Some victims are brave enough to escape the abuse at home, but unfortunately the abuser knows where they work, and are able to harass and threaten her there. In fact, it has been found that 75% of abusers have used communications such as work email or phone calls, or visited the workplace of the victim to further threaten their partner. This is a frightening scenario not just for the victim, but for her fellow employees.
Recognizing signs that someone is being abused could help protect a domestic abuse victim, and lead her to support for her situation. A place of work should be a safe place for an individual and their co-workers, so it is in everyone’s best interest to look for the signs and take steps to be supportive. Warning signs can include social withdrawal from co-workers, visible bruises, emotional outbursts on the phone, or frequent calls which leave them upset. Lateness or frequent absences are common among victims, as well as reduced productivity and poor job performance.
When there are outward physical signs such as bruising, a victim often lies to co-workers out of embarrassment. Co-workers and employers should always be supportive, respectful and encouraging, and hopefully that communicates to the victim that they are willing to help when the victim is ready.
After the recognition or admission of an abusive situation, employers should take reasonable measures to protect their employee. These can include possibly changing their schedule or work location, screening calls and visitors, and escorts to where they have parked. A formal, written workplace policy should be in place which includes information on where to get help outside of the office.
A place of work may be the only safe haven for a victim, and an environment of safety and supportiveness will not only protect them, but make a more productive worker. Employers and co-workers need to be aware of the signs of domestic violence, and take steps to protect all employees from abusive individuals.
Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. “Recognizing Domestic Violence Victims in the Workplace” notes the signs which could mean one are being abused. Soroptimist.org is an International women's organization working to improve the lives of women, including support for women in domestic abuse situations.
November is National Adoption Awareness Month, a time to celebrate the many definitions of family. The U.S. alone is home to more than 1.5 million kids who were adopted. A reported 60 percent of Americans have personal experience with adoption.
The stigma long associated with adoption has lessened in recent years. Adoption is out in the open now, compared to a generation ago when many children weren’t even told they had been adopted (truly hard to imagine). Thanks to all the people who have formed their families through adoption, and celebrities like the Jolie-Pitts, Katherine Heigl and Madonna, much more is said and written about adoption than ever before. Not that it’s been without controversy. Endless comments have centered on the motivations of celebrities who adopt from overseas. Interesting because I don’t see the people making these comments adopting anyone, domestically or otherwise!
Yet, the stigma lingers. And if the child is from another culture, well that just adds another layer of complexity. Just ask my daughter, who was adopted as an infant from China. She suffers regularly from the cruel and racist comments of her schoolmates. Now that she’s in middle school, the barbs have become sharper and more hurtful. Eye pulling. Gibberish meant to sound Chinese. Rude and personal questions. Because parental involvement is diminished in middle school, many of the kids don’t know my daughter was adopted. But if they find out, then she hears those comments too. Kids in middle school want one thing: to fit in—which is hard to do when you’re a Chinese child with Caucasian parents, being raised in a relatively non-diverse area.
Let’s hope National Adoption Awareness Month, celebrity adoptions, and continued dialogue will help to shine a light on the many ways a family can be formed. As our world becomes smaller and more diverse, maybe one day the stigma will vanish completely.
Darlene Friedman, senior director of membership marketing for Soroptimist (Soroptimist.org), co-authors a blog with her daughter (Edens-Garden.com) for tween girls and their moms. Soroptimist is an international women's organization for international women's issues.
Human Trafficking is an international problem to which millions fall victim each year. The problem is increasing because of globalization and the lack of regulations. When coercion is used to force one into labor for the profit of another, this is trafficking. There are some general causes and influences of sex slavery and human trafficking.
Extreme poverty is typical in the regions and for victims where sex slavery occurs, especially among women. When women are unemployed and their economic position is low, there is no escaping their situations. With promises of jobs or better living conditions, they are frequently coerced into slavery. In some societies, woman and girls are perceived as expendable, and they are treated with a lack of respect. In these cultures, it is not considered morally wrong to abuse a female, which perpetuates the problem of human trafficking further.
Typically, there is extreme social and economic unrest and political corruption where human trafficking is common. This lack of stability leads to widespread corruption, allowing the abuse and the illegal transit of humans across borders.
