Monthly Archives: October 2009

Class, Sexual Assault, and Anti-Rape Organizing

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Just to keep ya’ll updated, this is the fourth in a series of blogified articles on intersectionality and how it relates to rape and anti-rape organizing.

Class is a difficult subject for me because in my life it is (perhaps the only) site of privilege.  Being born into a mixed-class family, though I was raised in a tiny backwater Floridian town in a cracked old house that couldn’t fit by mother’s brood, I was also subject to somewhat unbelievable class privileges, not limited to vacations at my grandmother’s four-story historic mansion in rhode island or one of my grandfather’s multiple summer homes, trips across europe and asia during which my family only stayed in world-class hotels, and access to every material article I desired.  Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, I came to take for granted the privilege of education–my family has paid for my undergraduate and post-graduate educations, both in the United States and abroad.  So in so many ways I am not qualified to write about class at all.  However, a large part of the work I did for this article was a necessary expansion of my own class consciousness; as well as increased awareness of the reality of classism as this permeates both anti-rape organizing and incidences of rape.  I offer this piece, as those preceding it, as the starting point for discussions on class and anti-rape organizing.

Admittedly, the connections between rape and class are limited and not nearly as thoroughly researched as those between say, rape and race, or rape and disability (next week’s blog!).  The statistics I have gathered are from an informed study on homeless women and rape and present only the intersection of extreme poverty and sexual assault.  I would welcome further thoughts on this issue, as it is necessary to note the myriad ways in which class doubtless affects rape statistics.   Additionally, though there is not much statistical research into this, I posit that working class communities are often dangerous sites for women because of generally higher incidences of violent crime and police inattention and unresponsiveness to reports of crime in these neighborhoods.

On organizing, there is a panoply of digital information regarding class-conscious organizing, and I have encapsulated some of it as follows.  Please bear in mind that this is an extremely inexhaustive list, and it is further limited because I am writing specifically for a college-audience.

Ways that class affects organizing:

It is necessary to keep in mind that universities are sites of privilege—specific individuals have access to university-level education, and much of our daily lives (income and opportunity) is determined by whether or not we have a college degree. However, within college settings there is great diversity with regard to class and it is essential that organizers educate themselves about class issues that affect student members.

Be aware of the limitations caused by both the social and economic effects of classism and how these affect member access to meetings, time, and hesitancy to engage in activities that might threaten their education.

Ensure that meeting times and places are accessible to working students, and if necessary, offer childcare to members with children.

Remember that the threat of expulsion is a consequence of activism for students who receive financial aid or (if your group is engaging in civil disobedience) cannot afford to risk arrest and the costs it incurs.

If asking for group membership fees or expecting members to shoulder the financial burden (with a newly formed or more informal group), be cautious in pressuring all members to do so and keep in mind individual monetary restrictions.

Arrange transportation for members to off-campus events and brainstorm ideas to prevent members from being pressured to spend money on club activities. Some examples are fees for entry to anti-rape related conferences or for off-campus film nights.

Intersections between rape and class:

Working class individuals have limited, discouraged, or no access to legal recourse, hospital care, and rape kits—though these are not necessarily as relevant to university settings, they are still pertinent to all people who have been sexually assaulted and to students after graduating.

Below are just a few facts on homeless women and sexual violence compiled by Lisa Goodman, Katya Fels, and Catherine Glenn for the National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women.

Though they represent the effect of extreme poverty on women victims, they should be viewed as examples of some of the ways in which rape and class intersect:

  • 92% of a racially diverse sample of homeless mothers had experienced severe physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives.
  • In another study, 13% of homeless women reported having been raped in the past 12 months and half of these were raped at least twice (Wenzel, et al., 2000).   In yet another study, 9% of homeless women reported at least one experience of sexual victimization in the last month (Wenzel, Koegel & Gelberg, 2000).
  • Compared to their low-income housed counterparts, the sexual assault experiences of homeless women are more likely to be violent, and to include multiple sexual acts (Stermac & Paradis, 2001).
  • In one study of homeless women, those who reported a rape in the last year were significantly more likely than nonvictims to suffer from two or more gynecological conditions and two or more serious physical health conditions in the past year (Wenzel et al., 2000). They were also significantly more likely to report that although they needed to see a physician during the past year, they could not manage to do so, and that although they desired treatment for substance abuse they were unable to obtain appropriate services.
  • Homeless victims of sexual assault must contend with the psychological and physical effects of rape within the context of poor access to legal, mental health and medical resources, social alienation and isolation, unsafe living environments, constant exposure to reminders of the experience, and lack of transportation and information about available services (Goodman, Saxe, and Harvey, 1991).   Homeless women of color, lesbians and bisexuals, and women with physical, emotional, and developmental disabilities face even greater barriers.

