VOTA09 Conference as success

VOTA would like to thank all of the people who worked together to make the VOTA09 conference such a great success.

The VOTA 2009 Conference reflected four interacting themes:

Assisting community protection by...

• Promoting research and skills to effectively manage and treat sex offenders, including early prevention strategies,
• Informing policy makers, aiding research and influencing practice related to offenders and survivors of sexual abuse,
• Collaborating as a broad and effective body of representation for all agencies/disciplines focused on the management and interaction with offenders and survivors of sexual abuse,
• Supporting the development of 'self-care' awareness for persons interacting with offenders and survivors of sexual abuse.

Conference papers and presentations

• Deception: A law enforcement perspective by Chris O'Connor
• Mixed-gender group therapy in offence-specific treatment: Practical or not? by Dr. Vivian Liu and Joseph Mollica
• The top ten faces of resistance by Linda Bennett
• Bridging the research-policy divide: A systems approach to sexual violence by Dr Denise Lievore and Lynda Byrne
• "But I was never convicted": The complexity of risk assessment for contact with children following unsubstantiated sexual abuse by Dr Karen Owen and Ms Bea Raymond
• Lifting the lid. Challenging the silence by Ken Clearwater
• Good idea but how do I do it? Some practical ideas for dealing with the challenges and possibilities of family work after sexual abuse by Jenny Dwyer
• The importance of offender treatment as a community protection and crime prevention strategy by Ms Christabel Chamarette
• Technological advances in the objective measurement of deviant sexual arousal the ASSI-2, ABID and Diana Screen - Application of objective measurement of deviant sexual and results of a preliminary study of the arousal in an australian population by Dr Karen Owen, Bea Raymond and Toni Ryan
• Marlborough Joint Treatment Program: A collaborative approach to addressing the needs of offenders with a cognitive impairment in the victorian correctional system by Daniel Baldacchino, Gayani Maddumage, Dr Fiona Murphy, Dr Barry Waterman, Lachlan Durinck, Janine Lemon, Michelle Enbom
• Building brains - A neurobiological framework for working therapeutically with children and young people with problem sexual behaviour by Cyra Fernandes
• The complexities of working with adolescents who engage in broader antisocial behaviours and sexual offending by John Cantwell and Vicki Vandoros
• Increases in disclosure by intrafamilial sex offenders during assessment for the NSW Pre-Trial Diversion Program by Jessica Pratley
• Tie Me Up & Tie Me Down by William Wainwright
• The role of medication in the management of sexual deviance by Dr Danny Sullivan
• Internet Child Pornography Symposium by Dr Jonathon Clough, Dr Karen Owen and Brad Shallies
• The social context of online sexual offending by Dr Karen Owen