Category Archives: Organizing tactics

Twitter Movement Highlights Underreporting #ididnotreport

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Trigger warning for disclosures of sexual assault 

Many of SAFER’s social media-savvy readers have probably already heard about this, but, if you haven’t, it’s worth checking out. Just a few days ago, feminist activists from across the pond coined #ididnotreport, and survivors began bravely disclosing their unreported experiences of sexual assault via Twitter. Here are a few powerful examples:

Absolutely nothing but blame was placed on me after my first 2 assaults. #ididnotreport the most recent. Couldn’t go through that again. -Colleen

#ididnotreport any of them because I’d been taught that it was only rape if violence or threats were used. -Merinnan

An anonymous friend: “#ididnotreport because I’m male, and no one would have believed me.” -imbecillis

So far, survivors and people close to survivors have sent 3,493 tweets using #ididnotreport. Did you or someone you know choose not to report after a sexual assault for fear of poor treatment by school administrators or disbelieving friends, law enforcement officials, etc.? Head over to Twitter and get involved in this amazing social-media movement to shed light on the troubling phenomenon of underreporting.

GET INVOLVED: March 18-24 is International Anti-Street Harassment Week

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Cross-posted from SAFER’s Tumblr

Sexual and sexist comments, public masturbation, groping, stalking, and assault – gender-based street harassment makes public places unfriendly and even scary for many girls, women, and LGBQT folks. Join thousands of people worldwide to speak out against this human rights issue during International Anti-Street Harassment Week, March 18-24, 2012.

There are many ways to participate, including by simply agreeing to talk about the issue, sharing stories or tweeting (#NoSHWeek) during the week, and changing your Facebook photo that week. If you want to organize action in your community, submit it to the map so others in your area can find out about it. No action is too small to help collectively say that the streets should be safe for everyone!

Below is a list of ways that you can use social media to get involved in International Anti-Street Harassment Week!

If you’re in NYC, check out the Facebook event to get involved during #NoSHWeek!

Learn more at Meet Us On The Street.

UConn Students Urge Administration to Fight Rape Culture

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Over at Change.org, students from the University of Connecticut are trying to collect 5,000 signatures in response to the airing of a rape-supportive program on UCTV, the university’s television station. Although UCTV removed the episode, the school’s administration has yet to respond to the incident. Organizers want their school’s administrators to speak out against rape culture by issuing a statement condemning the TV program’s blatant trivialization of rape.

Kudos to the amazing student activists heading up this campaign! Show your support by heading over to Change.org and signing their petition! 

Pastor Who Humilated Raped Girl Removed from University Board

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Thanks to an outpouring of outrage led by former students, The Rev. Charles Phelps has stepped down as a member of the Board of Bob Jones University. Phelps was the pastor of a church in New Hampshire when a church member in his late 30s confessed to raping a 15 year old girl, also a member of the church, who was impregnated by the rapist. Phelps forced the girl, Tina Anderson (who has asked that her name and story be shared to help others) to apologize for HER behavior in front of the whole church, and then sent her out of state, away from family and friends, to have the child and give it up for adoption. Now an adult, Anderson has bravely pushed for accountability for the crimes committed against her, and this year, her rapist was finally convicted – but until now Phelps remained on the board of Bob Jones, a major Baptist university.

“Growing up in the church, you respect the people that teach you, and to see them so grossly mishandle a 15-year-old is just angering,” said Christine Corneau, of Bristol.

Corneau is a former member of the church and a former student at BJU in South Carolina, where until Thursday, Phelps had served as a member of the school’s Board of Trustees.

Corneau and many others had taken to social networking sites, calling on BJU to remove Phelps.

Check out I Support Tina Anderson for more on the story and to see one of the petitions that helped push Phelps out. This is a great reminder that alumni can be an important source of change for their colleges and universities – your former school relies on your support, so make your voice heard!

Dear Facebook, Rape Jokes Are Absolutely Not Okay

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According to Facebook, we all need to lighten up about rape jokes, because, you know, some people think rape is really funny and the rest of us need to STFU and grow a sense of humor already.

Wait, wait. Are you ready for this? I hope you’ve got a tissue handy because this one might have you laughing tears.

YOU KNOW SHES [sic] PLAYING HARD TO GET WHEN YOUR [sic] CHASING HER DOWN AN ALLEYWAY

Yup.

This variety of Facebook page is one with which we’re all familiar. So it’s perhaps less surprising than it is tragic that 176,623 people “like” this page, including a number of ladies who desperately need to pick up a copy of Ariel Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pigs.

Naturally, some folks are wondering whether Facebook supports rape culture. Since rape culture permeates pretty much every layer of our society, I think the answer to this question is easy. The Facebook feminist community continues to call for the page’s removal, but, despite despicable, unquestionably rape-supportive wall posts such as…

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I’ve got a knife
Get in the van

and…

I had sex with my girl last night she was screaming another name out -_- anyone know who rape is? [Note: This comment was reported and subsequently removed.]

