Bravery Merchandise and More

In efforts to raise money to continue the portrait series for Bravery, I am introducing a new segment of Bravery Project, Inc. This page that will begin with this modest list of merchandise and will hopefully continue to grow over the next year. Being the creative person that I am, I started a card series that will begin with a holiday design and one Bravery portrait (Henry's Story). Eventually there will be several types with uplifting messages, seasonal, and some of my artwork on the custom cards that you can enjoy as one of a kind. I will take requests for special designs that you can use for your nonprofit gency or as personal cards as well. I do have card items in stock, but you can order them and I will get them out to you within a week.

Bravery Project tshirts and autographed mugs are available now and over time, I will introduce some really fun sassy apparel that will show everyone that survivors ROCK! There will also be the option to put my artwork onto clothing by request.


The Merchandise page is not exclusive to Bravery Merchandise. I am leaving it open to other business who want to provide quality products to sell via my website. The only thing I ask is a small percentage of proceeds given to Bravery Project. I continue to get quite a nice chunk of traffic via the web and hope to expand the merchandise page to not only help my organization, but others who need to raise funds as well. If you are interested, let me know.

Domestic Abuse and Child Prostitution

The more I learn about human rights issues, the more I see needs to be done. It's truly amazing how many battles you can pick from and then spend a lifetime bringing awareness and change. One that really lights my hair on fire is human trafficking. The more you understand about this pandemic, the more you can also see how issues are connected together.

The other night, while feeling ill with a mild fever and cold symptoms, I watched a couple of documentaries on "Slave Girls in India" and then "Teen Prostitutes or Sex Victims?" back to back by the same filmmaker, Lisa Ling. These are both films about female minors being stolen, manipulated and trapped into slave labor. It's interesting to watch how India and the U.S. handle the issue of the human trafficking of minors in this situation. Human trafficking is a HUGE problem around the world and very little is done about it. If our government can find Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole in the middle of the desert, then why can't we find and stop the traffickers of slave labor? The answer is...we can. The long answer is that there is very little legal or system support in place for these girls once they are involved in these situations. Once again, people have to care and some do.

What really struck me was the unbelievable lack of support for minor girls who are found prostituting in the United States. According to a special police task force in New York (you can learn about them in the film), 90% of the girls come from sexually abusive homes. They run away and end up with a male predator who takes them in, displaying the "love and care" they so desperately want, which inevitably ends up forcing them into prostitution. The average start age is 12-14 and once they are in, they can't get out. The relationship between a prostitute and her pimp is parallel to a domestic abuse situation between spouses or domestic partners. She gets no money for her work, she is beaten and raped, she is emotionally and mentally battered and utterly reliant on her pimp for everything, and then her life is threatened if she tries to leave. Sound familiar?

According to the documentary, once this 8th grader is caught for prostitution, she is treated like a criminal. The difference between how the law treats rape and prostitution is based on the exchange of money. Nice. Additionally, there are virtually no safe homes or therapy programs for girls in this situation and just like domestic abuse victims, many times they have little assistance and end up back in the same hell.

I am struck by the fact that these are children and this is human trafficking, domestic abuse, pedafilia, and wrong wrong wrong on so many levels, yet the issue remains invisible and couched in myth. So what can we do? Bring awareness to start. Check out Lisa Ling's website and read her blog on this issue. Tell others. Explain the parallel with domestic abuse and think about how you can incorporate efforts into this along with what you are doing now.

Lisa Ling's Website
Child Exploitation in the USA: Not Just a Problem for Developing Nations
Police arrest 600 in child prostitution crackdown
childrenofthenight.org (nonprofit working to help children)
National Geographic: 21st Century Slaves
Us Dept of State: 2003 Human Trafficking Report

Preaching to the Chior

One of the biggest issues surrounding domestic violence efforts, and there are many, is the "preaching to the choir" problem. After attending many events over the past several months, I notice the same people over and over. Don't get me wrong, I love to see these wonderful human beings; however, in order to make cultural change, our efforts need to break out of the advocacy circle and into the general populace.

Today, I attended the forum meeting for the Purple Ribbon Study Circle pilot program to see the outcome, and of course bring the Bravery portraits to share. After all the groups around the valley presented their study circle results, we ended up with three main focuses: Education, Awareness, and System Changes. Nothing new here. The pilot stats also showed that most of the participants were also staff/advocates or survivors in the field. Nothing new again. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful beginning with lots of fertile ideas and passion, which is what this movement needs.

As my Monty Python heroes like to say, "And now for something completely different". I will begin some change in the language I use to promote Bravery. In order to be more inclusive of the many issues about domestic violence, I will start calling it domestic abuse. How will this make a difference? Public perception by rebranding the issue.