The following is a list of some useful links on class and rape:

http://new.vawnet.org/category/Main_Doc.php?docid=558

http://www.pucl.org/from-archives/Gender/rape-class.htm

http://www.racialicious.com/2008/02/27/sex-and-youth-why-we-need-community-focused-messaging/

On organizing with class consciousness:

http://www.seac.org/resources/antioppression/anticlassism

http://www.classmatters.org/

http://soaw.org/article.php?id=532

RAINN Poster Contest

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Here’s a cool opportunity from RAINN to design a sexual assault awareness poster that will be used on college campuses nationwide!

See their website for more info.

Fighting Sexual Assault Through Design!

RAINN is hosting a poster contest for our college campus campaign. The winning poster will be used to promote sexual assault awareness on college campuses all over the U.S., reaching over 1 million people nationwide. The winning artist will be mentioned on our website (rainn.org) and have their design downloaded and printed for display by schools and crisis centers!

Deadline Friday, November 13, 2009!

Trying to Find the Smallest Bit of Good While Wading Through the Worst of the Bad

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A lot of people are going to be blogging today about the gang-rape that occurred outside a school dance in California. The one where a teenage girl was brutally assaulted and repeatedly raped by up to 15 teenage boys for over two hours. And for over two hours, no one called the police or stepped in to try and stop what was happening. Not only that, but people came to see what was going on and then started to assault and rape her as well.

I’m not up for this today; I can’t think of anything illuminating to say, the whole thing just makes me feel seriously ill. So I’m going to go in other direction. While reading more about the story at Jezebel, I found the tiniest bit of relief in the words of the commenters who shared my rage and sadness. One of the commenters mentioned a project s/he is involved with called Green Dot Kentucky. I checked it out and am somewhat in love with it and wanted to share.

Created by Dorothy Edwards, director of the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center at the University of Kentucky, Green Dot Kentucky is basically a state-wide bystander intervention and awareness campaign. From the Green Dot Kentucky homepage:

“Visualize for a moment that unforgettable image of small red–dots spreading across a computer generated map of the US‚ symbolizing the spread of some terrible epidemic – with each tiny red dot representing an individual case. With disturbing speed‚ the three or four single dots multiply and spread until the whole map emits a red glow comprised of a zillion tiny dots.”

“Now, imagine a map of Kentucky filled with red dots. Each red dot on this map represents an act of power-based personal violence (interpersonal violence‚ sexual violence, child abuse or stalking) – or a choice to tolerate‚ justify or perpetuate this violence. A red dot is a rape – a red dot is a hit – a red dot is a threat – a red dot is a “blame the victim” statement – a red dot is an individual choice to do nothing in the face of a high risk situation. It’s hard to know exactly how many red dots are on our map at any given moment – but we do know there have been enough red dots to create a culture that sustains a rate of 36.4% of Kentucky women becoming victims of interpersonal violence during their lifetimes and more than 14,000 substantiated reports of child abuse in a year’s time.”

Now imagine adding a green dot in the middle of all those red dots on our Kentucky map. A green dot is any behavior‚ choice‚ word‚ or attitude that promotes safety for all our citizens and communicates utter intolerance for violence.”

…Green Dot Kentucky is a community level approach to violence prevention that capitalizes on the power of peer and cultural influence. Informed by social change theory, the model targets all community members as potential bystanders, and seeks to engage them, through awareness, education and skills-practice, in proactive behaviors that establish intolerance of violence as the norm, as well as reactive interventions in high-risk situations – resulting in the ultimate reduction of violence.

The site gives a ton of examples of how to add your green dots to the map, splitting up green dot ideas by category, like Green Dots for Men, Green Dots for Health Care Providers, and Green Dots for Those Who Party Hard. Some of the Green Dots for College and High School students:

• Visit the center on your campus or in your community that addresses violence against women or power-based personal violence and volunteer for one hour.

• If you are concerned that a friend of yours might be a victim of violence, gently ask if you can help and respect their answer.

• Attend a program or event designed to raise awareness about violence.

