SAN DIEGO—"It works hand in hand. If the society is violent and everything you see is violent, it encourages violence as a method of solving and resolving conflicts," said Dr. Robert Geffner, founder of the International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, and president of IVAT (Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma).
"We need to change that mentality, and I hope that what we do has helped move that change so that people begin to solve conflicts non-violently and look for other ways of working on disputes when they disagree rather than turning to abuse or aggression," said Geffner.
Arriving in San Diego from more than 15 countries, nearly 1,000 professionals from various fields came to attend this year's 12th International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, presented by IVAT. The week long conference, Sept. 15-20, has provided people in various fields with an environment to discuss, share, and collaborate.
With the lofty theme of "Moving from Dialogue to Action," attendees of this year's conference sought to find better ways to treat both victims and offenders on issues ranging from child abuse and domestic violence to international affairs, as well as seeking new ways to prevent violence from occurring.
The first conference was held 12 years ago, and focused primarily on children who had been exposed to violence. According to Geffner, participants soon came to realize that violence, abuse, and trauma are all interconnected, so the scope of the conference was broadened to cover a wider range of issues.
"We've realized that there is a generational component. People who are raised or exposed to violence and abuse often have a greater risk of being victimized or victimizing others," said Geffner. "People learn how to be violent, and in addition to learning, they also emulate or identify with those who are violent. That's why you see a higher relationship in repeating the cycle."
Speaking on international issues, Brian Gorlick, Senior Policy Advisor for the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees), discussed some of the changes the UN has made in working with refugees.
Gorlick said that as part of recent reforms the UNHCR has been working on abandoning the mentality of "we know best," and has required UN Peacekeepers to confer with refugees to help find solutions to various issues. "The results are phenomenal. The refugees themselves have been coming up with things that we were never thinking about, because we had never consulted them," said Gorlick.
Gorlick also mentioned that the UNHCR has been working to ensure that female refugees are no longer left out of the process of finding solutions, a concept still very new to many developing countries.
Gorlick continued to speak about the UN relations with governments on issues of human rights. "From our perspective, international human rights standards are no different than domestic law enforcement standards," said Gorlick. "You sign onto them, you ratify, you concede, and you are obliged to implement them. And if they aren't interested in doing that, then why sign onto them in the first place? That's where we negotiate with governments."
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