Ending Gender Based Violence through Public Discourse...



Hi sisters of World Pulse all over the world,



It is with great pleasure that I am announcing my acceptance to the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworack-Peck School of Social Work, Doctorate of Social Work. It is here that I will take everything that I learned about being a citizen journalist and all that you as members of World Pulsehave taught me about violence against women globally and take on over the next two years the American Association of Social Work and Social Welfare Grand Challenge to End Gender Based Violence. As I work through what I will create I will have you all in mind and continue to read your political and personal posts, opinions and ideas about the impact that violence against women is having on you and women and girls in your countries and how it relates to what is happening in the United States.



Today, I want to share with you some thoughts I have about how we can influence public discourse in our communities around ending gender based violence. Public discourse is our ability to talk about the most pressing issues in our lives in a way that makes us responsible for how people listen to the issue that we are talking about and become leaders in our communities that value, public opinion, self reflection story telling and become active contributors of public policy change.



As I embark on a two year journey back into the institution of education I am struggling with public discourse not because I don't know what am talking about but because I am now learning how to speak to different communities about the same issue. There is a language of "I" that I have been using for over 20 years to talk about gender based violence with community victims and survivors of different racial, ethnic and cultural communities that now requires me to back up withevidence based research and facts, not just my opinion or experience.



I want to learn how to keep my voice that supports me in relating to everyday community members while at the same time winning at the game of effective public discourse where I can "switch" and"pass" when its necessary.



After all, I understand that when we take social issues on in such a big way the cost is that we are responsible for being able to play at all the tables.



Towards a world free from Violence



DEE











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