Vermont’s public schools will be expected to play a greater role in preventing and reporting child sexual abuse, under a new law that passed the Legislature this year. Under the state’s new sexual abuse response system, schools will have to teach sexual abuse prevention as part of their health curriculum and school employees will be required to receive training on how to recognize the signs of sexual abuse and know what to do if the warning signs are visible.

Officials aren't quite sure why, but cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome are on this rise in Vermont. Prevent Child Abuse Vermont started keeping track of cases in the fall of 2007. Since then, there have been 19 cases. Six have resulted in the death of an infant.

Vermont’s colleges and universities are required to publish annual crime statistics under the federal Clery Act. Those reports, which are all available online, are supposed to include every crime that occurs on college campuses, ranging from vandalism and larceny to drug and alcohol offenses to rape, arson and murder. Schools must publish those numbers even when the crimes are reported anonymously and result in no further legal action. However, a review of Clery statistics filed by Vermont’s institutions of higher learning in the past decade suggests that the number of sexual assaults they report to the government is far lower than the number that actually occur.

The Project Against Violent Encounters has planned a number events throughout April to raise the public's awareness of sexual assault. President Barack Obama has declared April 2010 to be Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and to show support, Select Board Chairwoman Lodie Colvin, presented a framed copy of the board's declaration to PAVE volunteer Mary Ambrogio Grey at a monthly meeting of the Domestic Violence Task Force.

The departure of Bennington County's only certified sexual assault nurse examiner has local health officials and victims’ advocates scrambling to continue the essential service. Now, Dr. Avery Wood, a North Bennington-based family physician, is the sole provider of forensic exams that often help bring cases to adjudication, Vadakin said. But an area the size of Bennington County should have about five trained nurses because of the unique demands of the job, according to Vadakin.

March in Vermont is traditionally mud season, cold winds, waning cabin-fever, Saint Patrick’s and Town Meeting Days. In Brattleboro, it has also come to mean the Women’s Film Festival, when this Southern Vermont town hosts a premier event showcasing films made by women about women. Proceeds from ticket sales go to the Women’s Crisis Center, which helps women and children affected by domestic or other sexual abuse.

For many years starting in 1993, Coralyn Guidry was a regular fixture outside the Diocese's headquarters on North Avenue in Burlington. In the 1960s, Guidry and five of her siblings lived in what was then the St. Joseph's orphanage. Guidry is hoping to pull together a group of investors willing to buy that building and put it to good use. Exactly what that "good use" would be, Guidry can't say for sure, though she hopes it would take the form of a school or family center for children and adults who've experienced abuse and neglect.
 

Domestic violence fuels most of Vermont’s homicides and generates some startling statistics, but it was a picture — not a number — that inspired Chris Bohjalian to craft a novel around the theme of spousal abuse. The picture was captured in a Polaroid photo that a victim’s rights advocate showed Bohjalian as he researched his sixth book, back in 1997. He held off using the image in that book, but he couldn’t forget it, and a dozen years later it found its way into his 12th novel, “Secrets of Eden,” a tale of battering and its consequences that goes on sale Tuesday.

Project Against Violent Encounters (PAVE) is planning and accepting requests for applications for its February 2010 volunteer advocacy training. Advocates will learn about domestic and sexual violence issues, Family Court and law enforcement procedures with respect to protection orders, and available community resources. Advocates will gain experience through the practice of role-play.

Addison Independent reports on a current shortage of guardians at litem (GALs) in Addison County - individuals who are "charged with advocating on behalf of the best interests of children alleged to have been abused, neglected, or are beyond the control of their parents, or who may be involved in divorce proceedings. The guardians’ duties include making sure affected children and their families receive appropriate services in a timely manner; that their case plans and court decisions are based on the child’s best interests; and that every child has a safe, stable, and permanent home within a reasonable period of time."

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The Burlington Free Press reports that South Hero's Vermont Brownie Company plans to donate 10 percent of their Valentine's Day Box brownies sales to Women Helping Battered Women (WHBW). The Company decided to support WBHW this February because they "love[d] the idea of supporting and promoting healthy relationships." Co-owners Shawna Lidsky and Katherine Hayward added, "WHBW is a terrific organization that works tirelessly to end domestic violence against women and children in Chittenden County... [They] support women and children, the heart of our community."

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Vermont Public Radio reports that a new bill that would create a new crime category -- aggravated sexual assault on a minor -- has won unanimous preliminary approval in the state Senate. The crime would carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years. The legislation was was "drafted in memory of Brooke Bennett, [a] 12-year-old Braintree girl who died last year. Brooke's uncle, Michael Jacques, has been charged with her death and is awaiting trial." Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Richard Sears commented, "No single piece of legislation is going to stop family violence. But I think that this bill, the comprehensive nature of it, will result in better outcomes for Vermont kids. That's what's really important. The Brooke Bennett tragedy taught us a lot and I think that when this bill becomes law, the way Vermont deals with crimes of child sexual abuse will be different." A final vote from the state Senate is pending.

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Vermont Public Radio reports that Chuck Laramie, an English and history teacher at the the Park Street Program, a Rutland alternative school for juvenile sex offenders, "was removed from his job in September, just weeks after testifying to a legislative committee about the likelihood that offenders will commit new crimes." An official with the Howard Center official said that "Laramie's positions were 'very much interfering' with the mission of the Park Street Program." Notably, "Laramie was placed on leave September 19, two days after the program got a letter from its funding source, the Burlington-based Howard Center, saying he should be dismissed." In response, some Vermont lawmakers have expressed "concern that the treatment of Laramie will place a chilling effect on the willingness of others to testify to legislative committees."

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