• Create a fund-raiser for a campus or community organization that works to address violence.

• Look out for friends at parties or where alcohol is involved to ensure everyone comes and goes together.

• Work to bring an education program to your class or group.

• Print off one of the posters in the resource section and hang it on your wall.

Lots of small steps are huge. I’m impressed, Kentucky.

Race and Rape: Keeping Racism Out of Your Campaign

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The intersections of race and rape are sneaky. Though statistics indicate variation in victim reports based on race, there are few similar statistics on offenders and race. Further, since racism is a social injustice (and therefore fluid, grey, difficult to pinpoint in many instances), the ways in which race and anti-rape work overlap are relevant not only to rape itself but also to organizing tactics.

Since the connections between race and anti-oppressive anti-rape organizing are easier to identify, awareness about these connections is essential for any anti-rape organizer. In this week’s blog I’ve combined some statistics on rape based on race (victim only) with comments on the broader racial stereotyping that plagues reporting and organizing. Keep in mind that even these stereotypes and the damage they inflict on media attention and tactics are difficult to assert, though drawn from a careful analysis of America’s race history and the legacy of racism in anti-rape work.

Why is race relevant to anti-rape organizing?

Race is relevant to anti-rape organizing in two distinct ways. First, any effective organizing must interrogate all types of social injustice—specifically in the case of anti-rape organizing, in which we are seeking to educate all people. Second, though rape affects all people regardless of class, race, sexuality, religion, disability etc, there are notable statistical differences between whites and people of color with regard to victim reporting, police support, media attention, and offender prosecution. This article is divided into two parts, to accommodate each of these ways in which race significantly affects anti-rape work.

Ways that racism can affect organizing, and alienate people of color from a group

Assumptions that rape and sexual assault are unimportant or less important than race to people of color

Domination of discussions and leadership by white members

Materials that exclude people of color (for example, posters or flyers that feature only white people, or rape as it relates only to white people)

Pressuring of people of color to choose between rape and race (or any other) issues; also the pressure for a single person of color to represent the needs, ideas, and circumstances of all people of color

Campaign and media attention that prioritizes rape of white victims over people of color

Intersections of race and sexual assault

The following statistics are pulled from a feminist blog and reflect the state department statistics on rape and race

Lifetime rate of rape /attempted rape for women by race:
* All women: 17.6%
* White women: 17.7%
* Black women: 18.8%
* Asian Pacific Islander women: 6.8%
* American Indian/Alaskan women: 34.1%
* Mixed race women: 24.4%

And more, from the UCSC rape prevention program, on reporting and race:

*Women of all ethnicities are raped: Native American /Alaska Native women are most likely to report a rape and Asian/Pacific Islander women the least likely. (National Institute of Justice 1998)

*80-90% of rapes against women (except for American Indian women) are committed by someone of the same racial background as the victim. (US Dept. of Justice 1994)

*Native American victims of rape reported the offender as either white or black in 90% of reports. (Department of Justice 1997)

Additionally, though difficult to assert via statistics because of the nature of rape (most often, one person’s word against another’s), the following stereotypes affect reporting, accusations, and victimization:

The myth of the sexually aggressive black man (as a rapist of white women) allows for the indictment of black male offenders more so than white; and rape allegations made by white women against black men receive more media attention than those made by white women against white men

The myth of the wild, sexual, lascivious black woman (who ‘deserves’ or elicits rape) prevents many black women from reporting their rapes

The myth of the subservient and pornographic East Asian woman (also, who ‘deserves’, elicits, tolerates rape) prevents many East Asian women from reporting their rapes

Different ethnic/cultural norms for masculinity and femininity can adversely affect victim disclosure as well, preventing men of color from reporting for fear of backlash, and keeping women of color silent for the same reasons

The following are some links that may be helpful in educating any group with regard to race and rape:

http://www.blackcommentator.com/98/98_calderon_rape_racism.html

http://www.uncfsp.org/projects/userfiles/File/DCE-STOP_NOW/Racism_and_Rape.pdf

http://www.brandeis.edu/projects/fse/Pages/victimraceandrape.html

http://www.theroot.com/views/rape-and-race-we-have-talk-about-it

http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/margins-to-centre/2005-February/000201.html

http://www2.ucsc.edu/rape-prevention/statistics.html

http://www.ccasa.org/documents/Rape_Myths_&_Facts.pdf

http://feministcampus.blogspot.com/2009/10/rape-facts.html

Again, the best way to recognize racist reporting and the intersections between race and rape is to engage in critical self-reflection as an organizer and ensure that your tactics are inclusive of all people, regardless of race.

