PAVE | Shattering the Silence of Sexual Violence
Shattering the Silence of Sexual Violence
PAVE Founder Angela Rose talks about the verdict in the Steubenville, OH rape case…and the CNN media coverage of when the verdict was read. Sign the Change.org petition – click here!
Watch the CNN Coverage:
Leave your comments here – we want to hear from you!
PAVE Affiliate Protect Our Defenders is doing groundbreaking work on the issue of military sexual trauma. CLICK HERE to visit their website to learn more!
BREAKING NEWS: Protect Our Defenders Testifies Before Senate Armed Services Hearing on Sexual Assaults in the Military – Click here
Their mission it to honor, support, and give voice to the brave men and women in uniform who have been raped or sexually assaulted by fellow service members. They seek to fix the military training, investigation and adjudication systems related to sexual violence, systems that often re-victimize survivors by blaming them while failing to prosecute perpetrators.
ABOUT Staff Sgt. Colleen Bushnell:
She is a national Military Sexual Trauma Survivor Advocate, motivated by her deep respect and love for all those who endeavor volunteer service in the U.S. military. She is a Lackland Airforce Base sexual trauma survivor and an Advocacy Board Member for Protect Our Defenders. In 2004, she was sexually assaulted, and upon her report, the offender committed suicide. Her life was never the same. Now, she is doing groundbreaking work to shatter the silence of military sexual violence! Click here for more info!
CLICK HERE for ABC 7 News – They broadcasted live from the race!
PAVE & It’s Our Little Secret – RACE FOR CHANGE
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Busse Woods – Schaumburg Illinois
COURSE INFO:
Busse Woods Trail (Paved course), Grove 5, Elk Grove Village, IL.
Water stations and bathrooms are available throughout the course.
Course map & addition information available at www.itsourlittlesecret.org
*RACE IS CERTIFIED*
50-YARD DASH & BALLOON RELEASE:
Children 12 and under only. All participating children will receive a prize.
REGISTRATION FEES:
*All Registrants will receive a Dri-Fit Shirt and runner’s bag with Freebies!!
$35 10K Pre-Race Day $40 10K Race Day
$30 5K Pre-Race Day $35 5K Race Day
$35 1-Mile Walk for Family of 4
$25 1-Mile Walk Individual
$20 Students
AWARD INFORMATION:
Top 10/5K Run finishers in designated age groups will receive a medal.
Age groups: 11 and under, 12-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70 and older.
Race results will be available at www.itsourlittlesecret.org
2 Nonprofits Coming Together to Bring Awareness to Child Abuse!
ABOUT IOLS:
The mission of It’s Our Little Secret (501c3) is to promote a healthy recovery for the
abused children & youth, and to stop the destructive future behavioral patterns of the
abused towards their own and other children.
www.itsourlittlesecret.org
ABOUT PAVE:
Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment (PAVE) is a multi-chapter national
501c3 nonprofit organization that uses education and action to shatter the silence of
sexual violence through targeted social, educational and legislative tactics.
www.pavingtheway.net
UPDATE, Feb 4 – THANK YOU…‘magic number’ of 60 bipartisan cosponsors of VAWA legislation reached! Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Friday that the Senate has enough votes to pass the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, with the Senate to begin consideration of the law this week. Thank your Senator! READ MORE
PAVE ACTION ALERT!
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), enacted in 1994, recognizes the insidious and pervasive nature of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and supports comprehensive, effective and cost saving responses to these crimes. Historically, VAWA has had bipartisan support! VAWA programs, administered by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, give law enforcement, prosecutors and judges the tools they need to hold offenders accountable and keep communities safe while supporting victims. VAWA must be swiftly reauthorized to ensure the continuation of these vital, lifesaving programs and laws.
THE SENATE WILL VOTE NEXT WEEK – WE NEED YOU!
Step one: Click here to find your state Senators
Step two: Click here to see if your Senators are in support of VAWA
Step three: If they are already a co-sponsor, please call to say thanks.
If you don’t see your Senator on the list of current co-sponsors, please call the United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, ask for your Senator’s office. When they answer, say….
I am a constituent from (city and state) and my name is _________. I urge Senator_____ to co-sponsor the S. 47, a strong, bipartisan bill that would reauthorize the lifesaving Violence Against Women Act. Thank you and I look forward to hearing that the Senator is a co-sponsor.
Step four: Please leave a comment here when you have done this!
