This interactive workshop will focus on delivering a deeper understanding of African American women victims' experiences with violence in the context of the African American Community. This workshop is for those providers seeking a greater understanding of African American reality as it relates to domestic violence, service access and systems.

Presenters: Antonia Drew Vann, Director,
The Asha Project; and Shawn Muhammad, Associate Director, The Asha Project

In this experiential workshop we’ll begin with a brief presentation about TCTSY (Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga), the form of trauma-sensitive yoga developed at the Trauma Center of Brookline MA by David Emerson, author of Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga, along with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, other clinicians, and many trauma survivors. Then we’ll spend the rest of the hour trying a gentle, chair-based version of this trauma sensitive yoga practice, moving in ways that are accessible for all levels of ability or fitness. This workshop will be offered twice: once in English and once in Spanish (November 17 Morning Session).

Presenter: Clare Norelle, Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Facilitator (TCTSY-F) with 300 hours of TCTSY training.

Safe at Home is Wisconsin’s new address confidentiality program which provides victims of abuse, or those who live in fear for their physical safety, with a legal substitute address to be used for both public and private purposes. This presentation will provide an overview of Safe at Home and how it may be used as a safety planning tool.

Presenter: Erin Welsh, Director, Safe at Home

Many undocumented immigrants tolerate abuse because they fear that their immigration status will be revealed if they seek help, putting them at risk for deportation. We will discuss what occurs during the deportation process, the rights of undocumented victims, immigration options, and what steps may be taken to avoid removal - essential information for those who wish to assist undocumented immigrant victims of abuse.

Presenter: Theodore J. Chadwick, Bi-lingual Associate Attorney, Grzeca Law Group, S.C.

This presentation will explain how legal interpreters are trained and what their role is in the court system, in order for advocates to better prepare their Limited English Proficient (LEP) clients for family and criminal court proceedings. Presenters will explore strategies for advocates to work more effectively with legal interpreters outside of the courtroom setting, in order to strengthen survivor autonomy.

Presenters : Carmel A. Capati, Wisconsin Court Interpreter Program Manager, Director of State Courts Office of Court Operations

Ms. Fayme Filipiak, Dane County Courthouse Staff Interpreter, Owner, Midwest Connect Translators & Interpreters LLC

Leo Martin, certified Spanish interpreter.

Wisconsin loses lives every year to domestic violence homicide occurrences. An increasing number of domestic abuse agencies are interested in providing advocacy services on homicide cases within their own communities. This presentation is an opportunity to learn about how agencies are dealing with various cases.

Presenters: Michelle Coppens, Manager of Special Projects and Coordinator of Milwaukee County Domestic Violence High-Risk Team

Courtney Olson, Executive Director, Rainbow House

Jessica Honish, Lead Advocate, Rainbow House

In this session, advocates and intervention program staff will learn crucial information about military and veteran-related victims and offenders. Topics include: military and veteran cultural competency; common risk factors; the intersection of co-occurring conditions (such as substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injury) and domestic violence; culturally-competent intervention; key military and Veterans Affairs players, policies, and services; and, the growing role of Veterans Treatment Courts.

Presenter: C. Brian Clubb, J.D.
Coordinator, Military & Veterans Advocacy Program
Battered Women's Justice Project

One of the most challenging aspects for both advocates and parents living in a shelter is parenting through trauma. Our job is to create a healthy environment for families to begin to heal and rebuild their relationships. This presentation will address such challenges and encourage advocates to understand the perspectives of parents and their children.

Presenters: Tracy Plamann, Community Education Coordinator, Harbor House Domestic Abuse Programs

Jodi Nuthals-Mikulsky, Children’s Advocate, Golden House Domestic Abuse Program

People with developmental disabilities (DD) are at a higher risk of sexual abuse, domestic violence and exploitation than are the general population, but there are few resources available to address this issue. The Rape Crisis Center created an educational group to help people with DD learn about safe and healthy relationships. This workshop will discuss defining relationships, assertiveness, sexual assault, consent, sexual health/anatomy, and self-defense, in a way adapted to reach people with DD.

