Jenna Baruch

November 1st, 2016

Period 6
Annotated Source List

"American Psychological Association." American Psychological Association, 2016,

www.apa.org. Accessed 31 Oct. 2016.

This website is the official website for the American Psychological Association (APA).
This webpage contains a variety of other resources. Different sections on this page include about
APA, topics, publications and databases, psychology help center, news and events, science,
education, careers, and membership. The APA is an organization that works to advance the
creation, communication, and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and
improve peoples lives. The APA features a variety of topics of study including addiction,
bullying, emotional health, HIV and AIDS, marriage and divorce, sexual abuse, suicide, and
therapy. The APA website has access to books, journals, databases, videos, software and
magazines about all of their selected topics. The website includes a help center with information
form recovering from an eating disorder to preparing for a tropical storm.
This website contains a large variety of sources about different psychological topics.
This information is very relevant to my field of study, as one of the topics focused on by the
APA is sexual assault. I can use the resources on their website to expand my research on the
topic of sexual assault through the lens of psychology. This can provide me with a different
perspective on sexual assault, and can help to explain why people abuse, and how the resulting
trauma affects abusers and victims throughout their lives.

"American Sociological Association." American Sociological Association, 2016,

www.asanet.org. Accessed 9 Oct. 2016.

This is the official website for the American Sociological Association (ASA). On the
ASA website there are different sociology topics, research publications and scientific journals,
teaching and learning resources, a career center resource, and news for the associations. All of
the topics on the website focus on the study of behaviors, and the analysis and questions that are
deducted and raised based on this research. The topic breakdown includes sections like
Application and Sociological practice, Biology and Sociology, Crime, Law, and Deviance,
Gender and Sexuality and many others. The American Sociological Association publishes
fourteen scholarly journals including the top ranks American Sociological Review. The website
also contains resources for faculty and teachers at different levels of education. Finally, the
website has resources for those interested in applying for a job at the ASA or applying to be a
volunteer for the association. This American Sociological Association contains numerous
resources for research into all popular fields of topic in sociology.
This website contains a variety of different journals filled with research reporting for a
variety of topics in sociology. There are a multitude of articles specific to the topic of domestic
violence and sexual assault. However, since this association does not strictly focus on domestic
violence, the majority of articles do not contain information relevant to this, and articles that do
discus domestic violence may be focused more on the sociology behind it. This perspective of
violence from a point of view of sociology may offer an interesting perspective in the terms of
research on sexual violence in young people, and the cycle of abuse. The idea of the cycle of
abuse being a characteristic in the family, that continues through generations may be be a
possible topic of study using resources on the ASA website. Having this new perspective and
background knowledge on the topic of abuse may aid my future research and assist in narrowing
down the topic of domestic and sexual violence to a more specific topic

Anonymous. "Violence through Words Is Still Violence - and This Stirring

Response to Emotional Abuse Will Show You Why." Everyday Feminism, 23 June
2015, everydayfeminism.com/2015/06/emotional-abuse-still-violence/.
Accessed 30 Oct. 2016.

This article has been posted on numerous websites under the name Anonymous. The
speaker is discussing a relationship where there were years of emotional abuse. The speaker
begins by describing the ways that her abuser manipulated her into thinking that she was not
being abused. He told her that she was too sensitive and she was overreacting and couldnt
take a joke. These words along with constant emotional and verbal abuse caused her to be silent.
She constantly thought that she was doing something wrong in the relationship, and that it was
her fault that she was being abused. However since she had no physical scars, marks, or bruises
on her body, no one was convinced that she was actually being abused. She wrote that its took
over five years of therapy and telling her story until she realized that the emotional tormenting
she went through was abuse. The speaker went on to describe specific instances of name calling,
belittling and sexual shaming. While her partner was consistently shouting hurtful words at her,
she remained silent, holding back what she wanted to say. Through this article, her story, she
was able to speak her mind and finally comment on the emotional abuse that she had faced. She
commented on the lack of awareness on emotional abuse and she ended her article and wrote
They dont ever have to lay a goddamn hand on you for it to be abuse.
Domestic violence is generally looked at as physical violence: a husband beating his
wife. Not only is this a very primal way to look at intimate partner violence, but it also ignores
all types of emotional abuse. This article clearly shows that emotional and verbal abuse can have
as much of an impact on someone as physical abuse. Personal testaments about abuse let people
in to what can really happen in a relationship. However each relationship is different, so this
cannot be used as an overall, what happens in a relationship with emotional abuse, but it can be
used to broaden my research. The majority of the research around intimate partner violence is
focused on physical violence. Many systematic reviews of research that I have come across
completely ignore any emotional abuse that is not also attached to physical abuse. With this
knowledge, I can extend my research and make a conscious effort to include all types of
violence in my study of domestic and intimate partner violence.

