Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
An International Crisis
BMCC XI:
BMCC XI Faculty
Renee Beeker
Melanie Blow
Robert Brannon
Dara Carlin
Rhonda Lee Case
Joseph Coe
Holly Collins
Jennifer Collins
Clara Colon
Jane Doe
Riane Eisler
Nancy S. Erickson
Phyllis B. Frank
Rose Garrity
Ruth Glenn
Barry Goldstein
Maude Gorman
David Greene
Paul Stanley Holdorf
Dr. Karin Huffer
Donna Ivery
Sabra Jackson
Jacob Jacquez
Nelly Jouan
Toby Kleinman
Kathy Lee
Patrica Lenowitz
Michael Lesher
Doreen Ludwig
Lenelah Maddox
Leah Marie
Maralee Mclean
Liliane Miller
Wayne Morris
Wendy Murphy
Dr. Amy Neustein
Virginia Nye
Rich Pompelio
Sandra Ramos
Tammy Risaliti
Alan Rosenfeld
Moshe Rozdial
Kelly Rutherford
Wafaa Saad
Karli Singer
Raquel Singh
Evan Stark
Anne Stevenson
Dr. Anita Tarnai
Mo Therese Hannah
Rosaura Torres
Dr. Jen Trachtenberg
Rebecca Tripp
Sam Vaknin
Connie Valentine, M.S.
Garland Waller
Gloria Woods
Gregory R. White
Quenby Wilcox
Andrew Willis
Conference Staff
Lauren Collins
Sami Martinez
Kerrin Mulhall
Cynthia Austin
Lauren Collins
Taylor Williams
Katie Kresser
Ashley Sarvis
Chrysanne Spanuolo
Moriah McCloskey
Carly Murth
Kerrin Mulhall
The BMCC XI gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Quenby Wilcox and the generous financial support
of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism.
Cover art by Lexi Hannah
5:45 7:00
7:00 9:00 p.m....... Special Evening Extended Workshop: Evan Stark: The Battered Mothers Dilemma:
Building a Case for Coercive Control.
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BMCC XI Co-Sponsors
NOMAS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
FOR MEN AGAINST SEXISM
The National Organization for Men Against Sexism is an activist organization of men and women supporting
positive changes for men. NOMAS advocates a perspective that is pro-feminist, gay affirmative, antiracist, dedicated to enhancing mens lives, and committed to justice on a broad range of social issues
including class, age, religion, and physical abilities. NOMAS has long admired and supported the work
of the Battered Mothers Custody Conference. This is our fourth year co-sponsoring the event and we
are excited that this year our council will be participating in the conference.
Jack Straton and Barry Goldstein are co-chairs of our Child Custody Task Force and have a long history
in support of protective mothers. Among the many lies promoted by the abuser rights groups is the
claim that contested custody is a dispute between mothers and fathers. In reality contested custody
are overwhelmingly domestic violence cases in which the vast majority of good men and women must
work to protect children against an extreme group of abusers who are all too willing to hurt children
in order to regain control over their victims. This is why it is so important for mens organization to
provide strong support for protective mothers. We hope protective moms will speak with council
members during the conference and learn more about the work NOMAS does. While we dont have
the resources to help on individual cases, we can sign letters of support or join in amicus briefs. We
want to continue learning from protective moms and find out what we can do to help. NOMAS supports
the Quincy Solution and the Safe Child Act and hope mothers who can will join the campaign to
dramatically reduce domestic violence and reform the custody courts by requiring that the health and
safety of children become the first priority in all custody and visitation decisions.
BMCC XI FACULTY
RENEE BEEKER is the founder and President of the National
Family Court Watch Project. A speaker and advocate for reform of
the judicial system since 1996, Renee is a respected contributing
member to many professional and grassroots organizations. Renee
has been an invited speaker at numerous conferences around the
United States. Renee has designed a comprehensive Court Watch
observational instrument that is being used in the National Family
Court Watch Project. Renee is currently the Administrative
Vice President of Michigan National Organization for Women.
She is also the former President and Legislative Vice President
of Michigan NOW and former National NOW Board member
representing the Great Lakes Region. Renee is chair of Michigan
NOW Family Law Task Force and chairs the National NOW
Family Law Advisory ad hoc committee. Renee is Co-Founder of
Freedom to Travel USA (FTTUSA), a civic group who is working
to regain freedoms taken away by the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA). FTTUSA is fighting against the completely
illegal, warrantless strip searches of our citizens, and fighting
against the coerced, inappropriate physical touching, including
very private parts of citizens bodies. Freedom to Travel USA was
successful in having their amicus brief accepted by the First Circuit
United States Appeals Court, as well as given time in addition to
the principles for oral argument in Redfern v Napolitano. Renee
serves on various committees both in her state and nationally, and
is extremely concerned for the loss of liberty and freedom. Renee
holds a Master of Arts degree in Educational Leadership from
University of Mount Union and a Bachelor of Science degree in
Organizational Communications from Eastern Michigan.
