Women's Human Rights Speaker Series: Domestic Violence in the U.S. Military
2/12/2008 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association and
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights present
Women’s Human Rights Speaker Series
Domestic Violence in the U.S. Military: Who Commits It, What the Victims Experience, and How the Military Responds
Loretta Frederick and Connie Sponsler
Battered Women’s Justice Project
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Briggs and Morgan, Minnesota Room
2200 IDS Center, 80 S. 8th St., Minneapolis
Application will be made for one CLE credit.
The U.S. military, consisting primarily of young men, is faced with the issue of domestic violence in different forms than in other cultures and communities. Complicating the situation are deployments, a high degree of mobility of the population, the usual stresses on relationships, and the mission of the military: warmaking. There are also unique challenges for the victims of violence committed by service members. This seminar will explore these issues and describe the intervention model employed by the branches of the U.S. military. The presenters will also review the dramatic changes in Department of Defense policy over the past three years, resulting in a major paradigm shift that provides, for the first time, confidentiality for victims in some circumstances.
Loretta M. Frederick is Senior Legal and Policy Advisor of the Battered Women’s Justice Project, a national resource center on domestic violence criminal and civil legal issues. Since 1978 she has done training and consultation on domestic violence legal issues with judges, advocates, attorneys, prosecutors and law enforcement officers in the U.S and internationally. Loretta serves as faculty for the National Judicial Institutes on Domestic Violence and was a consultant for the US Marine Corps on the development of its Coordinated Community Response to domestic violence. Her work with the Minnesota State Bar Association has included her current role as Chair of the Domestic Abuse Committee as well as a past term as Chair of the Family Law Section.
Connie Sponsler is the Training and Technical Assistance Manager for the Battered Women’s Justice Project. She is also responsible for managing several cooperative Department of Defense/Department of Justice projects. She served for three years on the DoD Task Force on Domestic Violence. From 1995-1998, Ms. Sponsler was the East Coast Site Coordinator for the United States Marine Corps - Coordinated Community Response Project. She lived in both North Carolina and Virginia and worked extensively with Marine Corps installations on the implementation of their response to domestic violence. This work included training, policy development, and program assessment for family advocacy staff, Case Review members, Commands, military and civilian police, military and civilian advocates, hospital personnel and community intervention. Ms. Sponsler has been an advocate for adult and youth victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault for 25 years.
Free and open to the public (registration required). Please RSVP to Tina at shouareau@briggs.com or
612-977-8126 by Friday, February 8th. Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP.
This is one in a series of lunchtime speakers dedicated to improving awareness of women’s human rights issues. Please join us the second Tuesday of alternating months for additional presentations. For more information, contact Mary Hunt at The Advocates for Human Rights, mhunt@mnadvocates.org or 612-341-3302, ext. 107, or see our website at www.mnadvocates.org.
| 
