(Hays, KS) - January is National Stalking Awareness Month. Nearly 1 in 6 women and 1 in 17 men have experienced stalking victimization at some point in their life (SPARC, 2018).

Stalking is defined as a pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. It occurs in many different forms, including being followed/approached, unsolicited and repetitive phone calls or texts, unwanted notes or gifts, as well as showing up at the targeted person’s workplace or home. Stalking is a crime in all 50 states, U.S. Territories, the District of Columbia, and military and tribal lands. Although, the crime of stalking is often misunderstood, minimized and/or ignored.

Stalking is a terrifying and psychologically harmful crime as well as a predictor of other forms of serious violence. In 85% of cases where an intimate partner or ex intimate partner attempted to murder their partner, stalking took place in the year prior to the attack (SPARC, 2019). The behaviors used to stalk are manipulative tools used to gain power and keep control over another person. Victims of stalking often feel isolated, intimidated, fearful, and vulnerable.

Tips to consider if you or someone you know is being stalked:

1. Trust your instincts. Many times we tend to downplay a stalker’s behaviors, but stalking can possess a real threat.
   
2. Keep a record or log of any contact a stalker makes.
   
3. Since stalking can occur through technology, save emails, text messages, voicemails, or any posts online for evidence.
   
4. Contact your local domestic violence agency to create a safety plan.
   
5. Call 911 if you feel you are in danger.
   

​We, at Jana’s Campaign, believe we all have a role to play in identifying and preventing stalking behaviors as well as supporting victims and survivors. Learn more about these behaviors and how to prevent stalking by visiting www.stalkingawareness.org. 

Impact Report 2017-2019 - The Jana's Campaign 2017-2019 Impact Report is now available here.

(Hays, KS) – This week welcomes October and National Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). Domestic violence is one of society’s largest social problems and it hides in plain sight. DVAM is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of these issues and share resources.
 
Nationally 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men have experienced gender-based violence by an intimate partner or ex-intimate partner (CDC, 2019). Domestic violence is a leading contributor of injuries, chronic health issues, high-risk health behaviors, and creates a significant strain on the healthcare system. Growing evidence shows the long-term impact of emotional and mental trauma from violence carries an additional likelihood of disease and illness.
 
Domestic violence takes on many forms. It can be verbal, emotional, psychological, digital, sexual, and/or physical abuse. It can be extreme jealousy, possessiveness, unwanted touching, coercion, and excessive arguments. And it is ALL about power and control. Domestic violence occurs in every community across the country, and can happen to anyone regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or economic status. In Kansas alone, domestic violence claimed 37 lives in 2018 (KBI, 2018).

Throughout the month of October, Jana’s Campaign pledges to share 31 facts about domestic violence on our social media accounts. A fact per day. Our hope is that you increase your understanding of this complex issue and utilize the information to become a part of the collective voice of individuals, families, activists, institutions, and systems who are working to prevent domestic violence. To access this information, please follow Jana’s Campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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“Violence is a learned behavior, and we can unlearn violence. The only way we can create a society that does not accept violence, is to become educated on the issue and then start a conversation about what we know. While I know these conversations can be uncomfortable, I also know that no social issue has been solved by not talking about it.” Kaiti Dinges, Executive Director of Jana’s Campaign.

The Jana's Campaign Summer 2020 newsletter is now available here. 

Hays, KS – Jana’s Campaign is delighted to announce a $4,000 grant to expand our prevention education efforts throughout Ellis County, through the generous support of the Heartland Community Foundation and the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. This grant will allow for an extension of our successful work to reduce teen dating violence through prevention education, including bystander intervention trainings, virtual faculty trainings, and the development of prevention programs for K-5th grade students.
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As Jana’s Campaign works to reduce gender and relationship violence, it is clear that an in-depth, comprehensive prevention education strategy must take priority. Nationally, one in three adolescents report being hit, slapped, stalked, sexually assaulted, or emotionally abused by a dating partner (CDC, 2017). Studies show that violent behaviors typically begin between the ages of 12 and 18, then escalate. Assessment from our own work in Kansas confirms these statistics. This grant will allow us to further expand leadership development strategies into our violence prevention programming in Ellis County.
Strengthening student leaders’ knowledge and skills can further empower students to increase their ability to recognize warning signs of gender violence, promote healthy relationship behaviors, and establish a peer culture where social norms are supportive and include active bystander behaviors that confront bullying and gender violence.
 
