Pr. Brenda Smith, New Hope, Queens (right)

More than 70 young people came to First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica in October to learn more about domestic violence through a program coordinated by the Southeast Queens Domestic Violence Task Force. Funded by Lutheran Disaster Response of New York, the program, Youth Conference on Domestic Violence, was the second in an annual presentation by the Task Force. Pr. Brenda Smith of New Hope Lutheran Church, Queens, was one of the coordinators. Last year, as chairperson of the Task Force, she helped develop the first domestic violence program, which featured keynote speaker the Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts.

"After these two efforts, the Task Force came to the conclusion that domestic violence affects all age groups, and therefore youth need educational programs on domestic violence as much as adults do. The task force was committed to informing youth about domestic violence, but also wanted to highlight the issue of dating violence," said Pr. Smith.

Fact File Nearly two out of five U.S. women have been physically or sexually assaulted at some point in their lives. In addition, 50 percent of all homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence.

The youths could participate in five workshops, including how the police department deals with domestic violence, anger management, strategies for defending yourself in an attack, and other topics.

"The feedback the Task Force has received is that participants learned lots of new information and would like to see another workshop in the future.

For more information, contact Pr. Smith at New Hope Lutheran Church.