The SCCDA’s office is using music to bring awareness to domestic violence
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office is using the power of music during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
This Friday afternoon, Assistant District Attorney James Gibbons-Shapiro and Yale Professor Daphne Brooks will be lecturing on “Domestic Violence and Popular Music: Hey Joe, where are you goin’ with that gun in your hand?”
According to Santa Clara County District Attorney’s James Gibbons-Shapiro, “Our pop music history reflects a mixed message about domestic violence. We say to young men that you should never hit a woman. Yet we seem to also say that it’s acceptable to hurt her if she cheats or leaves you,” Gibbons-Shapiro said. “If we are going to reject violence in relationships, then we have to find a way to appreciate our blues, rock and roll, country, and hip hop history – and then label their often empathetic attitude toward abuse as the history of the way we used to think.”
Media are invited to attend the Domestic Violence conference presentation, at 2:20 p.m. Friday at the Marriott Hotel, 2700 Mission College Blvd., Santa Clara. The prosecutor and the professor are sharing a STOP DV Spotify playlist that includes 15 songs, by artists from Bessie Smith to Babyface.
Santa Clara County Law Enforcement Agencies, in conjunction with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, agree to respond to acts of domestic violence as crimes. Victims of domestic violence will be treated with respect and dignity and will be given all available assistance by law enforcement personnel responding to an incident of domestic violence.
According to the Family Violence Division of the SCCDA’s Office, “Domestic violence crimes involve a defendant (perpetrator) and a victim who know each other and often have children together. Victims are often reluctant to follow through in these cases because of fear, a misplaced sense of loyalty to the perpetrator or a host of other reasons”.
The Office is also distributing a poster created by Chris Magdaleno, a San Jose high school student, to raise awareness about teen dating violence. Copies of the poster are available.
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