Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Hello? This Is Colombia's Antimachismo Hotline.

    Bogotá’s city government started the Calm Line to give men a way to connect by telephone with psychologists trained in therapeutic responses to the machismo that leads to gender-based violence. Despite doubts that Colombian men would use the service, the line fields about a dozen calls a day. "Fear, shame and confusion pervade many of the conversations," but also can lead to breakthroughs in understanding the attitudes that oppress women. That understanding is the first step toward cultural change, the Calm Line's supporters believe.

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  • He befriended his brother's murderer. In each other, they found healing

    Since the 1990s, California prisons' victim-aid office has arranged for crime victims to meet with the incarcerated people who harmed them or their family members. These victim-offender dialogues, a restorative-justice method offering alternative forms of accountability, have helped survivors heal by providing information they could not glean from the traditional justice process. Some have also experienced reconciliation and forgiveness. Only victims can initiate the process, and most incarcerated people are deemed ineligible after screening and preparation for the face-to-face dialogues.

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  • ‘I Don't Want to Hit My Children. I Don't Want to Hit Anybody.'

    The Respect Phoneline started in the UK in 2004 to give anonymous callers, usually men, a way to seek help for their violent impulses. Rather than putting the burden for resolving domestic violence on survivors and on the punitive tools of the criminal justice system, the hotline approach recognizes that people prone to abusing others are frustrated and unhappy and want to change but need help to figure out how. While the aftermath of anonymous phone counseling can't be tracked, the author observed the process helping many men change their thinking. Similar hotlines have started in multiple places.

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  • Where Juvenile Detention Looks More Like Teens Hanging Out

    Apache County, Arizona, once had a costly, under-used juvenile detention center and a traditional philosophy that stern punishment would steer young people away from misbehavior. Now the abandoned detention center is The Loft Legacy Teen Center, an after-school hangout with mentors, connections to social services, and a place where youth can go to socialize – a rare commodity in this rural community. It's run and staffed by the court system and its probation department. But its methods are love and support, not threats of arrest and incarceration. Juvenile arrests are now way down.

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  • Reducing Recidivism and Building Green Industry Skills in Detroit

    Between 2012 and 2017, the rate of recidivism, the number of people who return to prison after being released, was (71%) across 34 states. An industrial recycling program called Greenworks is aimed at job training, access to resources() and (providing) jobs to formerly incarcerated people. Part of the green economy, these programs offer jobs to people most impacted by climate change, and Greenworks could be a model for other similar programs. The recidivism rate of Greenworks hovers around four and (10%) each year.

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  • The library where the books are people

    The Human Library hosts one-on-one conversations between people who have faced prejudice (they're the "books" that get borrowed) and "readers" who yearn to ask awkward questions that they've never been comfortable asking. "Books" tell about being transgender, an immigrant, polyamorous, a wheelchair user, a former gang member, and more. The events spread to dozens of countries, funded by corporations that hire The Human Library to help their employees learn about diversity in its many forms. Both the "readers" and the "books" can experience deep connections in only a half-hour encounter.

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  • Dealing with mental health crisis one Zoom call at a time

    In Chicago, where the city's size and traffic would pose logistical and cost barriers to make mental health professionals first responders to mental-crisis calls, the Cook County sheriff's office has put 70 Zoom-enabled tablets in deputies' hands to set up on-the-spot counseling sessions with people in crisis. Instead of being confronted by a cop, people threatening suicide or harming others can talk to one of eight counselors on call. It's the first step toward getting the care they need, instead of an arrest and violent clash with police officers.

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  • High schools reflect on former Native American mascots through historical projects

    Two high schools are ending their use of Native American mascots and imagery. They’re using the opportunity to remember the past and educate the community through this experience.

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  • How Otukpo Became An Oasis Of Peace In Benue After Fulani Militia's Attack

    Violent clashes between farmers and cattle herders that have claimed thousands of lives have largely ceased in Otukpo, thanks to a peacekeeping process that resolves disputes and is based on a shared recognition of two groups' humanity. The process imposed rules in an otherwise unruly system in which Fulani herders' open-grazing cattle destroyed crops, leading to violence. Negotiated leases and dispute-resolution mechanisms, governed through monthly meetings, have resulted in only one death since 2018, while surrounding areas continue to suffer many casualties.

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  • In Religiously-divided Kaduna, Muslim And Christian Women Lead Peace Talks

    The Interfaith Mediation Center trained two groups of 30 Muslim and Christian women in two areas of Kaduna as a pilot project putting women at the center of the work needed to understand and prevent religion-motivated violence. Dozens have died in these areas. Even though women often are the victims, they usually are excluded from peacemaking work. The women committed to live peacefully and then went door to door to meet others in the community for bridge-building dialogues, which some said was a unique and transformative experience for them.

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