October 2016
Women's Council arranges
two DV events in October

Memphis employers confront domesti c violence and men march against it in high heels - if they dare - in two compelling events this month organized by the Memphis Area Women's Council. Whether attending a conference, or walking a mile to build awareness, participation is the key to success.

Photo from last year's Walk A Mile in Her Shoes event


Get Smart about DV at Work 

Registration is open now for the 2016 "Violence at Home. Victims at Work. Employers Confront Domestic Violence" conference, which takes place from 8 a.m. to noon on Thursday, Oct. 20. The conference is hosted by Baptist Memorial Health Care in the Baptist Memphis Education and Conference Center, Dr. H. Edward Garrett, Sr. Auditorium located at 6027 Walnut Grove Rd., 38120. Parking is in the adjacent garage.

Panelists will cover the costs, liability and risks that DV can bring to employers, and ways employers can be proactive and "recognize, respond and refer" to help their organizations and their employees. Speakers include attorney Bruce Kramer; City of Memphis Chief Operating Officer Doug McGowen; Memphis Police Deputy Director Mike Ryall; financial services security expert Sheila Bramlitt; Judicial Commissioner Shayla Purifoy; Kim Heathcott, founder of Clarion Security; Donna DiClementi, director of Methodist Healthcare EAP, and Candace Morgan of Verizon Wireless.

The conference will include introduction of a new alliance of business leaders formed to help employers deal with domestic violence among employees and colleagues and to create a safer and more profitable work environment. Founders of the Memphis Employers Alliance against Domestic Violence include Verizon Wireless, Crown Manufacturing, the Memphis Shelby County Airport Authority, Baptist Memorial Health Care and Methodist Healthcare Faith and Health Division.
At the conference, alliance leaders will describe their goals, membership benefits and future projects.

"Our community has seen repeated episodes of a woman being murdered at her workplace by a current or former husband or boyfriend. This has happened at a day care center, a hospital, a grocery store, a department store and an office complex - often in the parking lot," said Dr. Carol Danehower, Women's Council president and Associate Professor of Management in the Fogelman College of Business & Economics at the University of Memphis. 

Local crime data show that DV homicides have been between 12% and 17% of all homicides in Memphis the past two years. Nurses, teachers and retail workers seem to be especially at risk.

"It is apparent that the majority of women murdered by their intimate partners are employees," Danehower said, "so it follows that their workplaces could have become aware of their distress and connected them to community support and services."

Alliance membership is open in all categories and donor levels.   All who donate at least $150 will be listed in the conference agenda and receive the newsletter.

Conference content should be applicable for human resource professionals' certification credits. Faith groups and non-profits attending will get a certificate of completion from the Memphis Employers Alliance against Domestic Violence and Baptist Memorial Health Care.

For more information on the alliance or the conference contact Deborah Clubb,   dclubb@memphiswomen.org or phone 901-378-3866.


Rally Urges Men to Stop DV

Mayor Jim Strickland and law enforcement leaders will speak at a rally on Oct. 21 in Tiger Lane urging men to join efforts to end domestic violence.

Hosted by the Memphis Shelby County Domestic and Sexual Violence Council and the city of Memphis, the rally will also feature MPD Director Mike Rallings, U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton III and Judicial Commissioner Kevin Reed. The event from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. will feature Memphis Says NO MORE materials, entertainment and food.



Anne Sebba to speak 
at Brooks  on Les Parisiennes: 
How the Women of  Paris Lived, 
Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation

New York Times bestselling author Anne Sebba will launch her US book tour in Memphis with a lecture for Decorative Arts Trust to discuss her latest work,
Les Parisennes: How The Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation .  Sebba, former Reuters foreign correspondent, BBC presenter and biographer, pored over memoirs, diaries,  and letters, read books, watched films, handled artifacts, and interviewed women who lived through the events to understand how the war changed the lives of Parisiennes and how they adjusted to loss, fear, and hunger under occupation. 

Ms. Sebba was last at Brooks  with the release of her biography of Wallis Simpson entitled That Woman.  The reception she enjoyed made a repeat appearance a must .

Sebba's appearance  will be on Saturday, October 22, at 10:30 a.m. in the Auditorium at the Brooks Museum of Art. The event  is open to the public and free with museum admission. 

Lecture at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, October 22

Issue: 24
In T his Issue


DV at work conference

Stop DV Rally Oct. 21

Walk A Mile Oct. 27

DV survey

Vote early, 
help register new voters


6th annual 
Walk a Mile 
starts at Handy Park

The sixth annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event to focus attention on violence against women returns downtown, and all are welcome to participate in this public event.

Starting at W.C. Handy Park  on Beale Street at 5:30 on Oct. 27, men, women and youth will walk the route up Main Street and down Second before returning to the park. Women's high-heel shoes in a variety of sizes will be available for those men who want to walk in them to demonstrate unity with women in efforts to stop domestic violence and sexual assault. 

Registration is $10, $5 for students, $30 for groups of five or more. T-shirts and wristbands from the Memphis Says NO MORE campaign will be given to those who walk.




Here is an easy
way to help

Y our help is needed to evaluate the impact of recent advertising messages about domestic violence.

Please share this link with friends, colleagues, students. Help us measure and sustain outreach efforts.

  
This matters --- please spare a few minutes.



Vote early & help register new voters

The Women's Council is joining the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Inc. - Memphis Chapter in organizing women leaders and organizations to support voter registration efforts and early voting.  Bettye Boone, NCBW-Memphis president, said voting is especially crucial this year.

"The issues are simply too great and the impact the candidate who wins this presidential election (as well as those who win or Senate and Congressional races) will have on women and their families will be long lasting."

Crucial issues are child care, gender pay equity, Supreme Court appointments,
reproductive rights, violence against women, affordable health care and insurance and education reform.

Early voting begins in Shelby County on Oct. 19 and closes on Nov. 3.

To join this effort, contact Bettye at 


 
About Memphis Area Women's Council
 
The Memphis Area Women's Council is a non-profit dedicated to advocacy to assure equity and opportunity for local women and girls. Our goal is strategic changes in policy, procedure, law and regulations that remove barriers, eliminate sexism and assure equal access.  

For more information or to donate go to 
or contact Deborah Clubb at  901-378-3866 or