Presenters: Ellen Merker (Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Psychology)

Eileen Zeiger, Director of Education and Outreach, Rape Crisis Center, Madison, WI

This workshop focuses on actively listening to stories from marginalized mothers who are survivors of intimate partner violence. It asks participants to not only learn about themselves but to be present in another’s story. This workshop will encourage participants to share, challenge, and analyze their reflections within the group. Finally, participants will create action steps they can take to help liberate their communities from violence

Presenter: Sagashus Levingston, Founder, Infamous Mothers

Chicken Stir-Fry - Stir-fried chicken, broccoli florets, celery, sliced carrots, baby corn and red peppers in a ginger garlic sauce. Served on a bed of Asian sticky rice.

Stir-fried broccoli florets, celery, sliced carrots, baby corn and red peppers in a ginger garlic sauce. Served on a bed of Asian sticky rice.

This session will examine some of the central debates in anti-trafficking discourse. Participants will hear the ways the issues get framed and discussed. This workshop will explore implications for public policy, provision of resources and services to address the needs of victims, many of whom do not get needed help and remain in the shadows.

Presenter: Jan Miyasaki, Executive Director, Project Respect, Madison, WI

This session will educate attendees on federal and state protections for survivors of abuse facing eviction or other adverse action by a landlord. We will cover the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the federal Fair Housing Act, the Wisconsin Open Housing Law, and other protective Wisconsin landlord-tenant laws.

Presenters: April Hartman, Supervising Attorney, Elder Rights Project, Legal Action of Wisconsin

Chris Donahoe, Attorney, Elder Rights Project at Legal Action of Wisconsin.

This interactive, informational, challenging and energetic session examines and explores white privilege/oppression and the imperative that those promoting diversity must “get in on the conversations.” Participants will leave with the skills and knowledge necessary to begin addressing issues of white privilege/oppression individually and institutionally.

Keynote Workshop Presenter: Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr.

Dr. Moore has pursued and achieved success in academia, business, diversity, leadership and community service. In 1996, he started America & MOORE, LLC (www.eddiemoorejr.com) to provide comprehensive diversity, privilege and leadership trainings/workshops. Dr. Moore is recognized as one of the nation’s top motivational speakers/educators, especially for his work with students in grades K-16. Dr. Moore is the Founder/Program Director for the White Privilege Conference (WPC, www.whiteprivilegeconference.com). His interview with Wisconsin Public Radio won the 2015 Wisconsin Broadcasters Association's Best Interview in Medium Market Radio, First Place (http://www.wpr.org/shows/newsmakers-december-4-2014), and he is featured in the film “I’m not Racist….Am I?” Dr. Moore founded The Privilege Institute in 2014 which engages people in research, education, action and leadership through workshops, conferences, publications, relationships and strategic partnerships. Dr. Moore is co-editor of "Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories" and the forthcoming, "Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys" (October 2017).

Join us for an interactive activity and discussion, including a scenario of an immigrant survivor's journey through the multiple systems she encounters. As she seeks a U Visa through U.S. citizenship and immigration services, we will see how that application process ties in with other systems she encounters along the way.

Presenters: Gricel Santiago‐Rivera, Director and Family Law Attorney, RISE Law Center

Andrea Erickson, Bilingual Victim/Witness Specialist, Dane County District Attorney’s Office

Lucía Ledesma, Advocate

Robin Dalton

This workshop will focus on healthy relationship development as a lifelong process to prevent sexual and domestic violence. Participants will learn about the evidence-based Discovery Dating Curriculum Core Components, which include: Dreams and Goals, My Ideal Island, Diary Sheets, Pyramid Sheets, Mentorship, and Decision Making.

Presenters: Stacy Lewis, Wise Voices, and Members of Wise Youth

Learn about a program that works with aggressive youth males who have experienced trauma within their homes. These teen boys lash out because it is all they have ever witnessed or been taught to do. Participants in this workshop will learn and explore ways to help teen males who are now getting into their own relationships and noticing themselves acting out with the same behaviors. We will focus on teaching youth males how to have healthier relationships.

Presenter: Bryan Wright, Prevention and Youth Advocate, Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services, Inc.