Bainter, Tracey R. "Domestic Violence." Child Development, edited by Neil J. Salkind,

Macmillan Reference USA, 2002, pp. 124-127. Accessed 31 Oct. 2016.

Domestic violence is defined as referring to violence that occurs in the home. In Child
Development, Bainter looks at violence that occurred between adolescents and/or adults who
were engaged in an intimate relationship. This violence was characterized as physical, sexual,
emotional, and psychological. Physical abuse was defined as physical harm and the use of
objects to inflict pain on another person. Using sexual acts to degrade a partner, or forcing a
partner to have sex was described as sexual assault. Emotional and psychological abuses were
characterized by tactics to scare or harm the partner. According to Bainter, domestic violence
can occur to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, races, sexual identities, and religion.
Although the incidence of domestic violence reporting was very high, Bainter and many others
wrote that the number of reporting was far less than the actual incidence of violence, especially
for those of a higher socioeconomic class. This specific piece of writing focuses on how
children are impacted by domestic violence. He then discusses how children who are victims
may need medical attention, but that children of victims may develop anxiety and depression
based on the abuse that they witnessed. Along with this, children of victims have a greater risk
for become a victim in the future. Bainter cites three different possible causes of domestic
violence: individual characteristics, family structure, and societal perspective. In individual
characteristics, Bainter discusses how each relationship is different, and that there are many
different causes for violence. Bainter concludes the chapter by saying that determining the
cause of domestic violence is complex, thereby making it difficult to find a viable solution.
This source provides a very basic overview of domestic violence. However it does not
provide any new information on this topic. This will be a good resource to cite on basic types of
violence and data on who is affected by violence. However it is very basic and not very
interesting, thus it does not add anything to my research.

Gavin, Phoebe. "Here's What It Looks like When a Normal Relationship Descends
into an Abusive Nightmare." Upworthy, 21 Oct. 2014, www.upworthy.com/
heres-what-it-looks-like-when-a-normal-relationship-descends-into-an-abusive-nightmare?
c=tpstream. Accessed 31 Oct. 2016. Infographic.

This infographic contains accurate facts, statistics, and warning signs for abusive
relationships. The graphic begins with statistics about sexual assault. Every 60 seconds 24
people are victims of sexual assault, every hour 1,440 people are victims of sexual assault, every
year 12 million people are victims or rape, physical or sexual assault by a partner. The graphic
then continues by visually showing the number of men (over 1 in 4) and women (over 1 in 3)
that will experience any time of physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime. The chart shows
different populations of people, and their likeliness to be assaulted, and to report it to the police.
According to this graphic about 18% of women report being raped at some point in their lives.
The graphic then specifies the different types of abuse: emotional and psychological, physical,
sexual, financial, and digital abuse. Emotional abuse is defined as verbal threats and
undermining a persons sense of worth, physical abuse is defined as unwanted or violent
touching, grabbing, or throwing objects, sexual abuse is defined as any sexual pressure, rape, or
withholding contraceptives, financial abuse is described as controlling of withholding money
and finances, and lastly digital abuse is characterized by using technology to harass, stalk, or
intimidate a partner. The graphic then describes six warning signs, or red flags for abuse and
violence. These sign include habitual jealousy, superiority complex, habitual disrespect, and
aggression. The graphic also focuses on healthy relationships, discussing the importance of
communication and boundaries. The last and perhaps most important section focuses on victim
blaming. In bright large lettering the inforgraphic reads Dont Blame the Victim. An abuser
already makes the victim feel as if the abuse is their fault, which is why when other people
outside of the relationship reinforce this idea it can be toxic to the victim. The inforgraphic
closes with resources including websites and hotlines for victims of abuse to seek help.
 This infographic has provided a vast amount of useful statistics and information. The
powerful statistics will be useful in papers and oral presentations where a grabber is needed to
show the relevance of sexual and domestic violence. The information about different
populations of people and their likeliness to be assault reinforces my previous research on the
high-risk group. Although this provides one place for a lot of concise information, it has not
presented an abundance of new information of the topic of sexual assault and domestic violence.
This resource will be helpful whenever statistics are needed to help convey my idea, but it does
not aid in my main research as it provides limited new information.