Step five: Forward this to your friends via FB/Twitter/Email
VAWA has improved the criminal justice response to violence against women by:
• holding rapists accountable for their crimes by strengthening federal penalties for repeat sex offenders and creating a federal “rape shield law,” which is intended to prevent offenders from using victims’ past sexual conduct against them during a rape trial;
• mandating that victims, no matter their income levels, are not forced to bear the expense of their own rape exams or for service of a protection order;
• keeping victims safe by requiring that a victim’s protection order will be recognized and enforced in all state, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions within the United States;
• increasing rates of prosecution, conviction, and sentencing of offenders by helping communities develop dedicated law enforcement and prosecution units and domestic violence dockets;
• ensuring that police respond to crisis calls and judges understand the realities of domestic and sexual violence by training law enforcement officers, prosecutors, victim advocates and judges; VAWA funds train over 500,000 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and other personnel every year;
• providing additional tools for protecting women in Indian country by creating a new federal habitual offender crime and authorizing warrantless arrest authority for federal law enforcement officers who determine there is probable cause when responding to domestic violence cases
CLICK HERE to read more
PAVE Ambassador Erin Merryn is an author/activist/speaker who has launched a nationwide effort to pass Erin’s Law.
“Erin’s Law” requires that all public schools implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program which teaches:
Already state governments in Illinois, Indiana, Maine and Missouri have passed Erin’s Law.
It is now pending in eight additional states, with more to come:
Erin’s Law is named after childhood sexual assault survivor turned activist Erin Merryn, who is the founder and President of Erin’s Law, which is registered with the IRS as a 501 (c)(4) non-profit social welfare organization.
Erin has been featured on Oprah, Montel Williams, Good Morning America, CNN, Time, The Chicago Tribune and was recently named a Glamour Woman of the Year. She has dedicated her life to preventing child sexual abuse and supporting its victims. She is determined to see to it that all 50 states pass Erin’s Law to protect millions of children from having to experience anything similar to what she did.
GET INVOLVED TO PASS ERIN’S LAW IN YOUR STATE! Email: Info@PavingTheWay.net
National Rally Against Rape: Shatter The Silence & Prevent the Violence on 01/31/13
Arlington, VA – PAVE: Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment – a leading national nonprofit group that shatters the silence of sexual violence – is joining forces with the support of other organizations for this unprecedented launch of a national movement Rally Against Rape: Shatter the Silence & Prevent the Violence on Thursday, January 31, 2013.
The controversy surrounding Steubenville, Ohio of an alleged gang rape of a high school girl that went viral coupled with the recent death of a gang rape victim in India has demonstrated the critical need for our country to come together in solidarity to launch a nationwide movement to prevent sexual violence and create a supportive community for survivors.
The Rally Against Rape: Shatter the Silence, Prevent the Violence features a step-by-step action guide to complete this event in your community. This free kit includes web-based instructional curriculum, celebrity cameos, and other tangible tools to use for the day of action and throughout the year. It also is a call to action for the reauthorizing of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
Leading research has found that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18 (Finkelhor). PAVE’s efforts boldly aspire to one day transform our nation into one free from sexual assault — and to ensure that until we collectively realize this transformative vision, that no victim ever feels alone or disempowered.
PAVE Founder Angela Rose said, “All of these recent travesties of justice present a unique window of opportunity to fuse our energy. Sexual abuse plagues our society and the silence, shame, and cover-ups allow it to continue – we must work together to shatter the silence and prevent sexual violence. Our time is NOW.”
Angela Rose was featured on HLN (CNN’s Headline News) on the “BREAKTHROUGH WOMEN” series for her work in creating PAVE.
TO GET INVOLVED, email RallyAgainstRape@yahoo.com
PAVE: Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment is a multinational nonprofit that uses art, education and grassroots action to shatter the silence of sexual violence.
Warning: New Date Rape Drug; Easier than Ever!
This article is set to inform people that there is a new drug on the “market”. This drug is said to be easier to hide and access, and very much cheaper than other known “date rape drugs”. It is an eye drop that’s considered the new form of Rohypnol and it is being used to spike victims’ drinks making them much easier targets.
Police are saying that it isn’t really a problem however many people in the nightclub industry are saying a completely different story. Nightclubs are refusing to let any form of eye drops be brought into their nightclubs. Their advice: don’t accept drinks or ice cubes from strangers. They can even spike the ice cubes if they have an accomplice behind the bar. Never drink communal drinks either. “And if a friend suddenly feels ill at a party, never leave them unattended. The rapist wants to isolate her in the bathroom, where he can rape her and she won’t recall a thing.”