The City of Janesville Police Department developed a domestic violence intervention program in February of 2010 after a domestic violence homicide. Through trial and error, we learned how to access traumatic incidents and be the link between victims and local resources. Let us teach you how to do better domestic violence reports to improve prosecution, employ advanced approaches to victim follow up, and employ innovative strategies in engaging victims. We can give you the necessary tools from start to finish as you create your own victim assistance program.

Presenter: Laurie Valley

Laurie is one of the original members of the Janesville Police Department's Domestic Violence Intervention Team.

Safety is a word that is regularly discussed in advocacy involving victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Planning for safety is something that is a large part of an advocate's responsibility. How often do we take the time to ask the victim what safety means to them? Are our definitions of safety the same? In the event that our definitions differ, who gets to decide who is correct? This session will be a facilitated conversation about safety. Participants will be challenged to think outside the box, problem solve, and consider differences of opinion around the definition of SAFETY.

Presenters: Pam Malin, VAWA Project Coordinator and Victim Advocacy Specialist, Disability Rights Wisconsin

Anna Grzelek, Former Advocacy Coordinator, Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Bitchin' Betty is a term used for a military aircraft warning system. It utilizes female voices like a GPS unit in a car. In this survivor story workshop, a former military spouse talks about the barriers and struggles of experiencing domestic violence in the military. This workshop will explore a soldier's struggle with PTSD, along with stigma that prevented the survivor from reporting and receiving help in her situation. This female voice is a warning to others about the life-threatening situations that occurred during her military marriage.

Presenter: Sara Flynn, Youth Advocate/ Education Specialist

In this workshop, we will hear the true story of Jessie Blodgett's rape and murder in Hartford, WI. Told by her father, Jessie’s story is real, graphic, and disturbing, but also full of purpose, forgiveness, resilience, and love. Using timeless and profound messages she left us through her legacy project, Love and Hate, we will discover a local movement to transform culture and measurably reduce domestic violence and sexual assault.

Presenter: Dr. Buck Blodgett, Executive Director, The LOVE>Hate Project

National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL) staff Ann Turner and Bonnie Brandl will facilitate a discussion with advocates to share ideas, discuss challenges, and learn from each other about how programs are responding to older survivors of abuse. This workshop is open to all victim service programs – those who already have abuse in later life projects and those who are considering starting new projects.

Keynote Workshop Presenter: Bonnie Brandl

Bonnie Brandl is the founder and Director of NCALL, a project of End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin (End Abuse).

Ann Turner is NCALL's Elder Victim Services and Advocacy Coordinator.

En este taller experiencial comenzaremos con una breve presentación sobre TCTSY (Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga), la forma de yoga sensible al trauma que ha sido desarrollado en El Centro de Trauma de Brookline MA por David Emerson, autor de Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga, con Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, otros clínicos y muchos sobrevivientes de trauma. Luego pasaremos el resto de la hora experimentando con una version suave de esta práctica de yoga sensible al trauma, usando sillas y moviéndose de maneras que sean accesibles para personas de todos los niveles de habilidad o aptitud física. Este taller se ofrecerá dos veces: una vez en ingles y otra vez en español.

Presenter: Clare Norelle,Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Facilitator (TCTSY-F) with 300 hours of TCTSY training. This workshop will be conducted entirely in Spanish.

Restorative justice (RJ) is a victim-centered, dialogue-based practice that attempts to repair the harm caused by crimes. It has long been thought that the RJ process might re-victimize domestic violence victims. But what if we can find a way to safely use RJ as a pathway to healing for victims and offenders? This workshop will explore those possibilities.

Presenters: Terri Strodthoff, Founder and Executive Director, Alma Center

Carmen Pitre, President and CEO, Sojourner Family Peace Center, Wisconsin's largest service provider for families dealing with domestic violence

Patti Seger, Executive Director, End Domestic Abuse WI: the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Learn how to support immigrant survivors in their journey to gain immigration status through U Nonimmigrant Status. Participants will learn about “U Visa” and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and self-petition cases with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. What is the advocate’s role in supporting a client represented by an immigration attorney? What are the eligibility criteria? What evidence do applicants need?

