2025 Keynote Speakers

Nearly 1 in 2 women in the U.S. will face physical violence from an intimate partner in their lives. More than 19 million women have been stalked in their lifetime. A child, woman, or young man goes missing and is forced into labor or sex trafficking every 90 seconds. And, when a person goes missing, every second counts. The first 72 hours can determine whether a missing person is found safe. Moreover, although a smaller share of the nation’s population, black, indigenous, and Hispanic women represent 40 percent of women and girls who are reported missing. They are also more likely to fall victim to intimate partner violence and other crimes that result in missing person cases. Understanding the missing person’s life patterns, previous victimization, and potential risks can be the difference between a successful rescue and a tragic outcome. Furthermore, many missing individuals are linked to other crimes, such as intimate partner violence, stalking, and human trafficking. Recognizing the patterns of victimization and their role in missing persons cases is crucial to help trace the events leading to an abduction and ensure individuals are quickly located and returned home.  This panel will examine three real-life cases of missing women and the link to intimate partner violence, stalking, and human trafficking and discuss how missing person programs, such as the Ashanti Alert Program, can aid investigations and foster collaboration. 

Addressing the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) requires a holistic and community-focused approach. By integrating generational trauma awareness, transparent communication, community participation, and culturally competent and culturally sensitive approaches, the goal to create a toolkit for community response and long term healing while addressing gaps within the areas of victim advocacy, wellness and resilience support, and the criminal justice process can be achieved. This workshop will describe a successful approach to addressing MMIP was by introducing the Healing and Response Team (HRT) Special Initiative created in response by the Not Invisible Act Commission (NIAC) led by the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC). The importance of this Tribal-based model of care to meet the important and specific needs of Tribal communities and families affected by MMIP in cases that intersect with domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and sex trafficking will be discussed. 

State v. Jon-Christopher Clark involved the August 2018 disappearance and death of 19-year-old Kiera Bergman. Ms. Bergman’s body was found almost exactly one month after she disappeared. Her body was found along a bike trail in the desert alongside a rural highway outside Phoenix, Arizona. Kiera’s severely decomposed body appeared to have been staged to look like a sexual assault with her pants missing and her panties secured around her ankles. The defendant, Mr. Clark, was Kiera’s live-in boyfriend and the last person to see Kiera alive. Clark was charged with second degree murder and evidence tampering after Kiera’s body was found. However, in 2022, after 5 weeks of trial and 2 1/2 days of jury deliberations, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on both charges. The presenter(s) of this case study will courageously confront and discuss the investigative and unique legal challenges including, but not limited to, witness tip information, Apple iCloud records, and decomposition of the victim’s body and analyze lessons learned from the investigators, prosecutors, victim advocates, and others involved in domestic violence homicides. 

Description pending.

This training will provide practical tools and strategies to enhance the investigation and prosecution of strangulation and asphyxiation cases by reframing the challenges posed by trauma, fear, and survival into opportunities for collecting and translating valuable evidence. Click HERE to learn more.

WOMEN COUNT is a portrait of a school nurse in Texas who is haunted by the mission she has taken on to count every woman killed by a man in the United States. Through a penetrating look at her and her database, the film becomes a powerful exploration of femicide, domestic violence, guns, and trauma. 

 In the panel discussion following the screening, the presenter(s) will explore what the work of femicide data activists means for the movement, discuss the process, impact, and goals of documenting femicide data as well as the process of documenting the work and personal backstory of the WOMEN Count founder.