Sunday News Linkage

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Sarah recently blogged about a controversial sex column in a student newspaper, while Politics Daily discusses the trend and concern by some administrations that college students simply don’t possess the required knowledge to write on the subject:

The “qualifications and consistency” that Peak refers to prove to be a tricky goal for many sex columnists and their editors. The challenge editors face is deciding what the tone, or “voice,” as Peak says, of the column, and whether it will tack to the informative side, the snarky, the casual, or somewhere in between. Is the intent to push the envelope for readership’s sake, or is the column’s purpose strictly educational?

The Baltimore Sun editorial insisted that “the whole purpose of student publications … is to train students to become responsible journalists, and for that to happen, they need the experience of learning on their own what is and what isn’t appropriate.” The realm of the student publication sex column is still ripe for exploration, and will continue to serve as training ground for journalists not only concerning free speech issues but also concerning the cultural shifts in the accepted – and not so accepted – norms.

***

Women have come far in the workplace and society… and then backtracked? An op-ed piece by Joanne Lipman asserts that although women are the major breadwinners in 40 percent of families, they are stalling in other areas. According to the article, women earn 77 cents for every dollar made by a man, and only 15 women run Fortune 500 companies.

I completely disagree with one reason behind the pendulum shift backwards. The author says 9/11 is partly responsible– citing the many ways America was torn apart (the war in Iraq, the internet as a soapbox). Could it have made an trivial cut into womens’ progress? Maybe. But I don’t think it’s a significant cause.

The other reason she gives is is much more likely:

Part of the reason we’ve lost our way, part of the reason my generation became complacent, is that many of us have been defining progress for women too narrowly. We’ve focused primarily on numbers at the expense of attitudes.

***

And lastly, depressing news on the status of Sen. Al Franken’s anti-rape amendment.

The proposed amendment that would stop the Pentagon from hiring contractors whose employment contracts prevent their employees from taking “work-related allegations of rape and discrimination to court” is being targeted by– whose else– defense contractors.

According to the article, the Appropriations chairman, Sen. Daniel Inouye, is planning to strip the provision from the bill. However, other sources, including his own office, assert that he voted for the bill and strongly supports it. Confusing much? I guess we’ll just follow this story.

What’s TIG (trans, intersex, and genderqueer) Got to Do with It?

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This week’s blogified article is on trans, intersex, and genderqueer awareness–how and why these issues are relevant to anti-rape organizing.  As always, feedback is welcome.  Please enjoy!

As a lesbian, a feminist of color, and a social justice organizer for most of my life, I have always considered myself liberal in the broadest definition: open to and encouraging of change, self-reflective towards that end, and tirelessly supportive of any class of people suffering from discrimination. Particularly, I was often the person speaking first about issues considered most irrelevant and lives considered most peripheral—as any weathered activist knows, these are the most neglected issues, and the most untold stories.

I became aware of trans issues on my own, as I researched hate crimes, as trans became part of the social justice vocabulary in the late 90’s. And yet, I had little to no knowledge of intersex or genderqueer until quite recently, and my knowledge of trans issues was completely limited to hate-crime statistics. I have only spoken with one or two out trans, intersex, or genderqueer individuals in my life.

For SAFER’s new online resources, I was asked to write-up a list of ways in which TIG (my new term for trans, intersex, and genderqueer folks) issues were relevant to anti-rape organizing and rape itself. It is refreshing to feel one’s awareness expanding, especially after the arrogance of a self-identified member of multiple oppressed groups has sort of starched the brain and made me feel that since I am biracial, gay, and a girl, I therefore know all there is to know about everyone else’s experiences on the planet. Yes, this is one part confessional, three parts awareness education. Here are the facts:

What is trans?

Trans is generally accepted as an umbrella term for any person who does not fit into society’s rigid alignment of sex and gender. For instance, a person born a male who identifies as a female is trans. Trans includes transsexual and transgender, the former generally implies that a person has taken or plans on taking steps towards medical changes to make their body into that of their preferred sex. Trans, like intersex and genderqueer, does not indicate a sexual orientation of an individual, for instance, a transwoman (or Male to Female individual may identify as straight, gay, asexual, bisexual, etc).

