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For some Boulder County residents, potentially drastic health and economic consequences may be the least alarming aspects of the extraordinary measures in place to fight the global spread of a novel coronavirus.

As many schoolchildren and workers could be cooped up at home possibly for weeks amid widespread building closures, some may feel trapped beside housemates they fear or who have a history of abuse.

Without schools or workplaces to provide reprieve from living situations that are dangerous, or rocky relationships with a parent or family member, local human service organizations are urging the public to think of the current orders for social distancing more as physical distancing, rather than social isolation, as human connections are crucial to maintain to protect vulnerable members of the community and preserve personal mental health.

Read the complete interview here.

I began working with clients who experienced sexual violence and also began training on the topic. I served as a project trainer for the Ending Violence Against Women Project in Colorado where we trained multidisciplinary teams on sexual assault response all over the state. Later I joined the National Judicial Education Program where we trained judges on understanding sexual violence issues in the courtroom without undermining defendant’s rights. In 1999, I became the Director of Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA) – the third oldest rape crisis center in the country. I have been working here since – entering my 21st year.

Read the complete interview here.

PartyFavor is a hybrid voice recorder, location sensor and alert system. Users can create voice recordings of their nights out, and when the app hears unique code words, it sends alerts and a location to the user’s emergency contacts.

McIntosh reached out to sophomore Max Young to design the app, which they launched in October.

“It’s a really big issue on every college campus,” Young said. “So far everyone has been on board to help us try to stop this.”

The app is geared toward women, McIntosh said, though it can be helpful for anyone.

“Men can feel in danger too,” he said. “Men can feel threatened, and sometimes people forget that.”

Lindsey Breslin, hotline supervisor for Lafayette-based advocacy group Moving to End Sexual Assault, said though reducing risk is good, the app may give people a false sense of security.

“While it’s well-intentioned in wanting to reduce risk, there are a lot of other dynamics with sexual assault. I don’t want people to think they’re safe because their app is on,” Breslin said.

Read the complete interview here.

Today’s guest is Dr. Janine Anniballe, Director of Trauma Services at Mental Health Partners, Lafayette, who has been working with the Boulder Valley School District after some students were accused of several sexual assaults.

Boulder’s Fairview High School is taking lead on BVSD response to recent sexual assault charges in both Fairview and Boulder high school. On today’s show we will be Looking at this issue and the steps Fairview high school is taking.  What  are the continued responsibilities of the  community, families, and  schools?  How do we  implement the deconstruction of the misconceptions we hold about rape and  rape culture, including our inherent concepts of privilege and entitlement?

Listen to the complete interview here.

Boulder’s Fairview High School is taking the lead in the district’s response, with Principal Don Stensrud saying the school is acting as a “testing ground” to try strategies and develop knowledge that will be used by the district’s other high schools.

Fairview’s work with MESA includes the presentation to parents, training for staff members, talking to students and helping the school incorporate information about sexual violence prevention in classes outside of health.

“This is a societal issue and it will take everyone in our community, including schools, government and houses of faith working together,” Stensrud said in a written statement. “It is truly going to take a village to make our community safer.”

D’Anniballe praised Fairview for calling MESA and asking for the organization’s help, noting sexual violence is a community wide problem that’s not limited to Fairview.

Read the complete interview here.

Many of the ‘formal’ education courses aren’t as comprehensive as they could be and tend to withhold information. Withholding information does not prevent teenagers from having sexual relationships. A lack of comprehensive sexual health education has also been correlated with the epidemic of sexual violence that plagues the U.S. (and the world). By not receiving a well-rounded, all encompassing education, many people will leave high school without the tools necessary to protect themselves and others, often times resulting in an inability to navigate tricky social environments where sexual encounters are common and likely.

Read the complete interview here.

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, community based sexual assault and rape crisis programs across Colorado are struggling to meet the needs of survivors.

Erinn Robinson, press secretary for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, said the social movement has opened the floodgates to survivors coming forward, and sexual assault service providers are grappling with the influx.

“We’re humbled and honored to be (helping survivors), but I think the conversation that we’re having culturally and as a society is also putting an additional demand on sexual assault service providers,” she said.

The state has experienced a steady rise in reported non consensual sex crimes for the last five years, and Colorado now has the fifth highest rate in the country. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation reported a 28% increase in reported cases from 5,442 in 2013 to 6,975 cases in 2018.

Read the complete interview here.

We are bombarded daily with news stories that negatively impact our mind, bodies, and souls with secondary trauma. Miriam Schiff interviews Dr. Janine D’Anniballe,  Director of Trauma Services and Moving to End Sexual Assault at Mental Health Partners, about learning what secondary trauma is, how it feels, and how to build our own resiliency.

Listen to the complete interview here.

Lafayette-based Moving to End Sexual Assault, a program of nonprofit Mental Health Partners, announced Friday it received a $33,299 grant to support survivors from traditionally underserved populations.

The one-year grant is out of the office of the federal Victims of Crime Act that seeks to help victims through means other than punishing criminals.

Moving to End Sexual Assault, MESA, was awarded the funding to conduct support groups for sexual assault survivors who identify as LGBTQIA, with the latter two letters including intersex and asexual individuals, as well as older people and immigrants to the United States.

Read the complete interview here.

A professor at the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business surveyed women from 2016 to 2018 and found that they experienced sexual harassment less often, but gender harassment more often.

Stefanie Johnson, an associate professor in the school, credits both of the results to the #MeToo movement, which is a movement against sexual assault and harassment that began in 2006 and was popularized through use of the hashtag on social media in 2017.

Gender harassment, or a show of hostility toward women, increased as a backlash to the #MeToo movement, Johnson theorizes.

Janine D’Anniballe, director of rape crisis center Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA), said she has also seen backlash to the #MeToo movement. She agrees with Johnson and thinks it’s a reaction from men who feel threatened by the movement and shift in power.

Read the complete interview here.

Fievel, Moving to End Sexual Assault’s first four-legged employee, is celebrating his one-year anniversary as the crisis center’s facility dog.

The golden retriever lab mix plays no small role in MESA’s mission, which is to provide support and services to survivors of sexual assault. Since Fievel’s May 2018 arrival at the Boulder- and Broomfield-based center, he has assisted more than 700 clients.

MESA’s partnership with an assistance dog began more than two years ago, when MESA Director Janine D’Anniballe took action on her vision to implement a furry friend to comfort clients in the midst of dealing with their respective traumatic experiences.

Read the complete interview here.

The issue of asking for consent before any physical interaction appears to at the forefront of the news today.

We are witnessing rape trials and judges allowing alleged rapists to walk away with probation or no more than a slap on the wrist.

What impact does it have and message is it sending to both our male and female communities?

Host Miriam Schiff is joined by Janine D’Anniballe, Ph.D. a licensed psychologist and a nationally recognized expert in sexual assault and traumatic stress, and treatment for survivors.  Dr. D’Anniballe currently serves as the Director of Trauma Services at Mental Health Partners in Lafayette, Colorado.  She also has been the Director of Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA), the rape crisis center serving Boulder and Broomfield Countiesin Colorado for the last 20 years.

Listen to the complete interview here.

Every year in April, MESA – and sexual assault prevention organizations across the country – promotes Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), which is used to shine a spotlight on what Janine D’Anniballe, Director, refers to as an “epidemic crime.”

Read the complete interview here.