Human trafficking and sex slavery is also profitable, so in these corrupt and poor regions, the appeal of making money continues the problem. Not only is it cheap labor, but the profits to be made on another, many times via organized crime, is big business. The human trafficking process begins at a country of origin and eventually to a country of destination, and the demand for the inhumane use of women and children drives the continuation of human trafficking and sex slavery.
The demand is rising internationally, and the lack of public knowledge is another cause for human trafficking. With education and awareness, the problem would decrease. Human trafficking not only affects countries with conflict and unrest, many destination countries where the demand for prostitution is high are developed countries, including the United States.
Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. “Causes of Sex Slavery and Human Trafficking” notes the causes of this global crime. Soroptimist.org is an international women’s organizationto support women and girls become independent to evade these circumstances.
Verbal or emotional abuse is about the abuser trying to gain control of the victims feelings or behaviors, as are all of the types of abuse. It instills fear in the victim and erodes their self worth and self esteem. Verbal and emotional abuse includes yelling, name calling, put downs, embarrassment, intimidation, and/or the spreading of rumors. It can make the person feel responsible for their abuse, as their abuser controls their actions and behavior. The victim feels trapped in the relationship, and is so manipulated that they fear ending the connection.
Physical abuse in teenage dating violence involves hitting, shoving, pushing, and any other unwanted contact with the victim body. The abuser overreacts in a negative way to a victim’s behavior, and becomes physically aggressive with their partner. According to the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, 45% of girls reported that they had experienced physical violence while in a teenage dating relationship. The terror a young person feels in this situation, again, traps them into remaining in a bad situation.
Sexual abuse is defined as unwanted sexual activity which includes kissing or touching, groping, and/or sexual intercourse. A partner in a relationship always has the right to say no to any sexual situation, and it is considered abusive when they are forced into something they do not want to do. Sexual abuse is common in abusive relationships, and a significant amount of physically battered victims are also raped by their partners. There are negative consequences to remaining in an abusive relationship for the victim, and most continue in the relationship.
An international volunteer organizations main goal is to improving the lives of women and girls. They address the important issue of teenage dating violence with projects that increase awareness about the problem. They also support education and prevention programs about teenage dating violence.
Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. “What are the Types of Teenage Dating Violence” outlines the three main types of dating abuse: verbal/emotional, physical, and sexual. Soroptimist.org supports projects aiming to prevent teenage dating violence.
If a woman is uneducated, their options and rights for equal employment, political participation, financial independence, and informed family planning are extremely limited or non-existent. Internationally, women continue to be exploited and caught in poverty with their children’s lives compromised as well. Uneducated women are more likely to live in poverty, be infected with HIV/AIDS, or die in childbirth. Their children are also more likely to die of malnutrition.
Women with an education are more likely to be employed, and therefore able to support themselves and their children independently. When women are productive in a workplace, it contributes to the economy and society. Therefore, an effort toward educating women effects future generations and the global community. It has been found that educated women are more likely to engage in protected sex, therefore avoiding the spread of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. This also helps avoid unwanted pregnancies and contributes to a decline in infant mortality. Additionally, educated women are far more likely to send their children to school, continuing the positive effects.
There have been conferences and summits by international groups in efforts to achieve universal primary education. Some progress has been made, but not enough. Further goals include eliminating child labor, supporting gender responsive schools that allow pregnant girls to continue their education, producing relevant educational content, providing gender sensitive curricula, training more female teachers, building schools accessible to girls’ homes, and making schools safe for girls.
There are many organizations supports women and girls around the world to improve their lives, including many projects that help women and girls seek an education. These volunteer organizations of businesses and professional women contribute time and financial support on local and international levels.
Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. “Women’s Education: Girls and Women’s Education” summarizes the global need to properly educate women. Soroptimist.org is an international women’s organization, supports women in their pursuit to improve their lives.
for DWI for the following three reasons:
-
Under NYS law, an alcohol/drug screening and evaluation is mandatory if
your BAC (blood alcohol concentration) at the time of your arrest (as
measured by the breath test) was .15 or higher.