Gender Bias Task Force of Texas. The Gender Bias Task Force of Texas Final Report. Print.

The final report from the Gender Bias Task Force of Texas contained three chapters
relevant to sexual assault and domestic violence: Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Sex
Discrimination/Sexual Harassment. In chapter seven, the Gender Bias Task Force of Texas
discusses protective orders, lack of access to the system, attitudes toward victims of domestic
violence, lack of knowledge of the dynamics of family violence, and bias against men as the
main topics for gender bias in the courts. It can be difficult for high-risk women, women of low
socioeconomic status, to obtain protective orders. This creates a lack of access to the system for
women. The attitudes toward victims of domestic violence result in sexist victim-blaming
attitudes that actually can harm the victim, instead of helping them. Judges lack of knowledge
on the dynamics of family violence can result in a disconnection between the judicial system,
and the family where the domestic violence dispute is occurring. In chapter eight, the task force
references credibility of the victim, lack of understanding of the dynamics of sexual assault,
sexual assault not taken seriously, treatment of victims and use of gender stereotypes, date rape
and acquaintance rape, and marital rape as sources of gender bias in the court in relation to
sexual assault. In many court cases, women were viewed as less credible then men. This issue
was particularly present in sexual assault cases. Women were more likely than men to agree that
victims of sexual assault were accorded less credible than victims of other assault types. It was
not uncommon in the Texas court system, that prosecutors were uneducated when it came to
understanding the dynamics of sexual assault. This misinformation along with judges not
viewing women as credible sources resulted in sexual assault not being taken seriously in the
court system. Although police are taking these claims serious, prosecutors are not. Gender
stereotyping is an issue in sexual assault cases as stereotypes help to reinforce sexist ideas of
females, which help to discredit females in court. Marital rape still remains an issue in courts.
Many do not believe that the court takes sexual assault seriously when a spouse committed the
assault. Lastly in chapter nine lack of access, insufficient remedies, and other deficiencies in
Texas law, composition of bench and bar, and intimidating tactics are discussed as the main
sources of gender bias in relation to sexual harassment and discrimination. Lack of access was
defined as victims being denied access to legal representation based on their gender. The statute
around sexual discrimination of women does not view emotional abuse as a damage and thus the
court will not include chargers of therapy to a man who caused emotional distress on a women.
In some scenarios there will be a gap in the law and some small businesses in place like Texas
can get away with sexual harassment due to the way certain laws are written for businesses.
Finally depositions are used to intimidate the women as they can force her to be at the court for
very long periods of time for multiple days. This review cited specific examples within the
Texas court system as well as providing visual graphs and charts of information.
 This source provides an abundance of useful information about gender stereotyping in
sexual assault, domestic violence, and sexual harassment court cases in the Texas judicial
system. It also supports ides of gender bias in courts that were introduced by research into the
Gender Bias Task Force of Nebraska. This similar research shows that there is evidence of
similar gender bias in more than one state, which may suggest that this is a pattern in the judicial
system throughout the United States. This research will inspire more research into this are of
study. However this review is slightly outdated and thus it cannot be assumed that all of the
information about the state of the court has remained unchanged. But, this information is very
interesting to read, and helps to add to my interest in researching the how the judicial system
may be shaping societies view of issues of sexual assault, domestic violence, and gender bias.

Griswold, Heidi. Interview. 29 Oct. 2016.