BMCC XI FACULTY
evolutionary theorist. She has received many honors, including
honorary Ph.D. degrees and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundations
2009 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award, and is in the awardwinning book Great Peacemakers as one of 20 leaders for world
peace, along with Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin
Luther King.
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BMCC XI FACULTY
the TV series Obsessed With The Dress. Throughout her reign
as Miss Massachusetts World America, Gorman plans to promote
her platform statement of sexual assault awareness by working
directly with fellow survivors. To request Miss Massachusetts
World America for an appearance please contact: gormanmaude@
aol.com, info@newenglandpageants.com
BMCC XI Co-Sponsor
BMCC XI FACULTY
DR. KARIN HUFFER is a marriage and family therapist, author,
speaker, and ADAAA advocate living in Colorado Springs, CO.
As a therapist, work and research led to the identification of a very
human response to the pressures of prolonged litigation, legal abuse
syndrome. She is director of Equal Access Advocates, an online
site training ADA advocates for mental and non-apparent disability
accommodations. As a keynote/guest speaker, Karin addresses
professionals devoted to improving the judicial experience for the
invisibly disabled. Overcoming the Devastation of Legal Abuse
Syndrome (LAS) and Unlocking Justice, her second book, are
available.
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BMCC XI FACULTY
PATRICE LENOWITZ is a domestic violence survivor, advocate
and activist. She is the founder and co-facilitator of The Nurtured
Parent Support Group, a weekly support group empowering
survivors of domestic abuse. Of paramount importance to her work
is advocating for victims rights and to unravel why family court
often fails to protect the most vulnerable among us, victims and
their children in crisis seeking a life free from abuse. Patrice is also
the co-playwright with author Lundy Bancroft of FORBIDDEN
TO PROTECT, a theatrical production that tells the true stories of
family court victims, and raises questions about the improper court
response to domestic violence and child abuse. FORBIDDEN TO
PROTECT is expected to open to audiences in the fall of 2015.
Last year, Patrice co-founded the Childrens Justice Campaign with
actress Kelly Rutherford. The CJC is a national organization that
seeks to protect childrens constitutional rights and promote their
health and wellbeing in law and society. As a Community Educator
for the Center for Hope and Safety, Patrice speaks publically to a
wide range of audiences on the dynamics of Domestic Violence
and Human Trafficking, and their palpable threat to our nations
women and children. To further address these issues in her home
state, Patrice and crime victims attorney Rich Pompelio have
teamed up to form a statewide grassroots project that calls for family
court and child protective services reform. WE THE CHILDREN
is a revolutionary movement in the area of child victims rights and
made up of members from every county in the state of New Jersey.
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BMCC XI FACULTY
WENDY MURPHY is adjunct professor of sexual violence law at
New England Law|Boston where she also co-directs the Womens
and Childrens Advocacy Project under the Center for Law and
Social Responsibility. A former Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law
School, Wendy prosecuted child abuse and sex crimes cases for
many years. In 1992 she founded the first organization in the
nation to provide pro bono legal services to crime victims. Wendy
is an impact litigator whose work in state and federal courts has
changed the law to better protect the constitutional and civil rights
of victimized women and children. Wendy writes and lectures
widely on the rights of women, children and criminal justice
policy. She is a contributing editor for Womens eNews and writes
a regular column for The Patriot Ledger. Wendy has published
numerous scholarly articles on novel legal issues including the first
law review article to describe the legal relationship between sexual
assault on campus and Title IX. Dubbed the Goddaughter of
Title IX by the Godmother of Title IX, Dr. Bernice Sandler,
Wendys impact litigation in the area of campus sexual assault,
beginning in the 1990s, includes a first of its kind case against
Harvard, which was filed with the Office for Civil Rights at
the Department of Education in 2002 and led to widespread
awareness and reforms in the redress and prevention of campus
sexual assault. Other impact litigation and topics of scholarship
include: ensuring that anti-bullying laws are not used to inhibit
the publics understanding of sexual harassment as s civil rights
injury; using due process and standing doctrine to address gender
bias in criminal rape cases; using constitutional privacy rights
doctrine to protect victims therapeutic counseling files; forcing
state courts to comply with the American with Disabilities Act
and grant testimonial accommodations to disabled crime victims;
protecting the parental rights of women who become pregnant
Independent Contractor
(808) 218-3457
stopDVhawaii@yahoo.com
BMCC XI FACULTY
RICH POMPELIO is a practicing lawyer in the State of New Jersey
for over 40 years, serving as counsel to the law firm of DiFrancesco
Batemen in Warren. For over a quarter century, Richs entire law
practice has been devoted to the representation of crime victims in
the criminal and civil justice systems. In 1989, Richs 17-year-old
son, Tony, was murdered. He soon discovered the harsh reality of
the criminal justice system for crime victims. The inappropriate
treatment of his family resulted in his establishing the New Jersey
Crime Victims Law Center; the first pro bono law clinic in the
United States devoted to protecting and advocating the civil rights
of crime victims in the criminal justice system. The Victims Law
Center has served over 10,000 victims of violent crime since it
was founded in 1992. Rich led grassroots crime victims rights
movement in New Jersey, and has dedicated the last two decades
to serving victims and training and educating the legal profession
and the public on the subject of victims rights. In 2003, he was
appointed to serve as the Chairman of the New Jersey Victims of
Crime Compensation Board, and has had the opportunity to be
involved in the writing of much of the victims rights legislation
in New Jersey, including the Victims Rights Constitutional
Amendment in 1991 and the Alex DeCroce Bill of Rights in 2012.
