Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 413 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Why Haven't Sexual-Assault Statistics Improved?

Emily Kelleher

July 13, 2020 |

The 61% Project |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Colleges and universities, required to educate students and staff about sexual assault prevention, use thousands of courses and programs, hardly any of which have been shown to be effective. Campus sexual assaults have continued to rise while the education industry flourishes. While there is no single gold-standard program, one with the best evidence of effectiveness is Flip the Script, or Enhanced Assess Acknowledge Act. It is based on teaching women to overcome mental barriers to recognizing risk posed by acquaintances. High costs and time commitments have kept enrollment low, despite proof it works.

Read More
Go to Original Story
As Domestic Abuse Rises, U.K. Failings Leave Victims in Peril

Amanda Taub Jane Bradley

July 02, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: England

Ignoring the pleas of victim-aid groups and the examples set by other countries, the British government and courts failed to protect domestic violence victims during the pandemic. Italy, Spain, Germany, and New Zealand provided for emergency shelter for victims trapped at home with their abusers or made other preparations a formal part of their lockdown plans. But in England, where at least 26 deaths and multiple cases of abuse are blamed on the government’s failures, shelters overflowed and orders of protection went unenforced because of a lack of funding and effective planning.

Read More
Go to Original Story
For Survivors of Violence and Their Kids, a Push to Prioritize Housing

Claudia Boyd-Barrett

June 25, 2020 |

California Health Report |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Since 2016, California's Domestic Violence Housing First program has grown to 65 organizations that give victims the financial help they need to stay housed after leaving an abusive spouse. Financial and housing instability are major reasons victims stay with their abusers, and domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness. The program spends more than $20 million per year, or an average of $3,000 per victim, to help them and their children with rent, moving costs, utilities, and other needs. Typical domestic violence shelters usually lack the resources to help victims move to permanent housing.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Dad school: How to be a better father

Lily Freeston

June 18, 2020 |

BBC |

Video |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: Rwanda

Fatherhood classes in Rwanda teach men to be better dads and husbands, challenging traditional gender roles. Topics include taking care of babies, resolving domestic conflicts, sharing household decisions, and explaining sexual violence within a marriage. Participants report gaining new understandings and changing their behavior. One study found men who completed the class were half as likely to commit violence towards their wife in the future. 1,700 men have completed the course since it started in 2014, just a small fraction of the population, but there are plans to scale the program countrywide.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Sweden's new consent law led to a 75% rise in rape convictions

Catherine Edwards

June 16, 2020 |

The Local |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden

In the nearly two years since Sweden broadened the definition of rape offenses to include cases in which a victim fails to signal consent, both the reports of alleged rapes and convictions have risen. During that time, 76 convictions were in cases that previously would not have been classified as rape because they lacked evidence of force, threat, or sex with an incapacitated victim. Rapes still go largely unreported to police and there's still no evidence that the new law will achieve the ultimate goal of reducing the incidence of rape.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Europe offers creative ways to fight domestic violence during Covid-19. Why not bring them to Philadelphia?

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

June 09, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia’s domestic violence shelters filled during the pandemic, emergency funding ran dry, and officials offered victims little recourse if they were trapped at home with their abusers. These gaps in protection could be remedied by copying what has been done in Spain and France, where pharmacists were enlisted to turn coded language – a request for a particular kind of mask – into a call for help, and pop-up counseling centers at supermarkets and funding for emergency shelter and counseling organizations expanded to keep pace with a spike in incidents.

Read More
Go to Original Story
With Abuse Victims Trapped at Home, Detroit Moves Restraining Order System Online

Jennifer Mascia Katlyn Alo

May 29, 2020 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Domestic abuse risks are on the rise, at a time of social isolation, economic disruption, and gun-buying, and so Wayne County, Michigan, court officials responded to the closing of their courthouses by allowing people to seek orders of protection online. A replacement for an onerous, face-to-face process, the new e-filing system processed fewer applications in its first month than before the pandemic crisis, but at least preserved a steady flow of cases that enable victims to block their abusers from possessing guns. Victim advocates hope the new system expands access even after the courthouses reopen.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Tackling Rape Culture and Sexual Violence Amid Societal and Systemic Limitations in Nigeria

Hadassah Egbedi

May 18, 2020 |

Ventures Africa |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

Stand To End Rape (STER) is a youth-led Nigerian NGO that works with sexual and gender abuse survivors by providing services, including psychosocial support and advocacy to address cultural norms of victim-blaming, shaming, and skepticism that keep sexual assault survivors from getting help. 173 cases were reported to STER in 2019 and they provided legal support to 55 individuals from those cases. STER also works with the Women at Risk International Foundation for medical care and a 24-hour confidential helpline that took 230 calls in the last 2 years, an important but small fraction of national cases.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Not just another statistic

Janice Cantieri

May 06, 2020 |

National Observer |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Lekungen Traditional Territory, Canada, Victoria, British Columbia

The number of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada is high, so a group of Indigenous women formed an organization called Power Our Women (POW) to teach other Indigenous women across the country self-defense skills. Participants talk about their cultures, learn physical self-defense, build confidence, and learn situational awareness. Participants describe the program as healing but difficult. POW has now reached more than 5,000 women across Canada, including remote areas in northern Manitoba.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Sweden's male-only supper clubs...for feminists

Maddy Savage

May 04, 2020 |

BBC |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden

Private dinners for only men to discuss notions of feminism and toxic masculinity have been picking up in interest across Sweden. What started in earnest following a string of assaults against women in 2016 has now become more commonplace after the #MeToo movement. Male participants testify to how comforting it is to be able to talk these issues out amongst men and figure out the best ways to act with people that they don't know as well as their own group of friends. The program now has served thousands of men across Sweden and is also publishing online guides for anyone to set up similar conversations.

Read More
Go to Original Story