My mentor, Heidi Griswold has been working at HopeWorks through their community
outreach department since last May. Heidi moved from St. Louis Missouri to Maryland for this
specific job at HopeWorks because of her passion for prevention and education work. Heidi first
went to Oberlin College and then transferred to Northeastern University. There she majored in
International affairs and cultural anthropology. At school her passion for social justice grew as
she joined a youth activism club and started a social justice club. She was also a camp counselor
and apart of many different musicals and plays. These experiences were how she knew she
wanted to work with other people directly to make a change in her community. In college she
was an activist for feminism, gender equality, the LGBTQA+ movement and for rights of
campus workers. At her school faculty in the cafeteria were unable to speak their first language
in front of students (if it was not English) and they were not given fair breaks. She created a
student group that spoke out against the injustice and completed sit-ins until there point was
heard. Eventually her efforts resulted in the school changing their policies to help the workers.
Heidis social activism work has allowed her to work with clients of HopeWorks. Through
HopeWorks she works with Vanita Leatherwood on community outreach and education. Heidi is
passionate about her job and ending sexual and intimate partner violence.

Hilgert, Noah. "The Burden Of Consent: Due Process And The Emerging Adoption Of The
Affirmative Consent Standard In Sexual Assault Laws." Arizona Law Review 58.3 (2016):
867-899. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Noah Hilgert opens his discussion of affirmative consent by citing Donald Trumps
lawyer who claimed that legally you cannot rape your spouse. It is because of the uncertainty
and vagueness in statutes that allow for incorrect claims like this to be made and supported.
Affirmative consent is generally defined as yes means yes. However this fosters an incorrect
idea of the goal of affirmative consent. This proved to be an issue on college campuses
especially, as the legal definition of consent is still very unclear. The purpose of affirmative
consent was to improve the former means of proving rape that placed the burden of proof on the
victim, instead of the rapist, or abuser. This new statute also helped to fix the incorrect idea that
no mean no in a sense where it was only rape if the victim had expressed refusal through the
word no. Affirmative consent now provides a more accurate definition of consent: anything
less than yes does not qualify as consent. This new definition of consent has helped victim
seek justice in sexual assault cases, but it is not near perfect. Many different universities have
interpreted sexual assault laws differently, resulting in statues that range from too broad to too
rigid. Hilgert believes that the goal of the statute should be to remove the scrutiny and blame
from the victim and to place the burden of proof on the defendant. Thus he thinks that the
language needs to be changed to ask the accused did or didnt do to make sure that they had
consent of the other person. This would place the burden on the defendant who would then have
to prove that they received consent, as apposed to the victim proving that they did not give it.
Adopting affirmative consent would help to stop the misconduct in cases of sexual assault in the
law.
This article was extremely interesting to read, and will be very helpful to my topic of
research. Hilgert writes a very recent and in-depth description on how rape laws have changed
in 50 years, specifically looking at affirmative consent and how it has begun to be incorporated
into the law. The view of rape as an issue of the law was a very different perspective from others
that I had been exposed to. The wording of the definition of rape and consent changes the
burden of consent from the defendant to the victim. This encourages victim blaming as well as
false ideas being spread about rape and consent. The only reason that Donald Trumps lawyer
was able to say incorrect statements about marital rape was due to the wording of the law. This
information would be specifically interesting in presentations and research, and is very relevant
to my research as it is extremely current and changing as rape is becoming a more discussed
topic.

Hope Works Howard County. We are Hope Works, 2016, http://www.wearehopeworks.org.

Accessed 9 Oct. 2016.