- The results of an evaluation can prove helpful to yourtraffic lawyer
for plea bargaining purposes to demonstrate that your conduct on the
night of the arrest was a one time event, and not a pattern of alcohol
abuse behavior.
- The alcohol screening/evaluation is part of the DMV's DDP (Drinking Driver Program) and must be done to obtain a conditional driving privilege. The program's completion is predicated upon a follow through with any treatment recommendations made by the OASAS (Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services) certified provider. They have an excellent website to locate providers in your area, just put OASAS into Google.
My advice before having your alcohol screening/evaluation:
- Be prepared to answer questions about your drug and/or alcohol use.
Read through the MAST (Michigan Alcohol Screening Test) to have an idea of the type of questions that will be on the screening forms. Within the DDP program the alcohol screening is a questionnaire/form to determine if you need an evaluation/assessment by a provider. - Be prepared to provide a urine sample for a drug screen.
NOTE: Drug screens are not drug tests. Screens are very general, fast, and inexpensive. They have a high sensitivity (show allot of false positives), and are not specific as to quality or type of drug. A drug test is very specific, and designed to qualify and quantify a certain drug. You may not have to provide a urine sample but why risk it. It is always better to expect to give a clean sample than to decline. I tell all my clients to avoid being around cannabis for at least four weeks prior to the test and other drugs for at least two weeks before the screen.
Many drugs both legal and illegal have a long half life (stay in your body for a long period of time). The way half life works is that every 7 days half the drug is left over after your use. After an additional 7 days half of the remaining half is left over- that is 1/4 left. After an additional 7 days, half of the remaining 1/4 is left- that is 1/8 of the original dose and so on. After 5 half lives 1/64 of the drug may be left- at this point it is likely that there will not be any clinical effect from the drug. This half life is dependent upon the frequency of the drug's usage, method of intake, length of usage, your tolerance to the drug, your fluid intake, your body size, your body fat, your metabolism, and the specific range that the drug testing uses to signify a “positive” for drug use. THC in particular is stored by the body in the fatty lipid tissue and are gradually released into the blood stream until cleared. For chronic users with a high body fat percentage, this process of elimination can take several weeks. Sometimes people on diets may be burning off fat, and releasing stored drugs (drugs stored in fat cells) into their urine.
The table below gives a guide to detection periods for many commonly used drugs:
Drug & Approximate Time Period of Detection
Alcohol 6–24 hours Amphetamines 2–3 days Barbiturates 1 day to 3 weeks Benzodiazepines 3–7 days Cocaine 2–5 days Euphoric (MDMA, Ecstasy) 1–3 days Marijuana (THC) 7–30 days (mild use - moderate use - frequent/chronic use)Steroids (anabolic) 14–30 days
Any prescription drugs not reported to the provider but that may show up in your urine will be suspect as drugs of abuse. Remember that second-hand cannabis smoke exposure can also cause you to fail a standard urine drug screen.
Some OTC (over the counter) medications can also trigger false positives on drug screens:- Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)
- Midol
- Sudafed
- Vicks Nasal Spray
- Neosynephren
- Ephedra and Ephedrine (often in diet products)
- Vicks 44
If you are determined to be a drug abuser (having drugs in your system that are unreported, unprescribed, and/or illegal) you will get a treatment recommendation of 3-12 months time. This is usually a twelve step based group and/or individual program with a frequency of 2-3 times per week. This program is likely to include follow up drug screens, and an order to completely stay away from drugs and alcohol. Note: You are allowed to obtain one second opinion concerning your evaluation. This second evaluation is then the final one for the Court. - Be prepared to follow through on all recommended treatment, and evaluations because the Court is going to want proof of completion.
If you receive a CD (conditional discharge) from the Court this will be one of terms of that discharge. If you fail to meet the Court's conditions your case can be re-opened and your failure will be considered a violation of the Court's Order.
If your alcohol evaluation indicates a "no treatment recommended" that will often be helpful to avoid the prosecutor (Assistant District Attorney ) recommending a term of probation as a condition of your final sentence. This report of No Treatment by an evaluator can also assist your attorney in getting a ADWI (Aggravated DWI) charge where your BAC was .18 or higher reduced to a "regular" DWI.
I hope that this article sheds some much needed light on the DWI alcohol evaluation process.
