NMICADSV Advocacy Academy draws 200-plus participants

The Northern Marianas Island Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence concluded their two-day 2023 Advocacy Academy yesterday at the Saipan World Resort with a fully packed Royal Taga Hall and the organizers ecstatic at the successful turnout.

The conference drew an estimated 200 participants, with a mix of students, community members, government departments, agencies, and non-profits who all came not only from Saipan but also from Tinian and Rota.

The conference covered a variety of topics concerning domestic violence and sexual assault, from the basics of advocacy, confidentiality, trauma informed care response, to the “how to’s” on working with, and servicing victims and survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

Many participants involved found the conference eye opening and essential to not only their public service, but also their personal role in the community.

“…The Advocacy Academy [was] very enriching and beneficial for departments, especially our own, the Department of Public Safety, because we do respond to sexual assault and domestic violence cases,” said police detective Jhaneeka Atalig “So it’s really informative and this training serves as a great tool, and resource for us to use when we do respond.”

CNMI Women’s Affairs Office member Joannie Laniyo said, “I feel that it is relevant and efficient information for the individuals of the CNMI to learn more about since many of our people here have gone through so much, and many may not know the cause of their trauma. …I’ve learned so much in yesterday’s session pertaining domestic violence; and was shocked to find out that domestic violence can come in different ways, such as emotional, cyber, financial and more.”

NMCADSV executive director Maisie Tenorio said the academy participants were all actively engaged. “It’s going great. I think our first day went very well, we had a lot of positive feedback about Advocacy Academy. I mean, it’s a lot of difficult topics and difficult conversations, and its just heavy spending whole day talking about domestic violence and sexual assault, so I know that everyone that participated had a lot weighing on them at the end of the day yesterday.”

Tenorio shared that she was encouraged to see the response of participants and that they were ready and willing to learn. “Our very first session was about temporary restraining orders, and we had just a wonderful amount of questions. To me, that signifies that everybody in the room really wants to do their part to help victims and survivors. They really want to increase their understanding and improve their skills in terms of being out in the community and serving victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. …We’re building this community where everyone is out there to help create a safer CNMI.”

Yesterday’s session was the last for the conference and covered how to work with diverse survivors, understanding the neurobiology of trauma, consent, the intersection of domestic violence, sexual assault and mental health, temporary restraining orders, safety planning resources and evaluations, and NMPASI programs and services and disability sensitivity.