What is intersex?

Intersex is the term for individuals who were born with genitalia that do not fit neatly into the category of either male or female. No two intersex people will be the same: meaning that their secondary sex characteristics can vary, along with gender expression, identity, and sexuality. Unlike trans people, not all intersex people identify as or are even aware of themselves as intersex. With regard to rape and hate-crime related sexual violence, there are few statistics on intersex people because unlike trans, genderqueer and many LGBQ people, the fact that they are intersex is not necessarily visible.

What is genderqueer?

Often used in a political rather than purely biological manner, genderqueer is the term people use to describe themselves if they do not fit into society’s standardized expectations for alignments of sex, gender expression, and sexuality.

Specifics on Rape and TIG

Because transwomen and transmen bear the brunt of hate crimes against the LGBTQI community, crimes which often include sexual violence, a fair amount of statistical information has been developed on the specific issues faced by trans folks when experiencing or reporting rape (much more so than information developed specifically about intersex and genderqueer folks, though the latter is often conflated with trans). For instance, one survey on hate-crimes against LGBTQI individuals found that 20% of all murders and 40% of all police-violence was directed explicitly towards trans people.

It is also reported that genderqueer individuals face violence comparable to that of many LGBTQI individuals because even if they do not identify as non-heterosexual, because of their nonconforming gender expression they are still targets of homophobic violence and sexual assault. They may also face violence merely because of their existence breaks the traditional standards for male and female or masculine and feminine.

Additionally, and importantly, TIG folks are not protected in most states from police authorities or from private institutions (including universities). This means that unlike a lesbian or a gay man who has been sexually assaulted and can report such abuse to the authorities knowing that if they receive discrimination they can legally prosecute, TIG folks have no such safety net.

Some of the biggest obstacles faced by TIG folks when reporting rape to their friends, family, universities and authorities are listed below (remember this is only a basic, inexhaustive list):

Refusal to accept their story because of prejudice against their gender expression

Refusal to prosecute the offender unless the victim submits to an invasive ‘sex determining’ test by authorities

Violence or sexual assault by the person to whom they are reporting their rape

Organizing on these issues is tricky, particularly because so few people have been exposed to TIG issues before. Even as a big ol’ homo, I never knew any out TIG folks in college, and thus have never organized with them. It is essential, however, that non-TIG folks provide good support as allies, which always means listening with open ears to the experiences of TIG members of the group, initiating (alongside TIG members, or even if there are none within the group) awareness about TIG issues, and staying positive and understanding while also keeping ignorance of members in check. TIG members and leaders in turn have the task of patience and courage, particularly if they are initiating the awareness themselves. Building strong support within the group and finding allies is a good place to start. For more information on specific organizing strategies, please see the article on SAFER’s website in the intersectionality section!

Random Roundup: Events and Links

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Feministing pointed out a great new blog: FWD/Forward (feminists with disabilities for a way forward). FWD recently linked to this old post from Hoyden About Town on barriers faced by disabled female survivors of sexual assault. The post is based on an Australian report, and I recommend checking out both.

The NY Daily News reports today on the unveiling of a “new rape kit” for use in New York state. The rape kit, or the way in which DNA evidence is collected from rape survivors, has not changed since it was first standardized in the 1980s, but advances in DNA technology has led to the development of a more comprehensive (and thankfully, inclusive) procedure:

The new kit allows examiners to take many more DNA samples from different parts of the body, involves a more comprehensive examination and also addresses male victims.

Some important/cool events and activist opportunities coming up in NYC:

First a reminder that tonight is CUNY’s Town Hall Meeting on the proposed new sexual assault policy.

On October 28, two things to remember: It’s National Comprehensive Sexual Education Call-In Day. I’ve written before about how sex ed can play an important role in challenging rape culture, and I encourage folks to follow the instructions found at feministing:

You can find information and tools for organizing a Call-In Day here. You can also sign on to a petition in support of the REAL Act which would authorize funding for comprehensive sexuality education.

The 28th is also first focus group meeting of the Pro-Choice Public Education Project’s RISE Initiative.

Are you a young woman of color who wants to speak freely about your health and sexuality? Are you interested in talking about issues that affect your body, your peers, and your community? Do you feel that health care providers could improve the services that they currently offer you?”

We want to hear from you! Join the Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP) for the pilot focus group of the RISE Initiative. Just launched this fall, RISE aims to provide a space for young people of all backgrounds to speak openly and engage in conversation about reproductive health and rights.

