[NIFL-WOMENLIT:455] Re: New International Report on Abuse

From: Andres Muro (AndresM@epcc.edu)
Date: Tue Jan 25 2000 - 13:59:02 EST


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From: "Andres Muro" <AndresM@epcc.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:455] Re: New International Report on Abuse
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NO! 

Just kidding, I was a little busy last night. 

In our program we use a model of language instruction called the 5 step model. The steps are critical discussion, reading activity, writing activity, group activity and action activity. We do not have any predetermined content, nor we use books. Instead, we try to use information related to the participants lives. One of the content areas is health. Funidng form Pfizer and Laubach helped us identify instructional materials and use them in our classes. But we have incorporated the concept into our center permanently. We procure informational materials from health clinics, hospitals, planned parenthood, the department of health, and any other health relaated entity in our community. We also ask representatives of these entities to come to our classes and make presentations about health issues. This information is used with the five step model to help participants develop language. Therefore, participants improve language and learn about health related information.

We use the same approach with domestic violence. We invite guest speakers from the shelter for battered women to speak in our classes and make participants aware of services. We also inform people without legal residence about their rights in cases of domestc abuse with the new immigration law. In terms of discussions, between teachers and studnets, about domestic violence, we always try to be very careful not to force students to share things that they are not ready to share. 

Andres

>>> alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu 01/25 7:01 am >>>
Would you care to share any of the specifics?
Daphne Greenberg
Center for the Study of Adult Literacy
alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu

>>> AndresM@epcc.edu 01/24/00 23:30 PM >>>
Yes and yes. 

Andres

>>> ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu 01/24 2:02 pm >>>
I was wondering.  Have any of you included a health literacy curriculum in your programs?  Did the curriculum include anything on domestic violence?  

Daphne Greenberg
Center for the Study of Adult Literacy
Georgia State University
University Plaza
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
Fax: 404-651-1415
Ph: 404-651-0400
E-mail: alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu

>>> Ansongreen@aol.com 01/20 8:57 PM >>>
Friends,
Today a new comprehensive report was released on domestic violence.

The press release follows.

The full report is available at:
http://www.jhuccp.org/pr/l11edsum.stm 

As ever, 
Anson

Study: Third of All Women Abused

By SHEILA HOTCHKIN
.c The Associated Press

BALTIMORE (Jan. 20) - One of every three women worldwide has been beaten, 
raped or somehow mistreated, according to a sweeping new report that says 
violence against women should be treated as a global health problem rather 
than just a law enforcement matter. 

``I see the health care setting as an opportunity - and right now, it's an 
opportunity lost,'' said co-author Lori Heise, who visited at least 20 
countries during the past decade, collecting data from 2,000 domestic 
violence studies. ``It's an opportunity to perhaps prevent a health problem 
from materializing.'' 

Authors of ``Ending Violence Against Women,'' released Thursday by the Johns 
Hopkins School of Public Health and the Center for Health and Gender Equity, 
say it is the first study to take a worldwide look at violence against women 

Besides immediate physical injuries, abuse has also been linked to problem 
pregnancies, substance abuse, gastrointestinal disorders and chronic pain 
syndromes, perhaps due to anxiety, the study said. 

``Women who have a history of abuse are at much higher risk of having these 
chronic conditions than other women,'' said Heise, the co-director of the 
Center for Health and Gender Equity. 

Anywhere from 22 percent to 70 percent of the women interviewed had never 
told anyone about abuse they suffered, according to the studies compiled in 
the report. 

Heise also said the report included studies that, for the first time, linked 
child mortality to mothers' abusive relationships. 

A Nicaraguan study concluded that children of abused women were six times 
more likely than other children to die before age 5. An Indian study also 
found that women who had been beaten were more likely than other women to 
face miscarriages, stillbirths or infant deaths. 

Other studies linked abuse to miscarriages, premature labor and fetal 
distress. 

``We don't understand what's operating there because people are just 
beginning to look at it,'' Heise said. 

The report said that the health care system is the only institution that 
interacts with nearly all women during their lives, giving health 
professionals an ideal vantage point to identify and assist victims of abuse. 

Dr. John Nelson, a gynecologist and spokesman for the American Medical 
Association, said he agreed ``unequivocally.'' 

``The bottom line is physicians and all health care workers are in a unique 
position to determine if inappropriate relationships exist and intervene very 
early in the game,'' Nelson said. 

Cincinnati Police Lt. Kathleen Howard, who has taught classes on domestic 
violence at the police academy for more than a decade, acknowledged the 
limitations of law enforcement in addressing the problem. 

``The problem is we're reactive,'' Howard said. ``Until an incident happens, 
we can't go thee and watch them. We can't take any action until they do 
something.'' 


Anson Green
1999/2000 NIFL Fellow
Corporate and Community Development
Northwest Vista College
3535 N. Ellison Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78251
210-348-2398
http://members.aol.com/ansongreen/welcome.html



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