The eye drops are not effective unless put into alcohol, so for any sober drinker there is no way to spike their drink with this. The alcohol acts as a catalyst and the more concentrated the alcohol is the stronger the drug will hit the victim.
Symptoms are dizziness, drowsiness, diarrhea, nausea and amnesia. The effects the next day feel like a person drank ten times what they really did.
Everyone should be aware of their surroundings and no what to look for. Being informed is the first step in protecting yourself.
“As a survivor of stranger rape, I never had an interest in taking a self-defense class. I teach people that being aware of your surroundings is critical. We live in a world where women must be on high alert. We teach women to avoid certain places at specific times, buddy up, and be safe rather than sorry. However we don’t have the physical tools to fight back. While I wanted to have every tool available to protect myself, the possibility of learning something that could have changed the trajectory of my history made self defense feel like a place I did not belong -to learn what could have been seemed tragic. It was for those who haven’t been attacked.
Having a strong sense that self-defense would be cathartic for me, my husband convinced me to attend his Arnis class. As I surveyed the room – six guys, an instructor and a red duffle bag filled with knives – I fled through the front door. I was terrified. This was not for me. I did not have one survivor friend who went to self defense as part of their healing. His instructor recommended IMPACT Personal Safety, a program for women that he had been involved with. I watched their videos online. I was impressed with the intensity and focus of the course. Good for them, I thought, but not good for me.
Then I read IMPACT’s mission: men and women dedicated to ending the cycle of violence, a goal of many anti-sexual assault organizations I work with. More specifically the goals of IMPACT are ones that this activist should know. The mission of IMPACT Personal Safety is to end the cycle of violence in society by empowering women, children, and men with the self-esteem and the tools necessary to take control of their lives through self-defense, boundary setting and the understanding that your life is worth fighting for.
I reluctantly signed up for the eight weeks basics course. At the first class, I met 13 other strong, smart women who had been attacked or feared it, along with four instructors – one instructor, two assists, and our male instructor – the mugger. Three and a half hours later, I wished every woman knew what I had just learned. I left feeling exhausted but forever changed. We were taught surprisingly simple but highly effective physical moves to protect ourselves in real life situations that we chose and fought out with our fully padded and protected male instructor. I watched my classmates elbow, strike, and kick their way out of every scenario. IMPACT is not just about learning how to fight but arming yourself with verbal skills to deescalate a situation – and if all else fails – we were prepared to fight. These boundary setting skills crossover to the every day – from a difficult boss to a needy friend, IMPACT taught us to assess situations and apply the right tools.
Every week I felt a little wiser, a little stronger, a little safer. This class was about protecting myself in the present, and adding these skills to my activist toolbox. I went from vehemently arguing why the class was not for me to encouraging every woman to take the basics class. If anything the class reinforced that I skillfully survived the attack. For survivors, this is an empowering moment: taking the power back. You don’t need to practice it- it’s muscle memory. Instead of freezing, your body has been taught to fight back.
The class ends with graduation – a mighty send off with an opportunity to show friends and family what you’ve learned. My husband, friends, and even a client attended. I watched thirteen strong women I met just eight weeks earlier confidently and instinctively handle every scenario they were confronted with. We were also applauding each other’s transformations and successes, from walking fearlessly through a parking lot at night, to changing jobs, to feeling a whole lot safer. How many things can you learn in eight classes will change you forever? Self defense is not a mandatory class all children learn in school; we learn what we are taught by family or friends, and then when one becomes a victim of a crime, we blame. We blame ourselves, and criminals know this. So then, how could you not take this class? You want to find the survivor in you? Want to kick that fear through a brick wall? Invest in you and find peace, happiness and some serious strength with IMPACT Personal Safety.”
- Marnie Goodfriend
From Jolene Loetscher:A huge WIN for victims’ rights happened in South Dakota on March 2nd, 2012. Gov. Daugaard signed Senate Bill 68 which removes the statute of limitations on certain criminal rape cases. This is a great step forward in helping victims become survivors and allowing survivors to find justice. PAVE partner and victim’s rights advocate Jolene Loetscher would like to give a special thanks to Sen. Mark Johnston for his work, friendship and support of her and so many other survivors. She would also like to give a shout out to the Compass Center for its incredible work with this legislation and its on-going mission to provide renewal and recovery. While this means some of the darkest crimes will see the light of justice, we cannot forget that in the darkness remain so many silent tears of victims who need our love and support.