Full details after the cut. Continue reading →

Another Pre-Existing Condition: Rape

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Well, we recently found out that in some states domestic violence can count as a one of the many “pre-existing” conditions that allow insurance companies to deny people coverage. Today we can potentially add rape to that list:

n 2002, Chris Turner, a health insurance agent from Tampa, Florida, was drugged and raped during a business trip. When she conferred with a doctor after her assault, Turner was prescribed preventative anti-HIV drugs, and she later entered counseling to help deal with the residual psychological effects of her rape.

A few months later, when Turner was forced to buy new insurance on the individual market, she suspected, based on her knowledge of the approval process, that she may no longer qualify for coverage. She called a series of insurance underwriters and asked them about a hypothetical client who had been raped, and every insurer she called had the same response: “Nope, we won’t take her.” Turner’s treatment for her rape, it turns out, constituted a pre-existing condition that the companies said would disqualify her from coverage.

For more on how our current health care system discriminates against women, check out “A Woman Is Not A Pre-Existing Condition,” and write your representatives to demand reform.

(h/t The Line Campaign, Campus Progress, and Mic Check Radio)

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/insurance-companies-rape-_n_328708.html

Nancy Spero, “Artist of Feminism”

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I took one art history class in college, and that’s the extent of my knowledge of the art world. But I just read the obituary of Nancy Sperio, dubbed an “artist of feminism” by the New York Times. Her work, and life, seem fascinating, and a few of her works and experiences link specifically to the anti-violence movement. I encourage you to read the whole article, but below are a few excerpts.

When they settled in New York City, which became their permanent home, in 1964, the Vietnam War and the social changes it was creating in the United States affected Ms. Spero profoundly.

To come to grips with these realities, Ms. Spero, who always viewed art as inseparable from life, developed a distinctive kind of political work. Polemical but symbolic, it combined drawing and painting as well as craft-based techniques like collage and printmaking seldom associated with traditional Western notions of high art and mastery.

One result was a group of pictures in gouache, ink and collage on paper titled “The War Series” (1966-70). With its depictions of fighter planes and helicopters as giant, phallic insects, the series linked military power and sexual predatoriness, but also included women among the attackers. Ms. Spero later described the work as “a personal attempt at exorcism”; it remains one of the great, sustained protest art statements of its era, all the more forceful for its unmonumental scale. Exhibited in 2003 at the LeLong Gallery in Manhattan, its pertinence to contemporary politics was unmistakable.

By the time of the “Codex Artaud” her long involvement with the women’s movement had begun. Ms. Spero was active in the Art Workers Coalition, and in 1969 she joined the splinter group Women Artists in Revolution (WAR), which organized protests against sexist and racist policies in New York City museums. In 1972, she was a founding member of A.I.R. Gallery, the all-women cooperative, originally in SoHo, now in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn. And in the mid-1970s she resolved to focus her art exclusively on images of women, as participants in history and as symbols in art, literature and myth.

On horizontal scrolls made from glued sheets of paper, she assembled a multicultural lexicon of figures from ancient Egypt, Greece and India to pre-Christian Ireland to the contemporary world and set them out in non-linear narratives. Her 14-panel, 133-foot-long “Torture of Women” (1974-1976) joins figures from ancient art and words from Amnesty International reports on torture to illustrate institutional violence against women as a universal condition.

Norma Fox Mazer: 1931-2009

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Just wanted to take a moment to note the death of one of my favorite young adult writers: Norma Fox Mazer passed away over the weekend. She had written over 30 novels, mostly for young adults, and most of which I read hungrily as a middle-schooler. Sort of like a bit-more-grown-up Judy Blume, Mazer had a talent for writing adolescent female characters with real depth, who tackled real hardships and had vivid and realistic relationships. Though my clearest memory is of her novel Silver, I keep meaning to revist Out of Control, which was probably the first book I read involving a sexual assault and its aftermath—and it was actually a quite sophisticated and responsible take on the matter for a YA novel, if I remember correctly. It tells the story of the assault survivor who deals with her trauma by speaking out about what happened to her, and the “just your average teenage boy” perpetrators who struggle with what they’ve done. I haven’t read a lot of recent YA fiction, but from what I remember from my high school days, people weren’t publishing too many books like Mazer’s for young people anymore. She was a true gem.