November 16, 2001

More than 100 people attended the Fourth Annual "Sibling Survivors of Violence Conference" on November 2 and 3 in Snyder Auditorium. The Division of Public Health Practice, Survivors for Violence Prevention, Inc., and the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute were sponsors.

The conference brings together family members of homicide victims, survivors of violence, public health officials and professionals to discuss violence, its prevention, and what more could be done for survivors. In the past, participants have discussed how violence prevention policies are developed, how they have failed to meet the needs of sibling survivors of violence, and what steps need to be taken to enhance services.

This year, Robert Gittens, newly appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, offered welcoming remarks. He congratulated the event’s organizers and said that the meeting was "an opportunity to recognize the importance in what you do in supporting each other and reaching out to those in need." He added, "There is so much we can learn from you."

The conference developed from a nationwide meeting for parents of homicide victims organized by HSPH in Chicago in 1996. At that meeting, parents voiced their concern about the siblings of the victims, said Deborah Prothrow-Stith, director of the Division of Public Health Practice, who spoke at this year’s conference. She said that she was struck by how the parents showed commitment to violence prevention instead of seeking retribution through the criminal justice system.

In response, HSPH helped organize the first siblings survivor conference in 1998. Its theme was "Unheard Voices." That meeting was followed by "Hearing the Voices" in 1999 and "Voices in Action: Turning Pain into Public Policy" in 2000. This year’s theme was "Voices United: Continuing the Momentum."

Prothrow-Stith observed this year’s conference took on new meaning after the attacks on America on September 11th. The events evoked a feeling of national shared survivorship, she told the conference attendees. She described how the events created an interesting dilemma for her, after devoting much of her career to violence prevention. In her head, she said, she continued to recognize that violence does not solve problems and revenge is a false solution. But in her gut, she struggled with the need for safety, security and freedom from infringement on her life. She said those feelings helped her better understand how some young people may feel when they resort to violence.

She added that she now recognizes how people can reach the limits of their abilities to solve problems in front of them. It’s easy to get tired from the emotional toll of working in the violence prevention field, she said, but coming to the sibling survivors conference inspires her.

For more information about the "Sibling Survivors of Violence Conference," visit www.hsph.harvard.edu/php or call the Division of Public Health Practice at 617-495-7777.