Upcoming Free Session: Is Domestic Violence a Hate Crime? (April 12th at 2:00 p.m.)

Grace Place is glad to present the next session in its Safer Communities Project learning series.

Description
Hate crimes are based on a specific characteristic of a group or individual such as race, gender, or religion. The overwhelming majority of domestic violence victims are women. This session will explore the idea and characteristics of domestic violence as a hate crime and discuss the need to start viewing it as a hate crime.

Speaker: Dr. Laurie Samuel
Dr. Laurie “L.J.” Samuel is a Criminologist with expertise in police-community relations, police misconduct, risk management, community engagement, and interpersonal violence. With over ten years working with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, DC she is a leading expert in Early Identification and Intervention System (EIS). She also served as the Director of the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Division. She worked as an expert with the Department of Justice and was an invited speaker at the Amnesty International meetings in Amsterdam on policing.

In 2015 Dr. Samuel noticed an escalation in violence against women incidents based on police reports and news stories. In response, she created Cupid’s Sting, an interpersonal violence reduction program. The mission of Cupid’s Sting is to teach women life-saving skills through workshops on interpersonal violence, domestic violence, and street harassment, including demonstration and practice of self-defense techniques. A former professor at Howard University, she developed and facilitated workshops on dating abuse, situational awareness, and self-defense for her students.

On March 14, 2018, Dr. Samuel launched the Cupid’s Sting Non-Profit Organization partnering with the community to create a safer and healthier environment for families, students, employees, and neighbours. Cupid’s Sting now operates in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean.

Dr. Samuel has been featured in The Brampton Guardian, The Mississauga News, The Great Canadian Woman Podcast, University of Windsor’s Prevent, Resist, Support Podcast, The Southwester, The Hill Rag, The Smithsonian Institution, and on news programs Wake Up Washington and WUSA9. She is the 2021/2022 recipient of the Innovators and Entrepreneurs Foundation CANIE Award.

Dr. Samuel writes a blog called “You Have the Right to Remain Informed” that focuses on crime tips for women, information on victimization, and policing. She is also the author of the novel Dear Diary, which features a murder mystery based on a domestic violence victim. A resident of Peel, Dr. Samuel enjoys hanging out with her family and working out.

https://www.graceplace.ca/post/is-domestic-violence-a-hate-crime-tuesday-april-12-2022-at-2-00-p-m

For further details: Contact our office at 905-451-1215 or email: safercommunities@graceplace.ca