Presenters: Robin Dalton, Senior Immigration Attorney, RISE Law Center

Ginna Insunza, Advocate, UNIDOS against Domestic Violence

Survivors often face obstacles related to finances and credit. This impacts their ability to find housing, jobs, transportation, and to safely leave an abusive relationship. This presentation will give information on the differences between marital and individual credit. We will also review the topics of liability, credit report accessibility, and identity theft concerns.

Presenters: April Hartman, Supervising Attorney, Elder Rights Project, Legal Action of Wisconsin

Nicole Zimmer, Director, Elder Rights Project, Legal Action of Wisconsin.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic experiences like abuse, neglect or household dysfunction. ACEs often involve mental illness, incarcerated relatives, family abuse, substance abuse or divorce. These situations occur prior to the age of 18 and can result in negative outcomes in adulthood. This workshop will review a Wisconsin study of ACEs. We will explore what we as individuals and as a community can do to intervene.

Presenter: Tracy Fremming, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, Lead Nurse, Emergency Department, SANE Coordinator

Domestic abuse victims routinely see family court orders that don’t take domestic violence or its impact into consideration regarding custody, placement and the safety of the victim and child. Systems advocacy can seem overwhelming due to multiple players, policies, laws and procedures. This workshop explores various End Abuse projects to make family law system changes. Presenters will discuss family law obstacles and possible solutions including a GAL Guidebook and a family law data collection project.

Presenters: Tess Meuer, Justice Systems Director, End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin

Wendy Gehl, Director of Program Services, Harbor House Domestic Abuse Programs

The presenter will be sharing with the audience her first-hand experience of my survival story and how she overcame the barriers and obstacles. She will also discuss the cultural expectations that were placed on her as a Hmong girl, wife, daughter, daughter in law, mother and clan representative going from her birth clan to her husband’s clan and how she navigated and dealt with these expectations as a survivor of domestic abuse.

Presenter: Anne Vang-Lo

This presentation deals with familicide. The presenter is a mother whose son killed his children and his children's mothers, and then killed himself. The workshop will examine domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse as predictive factors in this tragic event. Victim response and services will also be touched upon. Due to lower incident numbers in familicide, this is a harder topic to research and understand. This workshop will offer greater insight into traits, risk factors, and specific services for survivors.

Presenter: Rita Adair, Social Worker and Author

Communities struggle to address sexual assault and prevention. Many communities utilize a Sexual Assault Review Team (SART) to address the needs of the community. In Milwaukee, we have developed the Milwaukee Sexual Assault Review (MSAR). Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes, making prevention challenging. MSAR provides the opportunity to build a multidisciplinary response aimed at preventing future sexual assaults from occurring, improving abuse response services for victims, expediting sexual assault suspect arrests, and advancing the prosecution of sexual assault offenders in Milwaukee. Participants will learn ways to bring this approach back to their communities.

Presenters: Lindsay Emer, PhD(c), MSAR Project Coordinator

Sharain Horn, BSN, MSN, SANE-A, SANE-P, Aurora Healing and Advocacy Services Director

Grilled chicken breast and linguine pasta served with a lemon pesto sauce and parmesan cheese with a vegetable medley of waxed beans, green beans and baby carrots tossed in herb butter.

Linguine pasta served with a lemon pesto sauce and parmesan cheese with a vegetable medley of waxed beans, green beans and baby carrots tossed in herb butter.

In this interactive workshop, participants will learn about a primary prevention program called Men Encouraging Nonviolent Strength (MENS). MENS engages middle and high school aged male-identified youth as they explore healthy masculinity, identities, healthy and unhealthy relationships, healthy communication, allyship and more through an anti-oppression framework. Participants will experience a taste of MENS by engaging in activities from the MENS curriculum.

Presenters: Faye Zemel, MA, Prevention, Training and Education Coordinator

Aly Jarocki, Prevention and Education Advocate

This session will educate attendees on the many facets of elder abuse, including financial exploitation and emotional abuse. We will explore case examples from the Elder Rights Project (ERP), a state-wide free legal resource for elder abuse victims. Additionally, the session will describe the kinds of legal work done by ERP, and explain how to make referrals to ERP staff across the state.

