South African activist Nomfundo Walaza will kick off the eighth international Conference on Family Violence, to be held September 16-20 in San Diego, with a keynote speech. Walaza, a clinical psychologist and director of the Trauma Center for Survivors of Violence and Torture in Cape Town, administers psychosocial services to victims of political and organized violence.

Other types of violence addressed at the conference--for which APA is a supporting sponsor--will include child maltreatment, elder abuse and criminal and sexual assault. Conference participants will also present new international research on family violence, such as intimate partner violence and unintended pregnancy in Columbia and rates of sexual assault in New Zealand.

This year's conference will also feature interdisciplinary dialogues aimed at finding "workable" solutions to family violence. "By bringing diverse professionals together, we can look at issues from all perspectives," says Jonny Morales, executive director of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute, which co-sponsors the event with the Children's Institute International and Alliant International University. For example, getting psychologists and victims' rights advocates to understand each other's roles may lead them to more cooperative interactions, Morales says.

For information on the conference--which will offer continuing-education credits to psychologists--e-mail fvconf@alliant.edu or call (858) 623-2777, ext. 427.

--N. CRAWFORD