Here is a nice concise definition of abuse from answers.com:
Abuse is defined as any thing that is harmful, injurious, or offensive. Abuse also includes excessive and wrongful misuse of anything. There are several major types of abuse: physical and sexual abuse of a child or an adult, substance abuse, elderly abuse, and emotional abuse. (let's not forget animals too.)

Now the noun definition of domestic violence from answers.com:
Violence toward or physical abuse of one's spouse or domestic partner.

I noticed that Donna Bartos, the founder of the Purple Ribbon Council and Study Circles, uses this language. She brought up good points about how words are portrayed with cultural beliefs. As advocates, we know that domestic violence isn't just physical abuse among spouses, but most people still see that very definition. Domestic abuse has a broader meaning that encompasses any domestic or familiar situation in it's relation to any form of abuse, which encompasses all types of individuals no matter age, race, history, gender, or leg count (pets). As one small step for human/animal rights, I encourage you to join me in this vernacular.

Purple Ribbon Study Circles

Abuse defined (all on one page)

VOCA Part 2

Unfortunately, many people who suffer from domestic abuse and sexual assault turn to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain of what is happening to them and easily develop a dependency. When they finally muddle through the chaos to get help, they were turned away from ALL the shelters because of substance abuse.

One courageous lady saw this gap in victim services and decided to take action. My kind of person! She founded the National Advocacy and Training Network and Support Education Empowerment DirectionS ( NATN and SEEDS), which addresses the health, safety, economic and social justice issues related to domestic violence, sexual assault and substance abuse through education, public awareness and direct services. In the SEEDS program, safe homes are provided for women to live in while they rebuild their lives. Whew! a tall order that needs, well... lots of money.

Besides writing grant proposals that don't guarantee results and asking for donations, said founder discovered a new way...a better way. In a previous post, I talked about the reduced funding in the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and how one nonprofit agency has an innovative business model to help bring in funding while keeping with the mission of the service they provide. How are they doing this? By making a cup of joe.

Introducing Cup O' Karma Community Cafe for a Cause or COK for short and formally known as Into the Bean. For about a buck, this prosperous coffee house and popular college hangout was donated to NATN/SEEDs and has become a role model for nonprofit agencies across the country. To simplify things, COK brings in almost pure profit because there is no payroll. Employees are either volunteers or women from the SEEDS program. The SEEDS ladies get job training skills that help them build resumes. Most of the profit from COK goes back into funding NATN/SEEDS. Since the cafe is already established and makes fantastic mango smoothies, chocolate lattes, and awesome green tea fusions all served up with a warm smile, it's a win-win for everyone.

This is the kind of smart business model that produces sustainability for everyone: the nonprofit agency to keep services growing, the job skills for survivors to become financially independent, the caffeine and yummy concoctions to please customer demands--all through the free enterprise system rather than the political or donation system. Everyone involved contributes, not because they have to, but because they want to--talk about spreading the wealth around!




VOCA

COK (Into the Bean)

NATN/SEEDS

Purple Ribbon Study Circles

One of the best ways to solve a problem is to collaborate with different people. Although we might be experts in our own field or experience about a topic, nothing beats a think-tank. This type of collaboration is a democratic method that includes brainstorming, sharing ideas, countering ideas in a respectful way, choosing the best solutions for a particular problem as a group. This is good practice for an opinionated person like myself.

After attending four weeks of two hour sessions at Dolce Spa and Salon, I have to say that the Purple Ribbon Study Circle was fabulous. The program is sponsored by the Morrison Institute and is in the pilot stage to determine whether it is effective and will continue forward. Information in the manual was put together based on general information people believe about domestic violence.

The objective is to get as many community members together as possible to learn about domestic abuse and how to solve the plethora of issues it brings to the community. Brilliant.

Our group consisted of survivors of domestic violence, advocates, counselors, community members --some without much knowledge about the issue. It was a nice mix that brought new and fresh information to the table. We had a couple of males in the group that gave interesting perspectives as well.

Here are a couple of things I learned at our study circle:
Based on an advocate who works for the police department, statistics show that DV Abusers fit the same measurable pattern of behavior as child predators, but the victims do not fit any pattern, which means they CAN be anyone.

Based on an attending survivor, telling EVERYONE you can that your abuser is a jerk makes a huge difference in how much support you get. It's not just the police or family, it's talking to your boss, the neighbors, people you see frequently, i.e. grocery store, dry cleaners.

There is a final report meeting on November 15th in which results from all the study circles will be presented in which yours truly will be attending. I can't wait to see what solutions everyone came up with.

If the program continues, and I am pretty confident it will, this opportunity is free and open to anyone who wants to be part of the solution of domestic abuse.


Morrison Institute

Purple Ribbon Council

Purple Ribbon Study Circles