As an attorney, Rich has appeared before the New Jersey Supreme
Court and the Supreme Court of the United States in significant
cases involving the rights of victims. In 2009, he received the
prestigious American Bar Association Criminal Justice Lawyer of
the Year Award for his work in victims rights, and in 2013, he was
awarded the Unsung Hero Award by the Russell Berrie Foundation
at Ramapo College. Rich has teamed up with Patrice Lenowitz
to form a statewide grassroots project that calls for family court
and child protective services reform. WE THE CHILDREN is
a revolutionary movement in the area of child victims rights and
made up of members from every county in the state of New Jersey.
SANDRA RAMOS is presently the directorStrengthen Our
Sisters, a shelter and supportive service program for homeless,
battered women and their dependent children. The program has
been guided by Sandra Ramos since its inception in 1970 when
Sandra founded the first shelter for battered women in North
America.
Sandras work was profiled by NBC in four stories in March
1998, and she received the 2001 Russ Berrie Top Honor Award for
Making a Difference.
She and her three children shared their home with women
and children fleeing domestic violence, and the program grew
to become a full-fledged shelter project. Its mission was to
help victims of domestic dysfunction find peace, safety, and
independence. Over the years, Ramos opened several safe houses
in New Jersey, established The Family Transitional Institute, and
fought for legislation to protect victims and families from abuse.
BMCC XI Co-Sponsor
Launching
Mothers
Against
Court
Custody
Abuse
JOIN US!
BMCC XI FACULTY
and guidance. Karli has observed that abused children develop
tremendous strength in being able to communicate with other
survivors like themselves. Currently, Karli is a medical student in
Arizona to become a pediatrician so she can contribute to childrens
health and well-being, and be an advocate they can depend on. She
has worked with Child Abuse Pediatricians during her training and
has recognized some of the benefits and inadequacies in the child
protective services. Being a part of Courageous Kids, she works
with other adult survivors to educate the public in an effort to
create change related to the epidemic that still exists in the family
court system. She is optimistic for the time when children and their
protective parents will be listened to, believed, and given justice.
BMCC XI Co-Sponsor
childrensjusticecampaign.org
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BMCC XI FACULTY
Contemporary Civilization, a survey course on the history of ideas
that have informed and defined our communities. As part of her
research, she regularly translates genocide victim and survivor
narratives for the US Holocaust Museum and is employed as
a testimony indexer by the Shoah Foundation, University of
Southern California. As a creative writing facilitator she is invested
in helping trauma survivors heal and works with populations such
as at-risk children, victims of interpersonal violence and mental
health patients. In addition, she is currently co-facilitating a
reading and discussion group on war and literature for veterans at
the Brooklyn Vets Center, New York.
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BMCC XI Co-Sponsors
The Voices of Women Organizing Project (VOW) is the lead initiative of the Battered Womens
Resource Center. Our mission is to bring together survivors of domestic violence to improve the
systems meant to provide safety and justice for abused women and their children.
VOW provides training, support, and technical assistance so that survivors can reclaim their
power, identify their needs, and collectively craft public recommendations. VOW members
organize to promote long-term systemic change by documenting institutional failures,
testifying at hearings, creating position papers, and meeting with local and state officials.
VOW is dedicated to ensuring that the voices of survivors are heard, recognized for their expertise,
and included in the decision-making process
BMCC XI FACULTY
SAM VAKNIN ( http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com ) is the
author of Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited and After the
Rain - How the West Lost the East, as well as many other books
and ebooks about topics in psychology, relationships, philosophy,
economics, international affairs, and award-winning short fiction.
His YouTube channel is http://www.youtube.com/samvaknin. As
per Sams discussion on narcissisms effect on children, see https://
groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/narcissisticabuse/conversations/
messages/4727
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BMCC XI Co-Sponsors
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BMCC XI Co-Sponsor
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