their abuse and help pages and provide a privacy setting specifically for vulnerable people. "The problem is social networking sites like Facebook make money the more data people expose. For the majority of people that does not put them at risk, but in the case of domestic violence or stalking victims it can be very dangerous." She added that new features, such as a location button that let users inform their friends on Facebook of their exact whereabouts, were often presented entirely positively, with not enough emphasis given to the risks involved. A spokeswoman for Facebook said choosing to share a location was always "entirely optional" and that privacy setting enabled users to share what they wanted and block unwanted attention. Users could report abuse via links on the site or through the contact forms in its help centre. She added that the site had "systems to prioritise" the most serious reports and acted on most within 24 hours. "The safety of our users is our top priority. Facebook works with a diverse set of experts and organisations devoted to online safety in order to bring the best safety resources, including the National Network to End Domestic Violence, who also sit on our safety advisory board," she said.Perry said she advised stalking victims to assume their computer had been infected. "It is safer to assume that everything you do or say online, all your emails, contacts photos and instant messages as well as passwords and contacts can be seen," she said. Stalkers could use this information to lock victims out of their accounts, buy goods or transfer money, go online and pretend to be the victim, add or delete files and block websites so victims were unable to access support sites. Bowater called for more awareness of the dangers of new technology. "We are calling for better police training on all types of stalking and particularly digital stalking. We are asking the internet industry to engage with us to make their customers' lives safer," she said. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/01/social-media-smartphones-stalking

Domestic Violence And Financial Dependency

It's clear that many people don't understand why women who have left abusive relationships often return. Many people place blame on the victim for returning by suggesting that the victim even likes or thrives on the abuse. The attitude is: If they didn't like being abused they would leave and not return, right? But the reasons why women return to abusive relationships are extremely complex and have less to do with the content of the woman's character and more to do with the effects of abuse. It's widely known that an abused woman may leave her abuser seven to eight times before she leaves permanently. Former Wall Street Executive Speaks On Surviving Domestic Violence Article Controls Eighty-five percent of women who leave an abusive relationship return. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a significant proportion of women who return to the relationship attribute their inability to deal with their finances as a major contributing factor, which is often enhanced by the fact that the abuser often has all of the economic and social standing and complete control over the family finances. These women's options are further limited by the fact that many who leave often face one or more additional barriers including having at least one dependent child, not being employed outside of the home, possessing no property that is solely theirs, and lacking access to cash or bank and credit accounts. For these reasons it is very likely that many of these women would experience a decline in living standards and security of life for themselves and their children if they were to leave their partner. As a result of all of these combined factors, many survivors of domestic violence who summon the courage to leave the abusive relationship eventually return for financial reasons. In most cases women arrive at shelters with few more resources other than the clothes they are wearing. Some are burdened with debt--in many cases their partners. Still others tumble into debt after they have left the abusive relationship because they overspend on impulse or budget poorly. Very few of them are yet to have addressed the emotional and psychological issues that have dictated their poor financial choices. Rarely is a battered woman accustomed to managing her own money.

How to Change (Modify) a Child Support Order

The following are reasons that allow you to change your child support. If any of these apply to you, contact your local child support office to ask for a modification of your order. To add or remove a child from the order To extend the time support needs to be paid (Example: Your child is still in high school) To include or remove medical support from the order http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/childsupport/modification.html

SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN FLORIDA Victims need support and deserve justice. Sexual violence is never the victim's fault. It's normal to experience many reactions to sexual violence that impact your life.