“We are excited and honored that the Heartland Community Foundation continues to invest in our work and the mission of preventing gender and relationship violence,” said Kaiti Dinges, Jana’s Campaign Executive Director. “The approach and focus of Jana’s Campaign is on prevention education. We believe that education is the most powerful tool to create social change. Through education, students can change and improve social attitudes, behaviors, interactions, and norms.”
 
The Heartland Community Foundation was founded on September 6th, 2007, to serve as a vehicle for charitable giving benefiting the Ellis, Rooks and Trego Counties. Their mission is to enhance quality of life, today and in the future, by:

• Enabling donors to fulfill their charitable desires,
• Building a permanent endowment,
• Facilitating prudent management and care of funds,
• Meeting needs through grants, awards, and scholarships.

 
To learn more, please visit http://heartlandcommunityfoundation.org/

The Winter 2020 Jana's Campaign newsletter is now available for viewing here. 

“We are very excited to announce that Kaiti Dinges has been promoted from Assistant Director to Executive Director of Jana’s Campaign” says Curt Brungardt, Jana’s Campaign co-founder. “She has been an outstanding violence prevention educator and she will be a great administrator as well.”

Dinges holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Fort Hays State University. She has served as a staff member of Jana’s Campaign since 2016, starting as an Education & Prevention Specialist. “I am so very humbled and excited to lead this organization,” Dinges said. “We play a significant role in reducing gender and relationship violence through prevention education, which is provided to elementary, middle, and high schools, colleges and universities, and in communities. This social disease can be eradicated, and I am eager to continue the mission of Jana’s Campaign to do so.”
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Jana’s Campaign is a national education and gender violence prevention organization located in Hays, Kansas. Jana’s Campaign was created in honor of Jana Mackey who lost her life to violence perpetrated by an ex-boyfriend in 2008. Mackey, a Hays High School graduate, was a law student at the University of Kansas and had spent years herself volunteering and helping victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in Lawrence, Kansas.

​Hays, KS- Jana’s Campaign, a Hays-based national education and violence prevention organization with the single mission of reducing gender and relationship violence, hosted their annual Empty Place at the Table Gala at the Rose Garden Banquet Hall in Hays on Saturday, November 2nd.
 
This annual event brings together Jana’s Campaign’s supporters, donors, and friends to celebrate the prevention education work being done across the state and beyond. With 250 people in attendance, nearly $80,000 was raised to ultimately make our world a safer place.
 
“Empty Place at the Table is our largest fundraising event, and it continues to grow each and every year, says Kaiti Dinges, executive director of Jana’s Campaign. “I am continually blown away by the support we receive from the Hays community and beyond. With this support, we are able to reach thousands of preteens, teens, and young adults, working to prevent violent and unhealthy relationship behaviors before they start.”  
 
The evening features a festive cocktail hour, dinner, live entertainment, a raffle, along with both a silent and live auction. Businesses throughout the community and state donated items and experiences to support the event. Jana’s Campaign celebrated impacting over 69,000 students from 600 middle and high schools across nine states. All of the numbers reflect work completed since 2013, when Jana’s Campaign formalized their data collection processes.
 
“To honor Jana with a room full of people who understand why prevention of gender-based violence is so important, and who are fully committed to making a difference is unbelievably inspiring,” shared Christie Brungardt, Jana’s mom and organization co-founder. “We will be able to accomplish great things with the funds raised at the gala this year.” 

This position has been filled.