FIRST LADY O’MALLEY TO DELIVER REMARKS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE

FIRST LADY O’MALLEY TO DELIVER REMARKS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE’S PATRICIA AND ARTHUR MODELL SYMPOSIUM ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

BALTIMORE, MD – First Lady, Judge Katie O’Malley will attend and deliver remarks at the University of Maryland Baltimore’s Patricia and Arthur Modell Symposium on Domestic Violence.  The Symposium, entitled “Giving Voice to Domestic Violence and Its Hidden Victims,” is a conference exploring the wide impact of partner abuse in society. 

The symposium includes remarks by UMB President and pediatrician Jay A. Perman, MD, and an expert panel, moderated by Carole Alexander, MA, instructor at the School of Social Work who was previously executive director of the House of Ruth, a Baltimore non-profit organization that assists women who have left abusive relationships.  Members of the panel include Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, associate dean, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing; Tania Araya, MSW, '95, LCSW; founder and former manager of House of Ruth Teen Dating Violence Prevention Program; and Leslie Morgan Steiner, MBA, domestic violence survivor and author.  In addition, Anna Quindlen, Pulitzer Prize winning author, will deliver the keynote address. 

Judge O’Malley will offer brief remarks about the personal and systemic barriers that victims, especially young victims, must overcome in order to be safe, speaking about her personal experience in helping schools address the problem of bullying and teen dating violence.  Judge O’Malley will also talk about the importance of the landmark gun legislation that Governor O’Malley secured last year.  The legislation authorizes judges to remove hand and long guns from DV perpetrators in Maryland and is one tool that will be utilized to reduce violence against women and children by 25% over the next two years.