We are HopeWorks is the official website of Hope Works of Howard County, the non-
profit agency. This website contains Hope Works mission statement, the services they offer,
news and upcoming events, ways to donate, contact information, and resources to get help. The
HopeWorks mission statement is to work towards the elimination of domestic and sexual
violence while supporting those who have been afflicted within Howard County. Their resource
page includes a twenty-four hour hotline for victims of violence to receive help, as well as
information to contact those at the office to place them in the care they need. They also list out
each of their four focuses: intervention, prevention, education, and advocacy. Through
intervention they have advocates who are on the phone for twenty-four hours, available to help
anyone in need. They also advertise for their own community outreach events and invite them
public to participate as well as to volunteer to help. They also have news articles about advances
in the law in terms of preventing sexual violence and increasing help and support to victims
going through the justice system.
This website contains all of the information about HopeWorks as a non-profit
organization and an agency. This resource is useful to spread information about the
opportunities, events, and programs at HopeWorks, as well as a point of reference for anyone
who is curious about what HopeWorks does. The articles and news sources linked to the
HopeWorks webpage will be critical to narrowing different topics within domestic, sexual, and
Intimate Partner violence. Perhaps the most important application of this website will not be for
a potential research project but as resource to give out to anyone who may need help or an
intervention in their personal lives. One of the goals of working with HopeWorks is to become
an advocate for safe relationships in the community. The HopeWorks website is the first step for
many to get help and get out of an abusive relationship. Having this website on hand allows me
to be an advocate for HopeWorks, and to carry out their mission of helping to interject in
violence and allows victims to come to safety. The information can also be spread to those who
are interested in either donating to the cause, volunteering for events, or volunteering to working
in the office for childcare. While the website will not be specifically helpful to my paper and I
will most likely not be choosing any pages to site specifically for the research paper, the
HopeWorks website is important to the effect I wish to have on the community using what I
have learned at HopeWorks.

Johnson, Wendi L., et al. "Intimate Partner Violence and Depressive Symptoms
During Adolescence and Young Adulthood." Journal of Health and Social
Behavior, vol. 55, no. 1, Mar. 2014, pp. 39-55. Abstract.

This abstract examines the relationship between Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and
depression during adolescence and young adulthood. This longitudinal study uses data from the
Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study to examine these relationships. The results of the study
showed that depression was more likely in relationships with IPV. This study disproves others
that suggested that some were more prone to becoming depressed after experiencing IPV.
Johnson uses this information to show that depression form IPV can affect both men and women
equally during both adolescence and young adulthood.
Although this information is interesting it is not useful to my topics of interest. Intimate
Partner Violence is very similar to Domestic Violence in severity of abuse. DV and IPV mostly
refer to adults or those who are in more serious, long-term sexual relationships. This
classification of violence does not necessarily include teenage and adolescent dating
relationships. However the types of sexual violence that I am researching does not include IPV
and is more focused on rapes and unwanted sexual assaults of high risk youths age twelve to
twenty-five, along with dating violence among youths and young adults. This resource is good
for giving background information and expanding knowledge on what other professionals in the
field are choosing to study and spend money and recourses on. However this specific area of
focus is not something that I am interested in researching further.

Joly, Lauren E., and Jennifer Connolly. "Dating Violence among High-Risk Young
Women: A Systematic Review Using Quantitative and Qualitative Methods."
Behavioral Sciences, vol. 6, no. 1, 29 Jan. 2016.

This extensive article is a systematic review of multiple different scholarly articles on

the topic of Dating Violence among High-Risk Young Women. The category of high risk was
classified as youth ages twelve to twenty-five years old, which are likely to experience
interpersonal and intrapersonal distress as a result of environmental circumstances. This distress
is described as sexual violence. The environmental risk factors include unstable living
conditions, familial violence, and involvement in criminal activity, and mental health issues.
These women discussed in this review were categorized as street-involved, justice-
involved, pregnant, parenting, involved with Child Protective Services, and diagnosed with
mental health issues. This review condenses the information of twenty-one articles that used
quantitative data as a means of reporting, and eight articles that used qualitative data. The article
used analysis to look at the most discussed topics within the articles and compare their
similarities and differences.
 This article is a great resource to use as a starting place for research on domestic and
sexual violence. This journal already narrows down the broad topic of domestic and sexual
violence to that of violence on high-risk women. This article is applicable to my research
because the chosen topic is focused on female youths, which falls within the high-risk category.
Generally this is a good place to start for basic research and gathering ideas. Although the
research may not be focused on criminals and street involved youths, this research can be used
to learn more about other factors that may cause someone to be more vulnerable to sexual
violence. This journal will be mostly used to gain more background knowledge and to assist in
narrowing down possible topics of research.

Latshaw, Beth A. "Examining the Impact of a Domestic Violence Simulation on the

Development of Empathy in Sociology Classes." Teaching Sociology, vol. 43,
no. 4, Oct. 2015, pp. 227-89. Abstract.

