Every 68 seconds someone commits sexual violence.
forced or coerced penetration
forced or coerced incidents in which the victim was made to penetrate a perpetrator or someone else
nonphysically pressured into sexual acts
unwanted sexual touching
or non-contact acts of a sexual nature.
Sexual violence is a sexual act committed or attempted by another person without the freely given consent of the other person. Sexual violence looks like, but is not limited to:
Common terms for sexual violence are sexual harm, rape, incest, molestation, grooming, sexual violation, and others. Sexual violence can occur in person, online, or through technology, such as posting or sharing sexual pictures of someone without their consent or non-consensual sexting. We believe that sexual violence can and often happens in association with physical, emotional, verbal, financial, and other forms of abuse and violence.
Myths
-
In the U.S.A, 1 in 4 girls, 1 in 6 boys, and 50% of transgender and gender non-conforming people will have experienced sexual violence in their lifetimes. This epidemic is especially prevalent within Black communities, and where people sit at the margins of race, gender, class, disability, migration status, and sexuality.
-
Sexual violence is sanctioned by our societal institutions and cultures. From child sex trafficking* to molestation in religious institutions to gang rape on a college campus, sexual violence is used as a tool for power- gaining, keeping, and enacting power over vulnerable people and their bodies for profit and status. Sexual violence is not about sex, sexual desire, or the choices and obligations of the people who experience sexual violence.
We live in a society that peddles a culture of domination and control. We are expected to abide by laws that erode bodily autonomy and keep us ignorant to important sex education. In the Black community, sexual violence is often seen as a rights of passage for young people.
Were you harrassed on the street corner? You were deemed beautiful.
Had an adult girlfriend as a teenager? You were congratulated for being cool.
Did you engage in sexual acts as a minor with an adult in exchange of money? You were considered a good and responsible family member.
Sexual violence is never the fault of the survivor. It is the fault of the perpetrators, and the institutions and culture that taught them, and teaches all of us that the best form of power is not shared but enforced.
-
Survivor Society is optimistic that a world free of sexual harm is possible— with scalable accountability models rooted in healing and transformation. Our optimism comes from an assessment that freedom movement leaders and Black people have made the seemingly impossible possible, from slavery to voting rights.
At Survivor Society, we believe it will take an an increased commitment to survivor justice from grassroots organizations to interrupt the institutions and cultures that perpetrate and sanction sxual violence.
Would you like to join us in a breath practice?
Would you like to join us in a body movement practice?
At Survivor Society, our work is focused on resourcing up movement organizations and individuals , so that we can be braver and more informed champions for survivor justice within our work. Why?
We believe that capitalism, racism, xenophobia, transphobia, militarism, and all other forms of oppression thrive because sexual violence happens. The sustainability of these systems requires the rejection of bodily autonomy and disregard for consent to adhere to the desires of the dominant class or identity. The future of every system - from labor, to education, to climate and ecological systems-- depends on an analysis, and a serious commitment to ending sexual violence. Similarly, there is no ending sexual violence without dismantling the interlocking forms of oppression named above.
Sexual violence is not only a personal issue– it’s also a social issue. While prevention and intervention methods that focus on an individual's healing, accountability, and transformation are necessary, that alone will not end this public health crisis. All of our work depends on a united effort that centers the fight to end sexual and patriarchal violence, as well as restore bodily autonomy and a culture of consent.
And yet, as we continue in the radical legacy of our elders and ancestors, we- the U.S national Black Liberation Movement, continue to fall short in the area of centering gender, sexuality, and people who experience gender-based violence. The pervasive culture of silence, enablement, and discomfort within social justice movement spaces not only reflects our broader society, but is a major stumbling block to our ability as a movement to address sexual violence. This culture seriously detracts from our ability to build an abolitionist vision that will adequately address sexual violence, or strategies towards it that will protect people who have experienced sexual violence.
One example of this is the strategic orientation of Black-led movement organizations during the 2020 presidential elections. A compounding set of conditions, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of white supremacy, the continued murders of Black people, and the impending economic collapse created the lackadaisical political landscape, where radical and progressive political formations decided to support efforts for Biden's presidency because this moment was "too big to fail."
Those of us sitting at the intersections of race and survivorship, and who were active in power-building strategies, held our collective breaths as our organizations deprioritized the allegations that both candidates were sexual abusers to "win".
For many, that moment felt adjacent to our own survivor stories.
Not centering survivor and gender justice within a larger Black Liberation framework is a mistake.
We have an opportunity to make radical changes to our movements, to our society, and/or to our systems. Join us in an effort to solidify Survivor Justice as Movement’s Business.