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Inspiration July 5, 2018
Women that do: Campaigning for sexual assault survivors
Rape is the most under-reported crime. And women have had enough.
More than 60 percent of sexual abuse and assault isn’t reported to law enforcement, according to a fact sheet provided by national sexual violence resource center. The organization states that “One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives.”
According to psychologist Beverly Engel, she wrote on a blog post in Psychology Today that sexual assault victims are usually too scared or ashamed to speak out about their experience.
Here’s a list of 7 powerful women campaigning for sexual assault survivors.
Amber Amour, better known as Herisa Het-Heru Takhit, is an activist that stands against rape culture. In September of 2014, Herisa was sexually assaulted by her roommate while living in New York. When she told the police she didn’t appreciate how they responded. The officers asked her if she was sure that her rapist knew she meant “no.” They said that maybe her rapist thought she meant yes. The court dismissed the case after a long back-and-forth. Post the incident, Herisa created the campaign #StopRapeEducate to help with sexual assault survivors.
Tarana Burke is an activist born in Harlem, NY. While working at a youth camp put on by Just Be Inc., she met a young girl victimized by her mother’s boyfriend. She inspired Burke to create the #MeToo movement. The campaign started as a support system for women of color in the community who are sexual assault survivors. Now, the campaign caters to everyone of all races, genders and sexual orientations. This movement focuses on protecting vulnerable people and making sure everyone has a healthy journey.
Shonda Rhimes, along with many other women in Hollywood, created the Times Up campaign. This movement makes sure all women are safe and treated fairly in the work environment. The Times Up campaign really pushes the idea of breaking the silence, when it comes to discrimination, harassment, and abuse.
Elonë is a woman from Germany that became famous by posting feminist messages on menstrual pads around her city, Karlsruhe.
Elonë took to Tumblr to share her campaign, which reached over 100,000 shares. The messages definitely spoke volumes to its viewers about sexual assault. One of her most famous messages was “Imagine if men were as disgusted with rape as they were with periods.” According to an article in Bustle, she donates menstrual products to her local homeless shelter.
Amber Rose is a model and actress, as well as a former stripper. She’s mainly known for her yearly famous SlutWalk. Originated in 2015, the event, hosted by The Amber Rose Foundation, sheds light on sexual violence, victim blaming, derogatory labels and gender inequality. The website states, “This event is a zero-tolerance event, and we do not condone hateful language, racism, sexism, ableism, fat-shaming, transphobia, or any other bigotry.”
Grace Brown created Project Unbreakable. When creating this project, Brown wanted to use photography to show sexual assault survivors and the messages their attackers said to them. What sparked this project was her friend opening up to her about her own sexual abuse story. This project definitely spoke to people. On her Tumblr, she posts pictures sent to her from different people about their own abuse stories. Project Unbreakable was a way for survivors to share their stories.
While attending Carnival in Brazil, Aisha Jacob experienced a man shoving his hand up her shorts. According to the Los Angeles Time, even though the man was kicked out of the event, Jacob remained shaken up about her assault. When she discussed what happened with her friends, they all started sharing their own sexual assault stories. This lead to Jacob and other women speaking out against sexual assault. Jacob and her friends decided to create the campaign Não é Não, or in English “No Means No.” They made their campaign known by putting temporary tattoos on their bodies that read “no means no” in Portuguese as well as passing them out to women.
These campaigns promote to create a safe space, so all sexual assault survivors can come forward and talk.