Lawrence Newman love practicing DWI defense law within the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. For more information about “Traffic Lawyer’s Advice: Three Things You Must Know Before Going to Your DWI Alcohol Evaluation” or “Driving While Intoxicated (DWI/DUI)” please visit www.town-court.com.
Currently, about 8% of the nation’s hospitals use electronic medical records management and 17% of physicians Although growth has been slow due to the high initial cost, trends are shifting to computer based medical records management systems. The number of users is increasing, because it has been proven that having an electronic medical records system in place improves patient care. Transitioning to electronic medical records can be done cost effectively by minimizing the high initial investment.
When transitioning to an electronic medical records management
system cost effectively, it is suggested that a medical facility divide
their on site records. There should be two groups: patients who need to
be seen with follow up appointments within the next six to twelve
months, and discharged patients who will not require follow up
appointments. Since it is estimated that the cost to covert to a
digital image is $15.00 to $20.00 per patient chart, the most cost
effective transition plan is to convert the group that will be seen in
the next six to twelve months to electronic files.
The
discharged patients’ files that will not be seen again should be
stored. A box of patient charts can be stored at an approximate cost of
$3.00 per year vs the cost to convert an individual patient chart to
image of $15.00 to $20.00. These less active patient charts should be
converted to image more selectively, upon demand. When they are being
converted to image, the chart should be reviewed and be
discriminatingly converted in case some of the information is not
necessary. These medical records management solutions will ease the investment, and allow for a well-organized transition to the use of digital records.
There are many records Management Company available today with experienced with the unique challenges of medical records management.
They are familiar with the confidentiality and compliance rules for
medical records, and can enhance the productivity and cost efficiency
for a hospital or medical practice.
If you're a lawyer who appears in traffic court or local criminal court, then you should join the traffic lawyers club at town-court.com. Over 125,000 people a month use town-court.com to find information about courts.
The Traffic lawyers club is free now!
- Traffic Lawyer Directory:
- Court Calendars:
- Articles:
The directory is organized by counties and courts. You choose your home county and home court, and up to three additional courts. You'll be listed in the directory for those courts and counties. You can edit your own profile page so clients will see the information you want them to see about you. If you already have a website, you can put links from your profile to your site. If you don't have a website yet, your profile can be your home page on the internet.
The Lawyer Directory has over 12,000 page views a month. There are thousands of people everyday searched for lawyers at town-court.com. Here are some key befits to join the Club:
Have you ever needed to find someone to cover a court appearance for you? Our court calendars make this easy. Lawyer members can enter their schedules into the calendar. When another member is looking for coverage in a court, they go to the calendar page for that court. The calendar lists the lawyers who've said they'll be there. To protect your privacy, the calendars are visible only to members of the site.
The calendar feature is not used much yet. When we get "critical mass" in a state (enough lawyers that it will make sense to use the calendar), we will send an e-mail out to the lawyers in that state that it might be time to try using it. Currently only New York is close to critical mass.
You can write articles on relevant topics. The article directory is organized by topic, and also by state, county and court. Articles are another way to attract potential clients, who will find your article when they search the internet. Content related to specific counties and courts should do particularly well.
The articles section of the site gets over 8000 page views a month.
If you'd like to learn more about the club, please read the Traffic Court User Guide.
About Traffic Lawyer Directory:
Town-Court.com is a directory of traffic courts, criminal courts & traffic lawyers. Find the traffic courts, criminal courts, county court, traffic lawyers & articles about traffic court online now!
Each year, an estimated 800,000 women and children are trafficked across national borders. According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, human trafficking is estimated to annually generate 9.5 billion dollars of revenue. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concluded that human trafficking is now tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest criminal industry in the world today.
According to the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the United Nations Interagency Project on Human Trafficking
in the Mekong Sub-region, sex trafficking appears to be growing in
scope and magnitude, with increasing numbers of countries involved due
in large part to globalization and the relative ease with which
traffickers are able to transport victims between countries.
Sex trafficking is a widespread problem, implicating nearly every country in the world:
- Around 75 percent of all human trafficking victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation.