…Facebook claims that this page is little more than “local pub” humor. Here’s a hearty helping of corporate mansplaining for you:

We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views whilst respecting the rights and feeling of others.

We have now more than 750 million people around the world of varying opinions and ideals using Facebook as a place to discuss and share things that are important to them.

We sometimes find people discussing and posting about controversial topics

It is very important to point out that what one person finds offensive another can find entertaining—just as telling a rude joke won’t get you thrown out of your local pub, it won’t get you thrown off Facebook.

Fortunately, people like Orlagh, the student activist who brought this horrific Facebook page to SAFER’s attention, are tirelessly demanding that Facebook treats rape-supportive pages and wall posts with the gravity they deserve. Orlagh has started online petitions at GoPetition.com and Change.org. Please sign and spread the word!

Video Update from American University

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Amanda Hess has been doing a great job of covering the activists at American University who are pushing the school to sign off on a VAWA grant that will fund the school to improve their sexual assault resources. As Selena mentioned, the grant application was being blocked because the Vice President refused to sign off on mandating prevention education for all incoming students. Today Amanda posts video of the students protesting, and their meeting with VP Hanson.

This part of Amanda’s latest post (and you can see it in the video) really struck me:

Following the protest, around 40 AU students staged a sit-in in Hanson’s office to confront her on her lack of support of sexual assault prevention. “It’s very hard to understand because it’s administrative,” Hanson told students on her refusal to sign off on the grant application. “It’s just a lot of detail and it’s not what you care about.”

I really don’t think it’s hard to understand why arranging a sexual assault prevention program that 1500 students would present an administrative challenge. I mean seriously, I’m sure it was hard enough for the student protesters to get 40 folks to their sit-in, I think they get it. But here’s the thing: they’re not saying “This is so easy, why can’t you just make it happen?” They are saying, “this might be hard to accomplish, but it’s JUST THAT IMPORTANT. It’s important to us, and it should be that important to you.” Instead of condescending to students about how they just don’t care about the details, it would be nice if Hanson recognized why there is so much emotion around this issue, or even made it clear that despite the challenges she felt like the students had reasonable demands. I just don’t get it. You have 40 young people in your office telling you they want to be EDUCATED and this is how you respond?

In the end, the school wouldn’t sign off on the grant, but students did get Hanson to sign a document stating her intention to work with students on these issues and vaguely stating that American will “Ensure that all new students are educated on sexual assault.” Amanda rightly points out that this seems impossible without making such education MANDATORY, but the students at American seem ready to keep fighting and holding their school accountable to those promises.

 

Quick Hit: Awesome, Free Organizing Toolkits For All Kinds of Activists

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This semester I’m in a class on community organizing and advocacy, which basically means my brain is on SAFER overload—everything I read, my mind immediately flips it to “yes, but how would that play out on a campus? What does that mean for campus policy???” It’s pretty out of control. But it’s an awesome class, and it’s pointed me to a number of great FREE organizing resources that I will share with you as I come across them. For starters, check out these really comprehensive online community organizing/campaign toolkits:

Though not free, I cannot recommend enough Tools for Radical Democracy, a book written by one of my professors (!) that not only recounts the community organizing strategies used by Community Voices Heard in NYC, but includes a number of really practical exercises and tools for getting your group/campaign off the ground.

Finally of course I need to plug SAFER’s very own free (and hopefully soon to be updated!!!) organizing manual, Change Happens. Happy reading and happy organizing!

Awesome Student Activists of the Week: George Washington Students Against Sexual Assault

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I’m behind on this, but Amanda Hess has been on top of the excellent awareness campaign students at George Washington University ran last week. The 3000 Campaign is a direct response to a survey which found that “a majority of GW students are uninformed about how to report or seek help following a sexual assault. About 74 percent of those surveyed said they don’t feel GW educates students about available resources for sexual assault victims…” 3000 reflects the number of students at GWU who will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime judging by the 1 in 3 lifetime statistic from RAINN.

Students started by postering the campus, and then tabled in a number of dorms, distributing information about the sexual assault resources that exist on campus and calling for more school-sponsored education and resource awareness. But like many student activists are now doing, GW SASA have taken their work online and are using a number of social networking sites to continue the dialogue and create new student-centered spaces. The GW SASA website is now up, and includes everything from a resource list to meeting minutes (yay for transparency!). The twitter page is in full swing, as well as the campaign’s facebook page, which includes a “For Help” tab to share resources.

A new strategy though, is their use of formspring to allow students to share anonymous  stories about sexual violence. The responses are heartbreaking, but seeing them together reminds you of the power of giving voice to these experiences and the absolute necessity of the work the GW SASA (and similar students around the country) are doing.