The New Hampshire Governor’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office held their Eleventh Statewide Conference at the Wayfarer Inn in Bedford on June 9th and 10th.

On Friday evening, the 9th, the Honorable William D. Paine II Award was presented to joint recipients Gina B. Apicelli, Administrative Office of the Courts, Family Division and Executive Councilor Debora Pignatelli.

From left: Sandra Matheson, Victim/Witness Coordinator, Attorney General’s Office; recipients of the Paine Award: Gina Apicelli, Family Division, Administrative Office of the Courts and Debora Pignatelli, Governor’s Executive Council; Chief Timothy Russell, Henniker Police Department and a former recipient.

The Paine Award is named for the presiding justice of the District Court of Northern Carroll County from 1992 until his death in December 1996; Judge Paine was a dedicated advocate for the rights of victims and witnesses of violence.

Gina Apicelli received the award in recognition of her unwavering commitment to serving the victims of domestic violence and child abuse ever since her admission to the Bar, first at the law firm of Thomas Rappa and then in her own practice, where she has concentrated almost exclusively on family law. In 2001, Apicelli became the first Executive Director of the Greenbook Project in New Hampshire, an effort focusing on improving the delivery of services to victims of domestic violence and child abuse. She has demonstrated an "uncanny ability to bring divergent interests together," said her nominator (anonymous), and has made New Hampshire’s Greenbook Project a leader among others across the nation. In 2004, Apicelli became Administrator of the Family Division of the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Debora Pignatelli of Nashua is a member of the Governor’s Executive Council for the Fifth District of New Hampshire. According to her nominator, Pignatelli "has long been a friend to the vulnerable and helpless." For five years in the House of Representatives and for ten years in the Senate, Pignatelli sponsored and advocated anti-stalking laws and laws for the prevention of domestic abuse and sexual assault and was instrumental in increasing the marriage surtax to better fund crisis centers across the state. As a member of the Governor’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, she has continued to work to improve the circumstances of abuse victims.

Kelly A. Ayotte, Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire and the Honorable John T. Broderick, Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court opened the conference. On Friday, advocates from many concerned groups across the state listened to keynote speaker David Lisak, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts; Saturday, keynote speaker Christopher T. Kilmartin, PhD, Professor of Psychology at the University of Mary Washington gave the opening address.

Dr. Lisak spoke on the "Undetected Rapist"—men who rape but are never reported or prosecuted. These men, who are responsible for the vast majority of rapes, are usually far more in control of their anger than their incarcerated counterparts and their crimes "are characterized by extensive planning and premeditation…and a majority…are serial offenders." They do not usually inflict gratuitous injuries on their victims, but frequently use alcohol and drugs to make their victims more vulnerable, then terrorize them by threats and just enough force to insure cooperation.

Dr. Kilmartin talked about the origins and consequences of and the remedies for, men’s violence against women. Since males commit over 90 percent of all violent crimes in the US and are responsible for nearly all gender-based violence, Kilmartin’s studies are broad-based, exploring the biological, environmental, and social causes for this kind of violence. He is widely recognized as an expert on the prevention of sexual assault/harassment on college campuses.

Among the other notable seminar speakers were: the Hon. Susan B. Carbon, Supervisory Judge of the Grafton County Family Division and a member of the Governor’s Commission; Theresa de Langis, PhD, Executive Director of the NH Commission on the Status of Women; Linda Griebsch, Public Policy Director at the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; Peter Odom, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Justice Bureau; Elizabeth Paine, Domestic Violence Specialist for the NH District Court and member of the Governor’s Commission; Michelle Rosenthal, MEd, Domestic Violence Intervention Coordinator for the NH DHHS. There were 30 seminars in all over the two days and 26 presenters, all of them recognized for their expertise in fields related to domestic and sexual violence.

The conference concluded on Friday afternoon with the last seminar, "Cyber Crime in New Hampshire: Local Challenges with National Implications." Child exploitation on the Internet is one of the newer areas of violence/sexual assault against children; during this seminar New Hampshire’s cyber crime efforts were discussed and related national trends explored.

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