Beth Latshaw studies five different sociology classes to analyze their behavioral and
emotional responses before and after they participated in a simulation on domestic violence. She
evaluated their responses based on their, level of global empathy, responses toward students,
definitions of abuse, and whether or not they participate sin victim-blaming attitudes about the
simulations. Latshaw say an increase in empathy towards the victims, greater disagreement with
victim blaming statements, and an expansion in the definitions of abuse given by the students.
Latshaws study determined that once her students went through a simulation about domestic
violence there is a small increase in their understanding of abuse and their sympathy towards
victims.
This abstract is useful to give insight to one way that a professor has tried to inform
students on issues of domestic and sexual violence, and increase their sympathies towards
victims. Latshaw intended for her finding to be replicated by other instructors to help students
better comprehend the difficult subject of sexual violence and abuse. This information can be
used to aid in the research as well as in developing a project. The goal of the project is to better
inform high school students on sexual violence and ways they can help to stop and prevent it.
This study is useful because it shows that using a simulation can help to increase students
empathies as well as improve their definitions of abuse. However this specific study was only
conducted on sociology students, who may already have a bias towards being more empathetic
in these situations.

Leatherwood, Vanita. Interview. 1 Nov. 2016.

Vanita Leatherwood is the Director of Community Engagement at HopeWorks. At

HopeWorks she leads different educational workshops including workshops that use art and
poetry to help survivors tell their stories and begin to heal.

Nebraska Supreme Court Task Force on Gender Fairness in the Courts. Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault. Lincoln, Dec. 1994.

The Nebraska Supreme Court Task Force on Gender Fairness in the Courts provides an
overview of how men and women are treated in court. Specifically the task force focused on
how women felt that they were not being treated equally to men when testifying on matters of
domestic violence and sexual assault. Overall the task force found that based on surveys and
testimonies, women felt that they were disrespected and not treated fairly by the judicial system.
Specifically for cases of domestic and sexual assault, women continually reported that judges
blamed them (the victim) as the reason for the abuse. The article then quotes specific women
who expressed their opinions on how the judicial system made them feel, and what females
would like to get out of the system. The article then talks specifically about protection and
restraining orders. One of the main issues was exposed from this task force was that in many
cases, attorneys did not feel that marital rape justified the issuance of a protective or restraining
order. Some judges do not grant protective orders for cases of emotional abuse, where physical
abuse is not present. This is a large issue as the judge is completely ignoring emotional and
verbal abuse as a type of abuse. Not only does this invalidate the person trying to get the order,
but also in many cases it is a just a sexist based decision against a female. The task force then
discussed the custody issues that come along with domestic violence. It was discovered based
on their research that men were more likely to think a women was taken seriously in court than
other women were. Specific instances of judges clearly being sexist and siding with the abusive
male were cited in the article. One of the main areas where women were mistreated in the court
was during the questioning of a sexual assault trial. Attorneys supported gender stereotypes by
agreeing with phrases such as provocative dress is an invitation and no means yes.
Generally male attorneys were less likely to notice this misconduct in the questioning of the
victim, and were less likely to mention that their client was being treated unfairly.
This task force review provides clear evidence on the misconduct and mistreatment of
females that occurs in the court around domestic violence and sexual assault cases. This
information will help me to broaden my research and possibly include this as another topic of
study. However there are some factors with this review that are not helpful to my research.
Mainly this document is outdated, published in 1994, and while it would be worthwhile to see if
anything has changed in the court system, I cannot credit this as current information. Also all of
this data came fro Nebraska. Thus I cannot say that this data from one state speaks for Maryland
or even is accurate to all of the United States without conducting further research. However
overall this information is useful to prove that gender bias in the courts is happening in domestic
violence and sexual assault cases.

Rios, Carmen. "Stop Asking Already: 6 Reasons Why Intimate Partner Violence
Survivors Stay in Their Relationships." Everyday Feminism, 21 Jan. 2015,
everydayfeminism.com/2015/01/why-ipv-survivors-stay/. Accessed 30 Oct.
2016.