Presenter: Nicole Zimmer, Elder Rights Project Director, Legal Action of Wisconsin

After more than four decades we are still challenged with the question of “what works” in Batterers Intervention Programs (BIPs). This presentation will expand participants' understanding of the role of childhood trauma in relation to this topic. We will introduce the Healing Focused Care Approach while exploring the potential of working on healing for improving BIP outcomes.

Presenters: Jojopah Nsoroma, Creator and Facilitator, Alma Center's Wisdom Walk to Self Mastery Program

Floyd Rowell, Peer-to- Peer Mentor, Facilitator in Training, Alma Center's Wisdom Walk to Self Mastery Program

Terri Strodthoff, Founder and Executive Director, Alma Center, a gender specific community-based agency dedicated to ending men’s violence toward women and girls

Golden House has implemented new programming with the goal of safe, permanent, and independent housing for victims of domestic violence and their children. The pilot project, “Safe Home,” was implemented in 2016 using quality improvement methodology in the POINT Initiative in northeast Wisconsin. Through testing changes to our system, we are able to identify stronger ways of advocating for victims of domestic abuse to help them find and maintain safe, affordable and permanent housing. Come to this workshop to learn more about this program.

Presenters: Karen Michaels, Executive Director, Golden House

Holli Fisher, Program Manager, Golden House

Female victims of physical or sexual violence visit their doctors more often than other women, and 27% of domestic violence victims visit a healthcare facility more than 20 times per year. Healthcare facilities provide an underutilized avenue to identify and offer services to those experiencing abuse. Regulatory requirements can aid advocates in getting their foot in the healthcare door. Join us to explore this advocacy opportunity.

Presenters: Chelsey Senn , Angel Lee , Jodie Muth, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program

This interactive activity workshop is designed to allow participants to experience the ways in which someone can feel vulnerable when there are power differentials within a relationship or family, as well as the impact of being an innocent bystander. Acquainted early in life with turmoil, and with 14 years experience of domestic violence, this survivor has developed expertise and understanding of the vicious cycle and its impact not only on the victim or survivor, but on the family as a whole, to this present time. Experience her life's journey and be empowered to change your perspective in helping others live life on purpose.

Presenter: Jodine Basterash, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Survivor, Advocate, Author, and Motivational Speaker

In this powerpoint presentation you’ll learn about the ways that experiences of neglect, abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other systems of oppression can become deeply embedded in our bodies and nervous systems as complex trauma. We’ll explore various symptoms of complex trauma, and ways that body-based or somatic therapies can play a key role in helping people to heal from trauma. Based on the work of Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, David Emerson, Wendy D’Andrea, Stephen Porges, Marlysa Sullivan, and others.

ASL Interpreters serve a crucial role in facilitating communication. We will explore ways to better understand this relationship in order to make it less awkward or intimidating. This workshop will also help advocates understand how and why Deaf victims and clients are different from other non-English speaking victims and clients.

Presenter: Jenny Buechner, Executive Director, Deaf Unity

This roundtable discussion will explore praxis-based applications of “feminist advocacy” in anti-violence work. We will examine how we work on a micro-level with individuals, meso-level within our agency, and macro-level within our communities. Discussion will focus on how people and institutions may be resistant (or outright hostile) to the feminist lens through which we understand gender violence, feminism, and intersectionality.

Presenters: Jenelle Haddad, Domestic Violence Program Director, Family Support Center (Chippewa Falls)

Blythe Newburg, Sexual Assault Victim Services Coordinator, Family Support Center (Chippewa Falls)

Amanda Schumacher, Sexual Assault Outreach Program Coordinator, Family Support Center (Eau Claire)

We love to judge other moms. We love to compare and whisper about the ways in which we "do mothering" better. We vilify women who don't meet our mothering ideal. But that's an old story. What is not so old are the discussions about the ways we as a society damage the young girls that become broken mothers. We don't talk about the ways in which we are implicated in the very things that we condemn. Through story, this workshop invites us to think about links between girlhood trauma and "less than ideal" mothering. It invites us to explore ways in which we, as a community, can do the kind of work that builds strong girls who can, if they choose to be mothers, evolve into empowered caregivers.

Presenter: Sagashus Levingston, Founder/CEO, Infamous Mothers