- About two million women and children are held in sexual servitude around the world, but many experts believe the actual number of trafficked peoples is upwards of 10 times as much. Because of its clandestine nature, it is difficult to determine the magnitude of human trafficking . According to the Dutch National Rapporteur Against Trafficking in Human Beings, only around 5 percent of trafficking cases are ever reported.
- An estimated 120,000 women and girls are trafficked into Western Europe each year. There have been reports of sexual trafficking in at least 20 U.S. states, with most cases occurring in New York, California and Florida. Once issues of domestic trafficking are included, all 50 states would be implicated.
- An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 women and children are trafficked into the U.S. each year. And at any given time, there are 30,000 – 50,000 sex slaves in the United States.
- Sex trafficking fuels the commercial sex industry, which includes both legal and illegal prostitution.
Sex trafficking
happens in both public and private locales. In some cases, trafficking
victims are highly visible and engage in street-level prostitution, but
in most cases, sex trafficking takes place in underground venues, such
as private homes or brothels. Often, public and legal locations such as
massage parlors, spas and strip clubs will be a front for illegal
prostitution and trafficking.
Human trafficking is
sometimes called the “new slavery,” because it retains many of the same
characteristics of a slave (trafficking victim)/master (trafficker)
relationship. In the new slavery, women and girls are purchased cheaply
and sold to customers at a high profit margin. Rather than serve one
master or in one locale, victims are passed around among a variety of
“owners.” And because of the seemingly endless supply of women and
girls, slaves are ultimately disposable.
Many countries
lack tough anti-trafficking legislation and even when legislation is in
place, laws are often not enforced. Relatively few trafficking cases
are prosecuted, and of those, very few result in convictions. Fear and
shame keep many women and girls from seeking help, and widespread
police corruption, exemplified by Thailand and Russia, makes it unsafe
for trafficking victims to approach local and national authorities.
Occasionally,
women and girls are rescued from traffickers and receive support, care
and compassion. More often, though, trafficking victims are treated
like criminals by the police. Women and girls arrested in trafficking
circles are often processed as illegal immigrants rather than
trafficking victims, and are immediately deported to their home
countries where, because few economic alternatives exist, they begin
the cycle of trafficking and exploitation all over again.
Domestic violence against women
would seem to be a private family problem, but it spills out into the
workplace making it an economic problem as well. Millions of women are
verbally, physically, and sexually abused all over the world leading to
countless injuries and sometimes even death. This unfortunate and
devastating personal problem has several repercussions in the work
place. It leaves the victims, and their co-workers, vulnerable to their
attackers as well as having emotional implications making them less
productive.
Abusers use the workplace to find and harass their victims via phone or
email, and can even show up to harm them. Victims can be trapped in low
paying jobs because of changing jobs frequently, absenteeism, and
lateness; all because of the effects of the abuse. Co-workers have a
concern for the victim, as well as needing to take over some of the
victim’s work, and this reduces productivity further.
According the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), domestic violence
victims lose a total of 8 million days of paid work per year, and cost
businesses 4.1 billion in health care services, and an additional 727.8
million in productivity losses. The U.S. Department of Justice has
found that about 20,000 workers are threatened or attacked at work
every year. The leading cause of death in the workplace of women is
homicide by intimate partners.
Studies show that knowing the signs of domestic violence against women
can lessen the risk of danger to the victims and co-workers. Employers
can take steps to protect employees and help them find resources for
assistance. They should have policies for recognizing warning signs and
training on how to properly communicate with a victim. Additional
policies can be in place and employees should be aware of them, and
know where to seek help when needed.
An employer should have a formal domestic violence policy on file and
in the employee handbook. They should make efforts to provide a secure
work environment including safe entry, screening victim’s phone calls,
and changing her email or phone number if needed. They can also ensure
that she is safely escorted to her car, change her payroll address, and
change her work station or schedule if considered necessary. These
policies keep the victim safe, and will also help them keep their jobs.
A company will benefit by having a more productive employee, and the
emotional well being of all employees will be more stable.
Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor.”Domestic Violence”
as a Workplace Concern outlines the impact of domestic violence against
women in the workplace . Soroptimist.org sponsors the Soroptimist
Campaign to End Domestic Violence in an effort to support victims and prevent further violence.
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