The article by Carmen Rios entitled, Stop Asking Already discusses six of the main
reasons that someone involved in a relationship where there is IPV (Intimate Partner Violence)
occurring may decide to stay. Many people often ask survivors of violence why they stay, or
continue to go back, deeming these behaviors wrong, and in turn victim blaming the survivor for
years of continued abuse. The first reason that many survivors of abuse stay is due to the cycle
of abuse. The four steps of the abuse cycle are Tension Building, Acting Out, Honeymoon, and
Calm. During the last two phases, the abuser apologizes and the relationship may revert to an
initial kind and loving way. This cycle makes it difficult for the abuse to appear as a continual
pattern, as it is broken up by the good times. Thus people with an abusive partner can begin to
rationalize it and blame themselves, and not view it as anything more than a rough patch.
Another reason that a survivor may stay is because they may be dependent on their abusive
partner. The abuser could be the provider for the household, or the abuser could be in control of
the finances, and the survivor may be unable to control their own finances. Another reason that
it may be difficult to leave is because in some cases leaving could lead to more, or worsened
violence from the abuser. The moment that an abused person leaves a home with their abuser is
the most dangerous time for them in their cycle of abuse. Because of this it can be difficult to
leave when there is an incident because there is always a large amount of uncertainty if leaving
will make the situation worse. Many people experience IPV or DV have children who are living
with them. Leaving a house with an abusive partner means that you have to make arrangements
for your children too, and then there is a possibility that they could lose custody of their
children, and make the childs lives worse off. The article cites that a main reason that victims of
IPV stay is because the culture we live in doesnt always support survivors of IPV. Thus many
think it may not be worth it to leave, if no one will help or believe them. The amount of stigma
and victim blaming that occurs in our society around IPV is enough to make a survivor want to
hide what is happening to them. Finally, something that many people forget it that survivors of
abuse still love their abusive partners. Even though they are abusive, the survivor still hopes that
they will eventually break cycle.
This article is a great resource to have to explain the dreaded question many survivors
face: Why did you stay? This question takes the blame off of the abuser and puts it onto the
survivor. Fueling the victim blaming nature of our current society, asking a survivor why they
didnt leave sooner promotes the false ideas that it is somehow their fault that they were being
abused. This article is a great resource to give out to people who ask the question Why did you
stay? as well as to counselors who speak to survivors of IPV to show them that their reasons
for staying were valid. This resource has also opened my mind to what goes on the life of
someone who is being abused, and all the factors and eventual decisions that go into the
decision to leave.

"Tea and Consent." YouTube, uploaded by Thames Valley Police, 16 Nov. 2015,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZwvrxVavnQ. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016.

The tea and consent video explains the concept of consent through the situation of
making someone tea to drink. The video is a series of sketches and a voice over. The voice
begins by saying, If youre still struggling with consent just imagine instead of initiating sex,
youre making them a cup of tea. The first sketch is of one person asking another if they would
like a cup or tea, and the other accepting. For all of the scenarios where the person said no, or
was uncertain, the video specified not to force a cup of tea down their throat. It continues to say,
dont make them drink the tea, dont get angry at them if they dont want the tea, dont get mad
at them if they ask for the tea, and then decide not to drink it anymore, dont feel entitled to
watch them drink the tea even though you made it for them. The video then references situations
specific to rape and sexual violence through the same tea metaphor. If they are unconscious,
dont make them tea. The video then discussed a scenario where someone asks for tea, and then
becomes unconscious in the time it takes to make the tea, and says, Dont force the tea down
their throat. The main idea of the video is that consent is a simple question. There is no special
scenario where consent is assumed or expected. Asking someone if they want a cup of tea is no
different than asking someone if they want to have sex, no means no, and the only yes is a
continual positive yes.
 This video uses a very simple metaphor to prove a big point. The idea of forcing tea
down someones throat, when they just changed their mind about tea, seems completely
irrational to the average person. However when applied to sex and consent, many people in
society think that these lines are somehow blurred. I think that this would be a great video to
show to a group of high school students when talking about sexual violence, dating violence and
consent. I would use this videos simple message as a way to convey the concept of consent in an
easy to understand, relatable way. At some points in the video it almost seems too simple, which
is exactly the point in informing teens about consent and violence. I want to use this resource in
any future presentations to begin the conversation about consent.