Celebrate Sexual Assault Awareness Month With Us
Sign and share petitions to protect survivors and prevent exploitation
Good evening Activists,
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and we are glad to share action items and resources for you to support survivors and to help create a safer society. The purpose of SAAM is to bring both awareness and prevention of sexual assault, harassment, and abuse to the public. While SAAM has a long history rooted in social justice movements, in more recent years, it has focused on bringing in people who may not realize they play an important role in preventing sexual violence like parents, faith leaders, and coaches. Each one of us can become agents of change if we take the time to listen, educate, prevent, and advocate. We appreciate your collective efforts to end exploitation and as always, your feedback is appreciated!
If you or anyone you know is a survivor of sexual assault please check out these resources the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) or call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
Let’s take action together
Sign the Petition to eliminate the "loop hole" in Minnesota's sexual assault laws: that if a victim of rape/sexual assault voluntarily became intoxicated, they are not a victim of rape/sexual assault in the court of MN law. Whether someone voluntarily becomes intoxicated, it doesn't change that they did not consent to certain actions that occurred to them. There needs to be a change in Minnesota's sexual assault laws.
👉 Take a minute to sign the petition here.
Human trafficking survivors need safety, support and a path to rebuild their lives, not sexual abuse by law enforcement.
But according to Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations "repeatedly paid for and engaged in sex acts with suspected (human trafficking) victims." The investigation further found that "HSI documents show some supervisors knew" of the sexual abuse of these possible human trafficking survivors.
Many survivors of sex trafficking report being sexually abuse by law enforcement. This abuse is often used by traffickers to further isolate survivors from finding a path away from the trafficker and towards safety.
👉 Please share and sign a petition to hold officer accountable here.
Click here to learn more about our “why”.
As always, thanks for being part of our growing community of activists and as a reminder, we love hearing from you! All feedback is welcome!
This Week..
ACTIVISTS OF THE WEEK:
Wagatwe Wanjuki
Photo credit to: Wagatwe Wanjuki
Wagatwe Wanjuki is an avid feminist activist, speaker, writer, and digital strategist best known for her work as a national campus anti-violence advocate. Since launching a campaign for a better sexual assault policy at Tufts University in 2009, she's continued to work on Title IX initiatives to combat sexual assault and rape culture. Her goal is to create a world free of gender-based violence. Wanjuki cofounded the nonprofit organization Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture with Black activist and survivor Kamilah Willingham; the organization's mission is to “center the experiences and needs of the most marginalized survivors to change cultural norms and stop gender-based violence before it happens.”
Her work has been published in outlets including BuzzFeed, Feministing, Upworthy, The Establishment, Cosmopolitan.com, The Daily Dot, ESSENCE magazine, and The New York Times. Her commentary on sexual violence and related issues appearances include The Daily Show, Democracy Now!, CNN, and MSNBC's All in with Chris Hayes. She's also a sought-out speaker on the lecture circuit; her past engagements include Rutgers, Stanford, Yale, and Delaware County Community College.
👉 Read more about Wagatwe Wanjuki here.
FOR YOUR EYES:
Matt Gaetz Trip to Bahamas is Part of Federal Probe Into Sex Trafficking, Sources Say
Ethiopia’s Tigray: Men Forced to Rape Family Members, UN Reports
Outrage After Pakistan’s Prime Minister Links Rape to ‘Vulgarity’ and How Women Dress
FOR YOUR EARS:
Support for Survivors: (Podcast)
👉 If you enjoy staying informed about the stories, initiatives, and people within the counter human trafficking movement, share to tell others about it:
FOR YOUR EYES
Photo credit to: Insider
Matt Gaetz is Under Investigation on suspicion of Violating Federal Sex-Trafficking Laws- in 2017, he Cast the Only Vote Against a Human Trafficking Bill: The Justice Department is investigating whether Gaetz, a Republican Florida Congressman, 38, had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and violated federal laws against sex trafficking according to a report by the New York Times. Adding to his suspicion, in 2017 he was the only congressman to vote against an anti-trafficking bill called the The Combatting Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act.
A person who knowingly engages in illicit sex with a minor (aka statutory rape) and votes against legislation designed to combat human trafficking is not fit for office.
Sign this petition calling for his resignation.
Photo credit to: CBS
Matt Gaetz Trip to Bahamas is Part of Federal Probe Into Sex Trafficking, Sources Say: Federal investigators are looking into a Bahamas trip Matt Gaetz allegedly took in late 2018 or early 2019 as part of an inquiry into whether the Florida representative violated sex trafficking laws, multiple sources told CBS News. Gaetz was reportedly on that trip with a marijuana entrepreneur and hand surgeon named Jason Pirozzolo, who allegedly paid for female escorts.
Photo credit to: AlJazeera
Ethiopia’s Tigray-Men Forced to Rape Family Members, UN Reports: On Thursday more than 500 rape cases were reported to five clinics in Ethiopia’s Tigray region by the United Nations. The ongoing conflict is not only displacing civilians but also inflicting heavy sexual violence on women and girls in the region. Dozens of witnesses in Tigray have said Eritrean soldiers routinely killed civilians, gang-raped and tortured women, and looted households and crops. Eritrea has not responded to queries on reports of atrocities.
Photo credit to: New York Times
Outrage After Pakistan’s Prime Minister Links Rape to ‘Vulgarity’ and How Women Dress: Activists have accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of “baffling ignorance” and victim-blaming after he said rape cases had risen because of “vulgarity”, namely how women dress. He said women are responsible for tempting men to commit sexual violence. This rhetoric not only harms survivors, but permeates rape myths that enable abusers to justify their actions.
FOR YOUR EARS:
Photo credit to: Google podcasts
Support for Survivors: (48 minutes, podcast) Host Shaunestte Terrell talks with Michelle a sexual assault survivor. Michelle shares her story and her personal path to healing which she documents in her book Found: Triumph Over Fear with Grace and Gratitude.
Photo credit to: Apple Podcasts
HJ Talks About Abuse: 2021 Official Statistics on Sexual Assault: (podcast, 18 minutes) In this podcast Hugh James and his team discuss the recently published report from the Office for National Statistics. The report collected information collected from the general public and following analysis there are some stark headlines which warrant further consideration:
One in 40 women aged between 16 and 24 in England and Wales experience rape or assault by penetration, including attempts, each year, ONS estimates suggest.
Overall, 0.1% of men and 0.8% of women aged over 16 said they were victims of these crimes in the year to March 2020.
Some 773,000 adults aged 16 to 74 said they were victims of any type of sexual assault during the same period.
There were almost four times as many female victims of sexual assault as men, at 618,000, compared to 155,000.
COMING UP:
SAAM: Participate in Denim Day
Stand in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault When: April 28, 2021
For the past 22 years, Peace Over Violence has run an inspiring and powerful opportunity to practice solidarity and support survivors by renewing our commitment to exposing harmful behaviors and attitudes surrounding sexual violence. Denim Day is a campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campaign began after a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped the person who raped her remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in response to this case and the activism surrounding it. Since then, what started as a local campaign to bring awareness to victim blaming and destructive myths that surround sexual violence has grown into a movement. As the longest running sexual violence prevention and education campaign in history, Denim Day asks community members, elected officials, businesses and students to make a social statement with their fashion statement by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual violence.
👉 Learn more about Denim Day here.