{"id":1448,"date":"2018-03-15T10:22:51","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T14:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/?p=1448"},"modified":"2018-04-02T09:01:22","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T13:01:22","slug":"metoo-movement-brings-together-passionate-students-and-educating-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/2018\/03\/15\/metoo-movement-brings-together-passionate-students-and-educating-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"#MeToo Movement Brings Together Passionate Students and Education Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSo many [celebrities] have used [their power] against the powerless,\u201d said Me Too Movement Talkback student organizer Vanessa Frimpong. \u00a0As a result, sexual assault victims’ \u201cstories are being told through this beautiful movement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Me Too Movement, which encourages sexual assault and harassment survivors to share their stories using the hashtag \u201cMeToo,\u201d spreads awareness for \u201chow often [sexual assault and harassment] happens in our society,\u201d said student Lindsay Tucker. This action has spread to other high school advocates: during a school visit, a panel composed of sexual assault crime specialists, counselors, advocates, and Alexandria Mayor Allison Silberberg answered student questions and provided student recovery resources regarding sexual assault and harassment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, according to Director of Alexandria Office of Human Rights and sexual assault attorney Jean Kelleher, Me Too Movement efforts like these have caused \u201cmore [sexual assault survivors to come] forward, more perpetrators [to] admit fault, and more friends, colleagues, and families [to] give support and credence to the reports that come forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While sexual assault is the act of unwanted touching of intimate body parts, sexual harassment involves the force or threat of force of sexual actions, often in the form of words or pressure. According to Alexandria sexual assault prosecutor Erin Earp, threats are often in the form of words and pressure that \u201cput someone in fear that they are going to be harmed.\u201d According to Alexandria sexual assault police officer Sergeant Jeff Harrington and Earp, survivors can prosecute for both sexual assault and sexual harassment, depending on the intensity of the crime. <\/span><\/p>\n

The expert panel encouraged students to participate in the Me Too Movement and prevent sexual assault by \u201cbeing a strong advocate and speaking up,\u201d said Sexual Assault Center outreach specialist Ashley Blowe, despite that \u201cIt takes courage to speak out,\u201d said Alexandria Mayor Allison Silberberg. On the contrary, \u201c[People that speak up] are not just coming forward for [them]selves in the justice [they] are seeking, but [they] are also trying to prevent [sexual assault] from happening to someone else.\u201d \u201cAs a society the default is to not get involved,\u201d said Earp; however, \u201cIf [a bystander] sees something that concerns [them], they should act on that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only can people spread awareness about the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in order to reduce these occurrences, but people can also prevent these incidents in the moment. In order to encourage bystander intervention, sexual assault prevention experts advice the \u201cThree Ds\u201d: \u201cDirect, Delegate, and Distract.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When bystanders witness what they believe to be a situation of sexual assault or harassment, they can directly intervene by vocalizing to the perpetrator that they are offending the victim, demanding that they stop, and removing the victim from the offender\u2019s presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, if the bystander feels uncomfortable or unsafe in doing so, they can delegate someone else to put cease to the assault with their direct intervention. For example, people can call 911 or the Sexual Assault Center hotline, at 703-683-7273, seek out an authoritative figure, or find another bystander to report the incident to. After this, one of these individuals will assist the victim in leaving the situation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, a bystander can save someone from sexual assault or harassment simply by distracting the offender enough to eliminate the possibility of assault. For instance, it someone witnesses sexual assault, they can approach the victim with an unrelated conversation or provide them an excuse to leave the situation. This will eliminate the possibility of sexual assault or harassment by \u201cdiverting the conversation,\u201d said Blowe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever the victim is ready after any of these interventions, they should report the incident to the Sexual Assault Center hotline to begin recovery efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

While any of these efforts are advised, according to Blowe, the most important bystander intervention is simply to do, \u201cwhatever is in [a bystander\u2019s] sphere of influence and whatever [they] have the power and comprobility to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, when a survivor of sexual assault or harassment confides in someone else, \u201cit is important to shift the perspective that [listeners] bring to situations when someone tells [them] that [they were sexually assaulted] and to believe them,\u201d said Earp. According to Silberberg, \u201cin historic [situations], when someone [admits that they are a victim of sexual assault] someone else would say \u2018what did you do to cause this;\u2019\u201d however, victims are not at fault for their assaulter\u2019s actions, regardless of what the victim is wearing, saying, acting, or drinking. \u201cNo one ever dressed to invite sexual assault,\u201d said Kelleher.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only has the Me Too Movement increased the number of sexual assault survivors that have shared their stories on social media, but it has also increased the number of sexual assault survivors that call the Sexual Assault Center\u2019s hotline, at 703-683-7273, in order to seek support after an incident of sexual assault.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to bystander intervention in the moment and reporting to the Sexual Assault Center hotline, sexual assault and harassment survivors can participate in survivor support groups, counseling, and therapy held by the Sexual Assault Center. Additionally, survivors can utilize the One Love Foundation, which \u201cpromotes awareness about relationship violence,\u201d said Earp.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, survivors that are under the age of 18 can report their incident of sexual assault to either the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children or Children\u2019s Advocacy Center, where they only need tell their story once, instead of reliving this scaring experience to doctors, prosecutors, therapists, and many more. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is housed in the city of Alexandria, also provides resources for \u201cteaching children how to safely navigate the web, social media and address some of the questions that are of issue to children that have had crimes before,\u201d said Harrington.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because \u201csexual assault is most likely to come from someone [the victim] knows,\u201d said Earp, survivors are encouraged to report their story to Sexual Assault Center counselors, Alexandria police, or the Sexual Assault Center hotline, even if they were assaulted by their friend or a member of their family. Tucker said, \u201cIf their a friend, it should not have an effect on the relationship if they truly care and respect.\u201d However, if the sexual assault comes from a family member, child protection service will immediately remove a minor from the home from which they were assaulted. However, if the family wishes, the Sexual Assault Center offers resources to help the family recover after the persecution.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to helping survivors after family sexual assault, the Child Advocacy Center offers a Non-offending Caretaker Group with a curriculum that teaches parents, teachers, and other caregivers how to both support survivors after sexual assault. This class also teaches these caregivers to prevent sexual assault from occurring because Kelleher said, \u201cwe need to put an emphasis on teaching respect and mutual respect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, a survivor of sexual assault can take a criminal approach, attempting to prosecute the persecutor by contacting any of the services previously listed. Though there is no statute of time limitations on felonies in the state of Virginia, a survivor is encouraged to report their story as soon as possible. This allows police to begin collecting accurate and prompt evidence, though they will not begin the trial until the survivor is ready, as \u201cthere is no clock on healing,\u201d said Silberberg.<\/span><\/p>\n

The panelists encourage survivors to share their story of sexual harassment. In fact, Silberberg said: \u201cknow that all of us care. We do want to know [every survivor\u2019s story].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, the members of the panel encourage shutting down the toxic culture that labels males \u201cas weak\u2026 [if they] cry\u201d and promotes \u201cyoung males that are hyper masculine\u2026 [which often] leads to intimate partner violence and sexual assault,\u201d said Blowe. Blowe stressed the importance of praising \u201chealthy boundaries and healthy relationships.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, Earp said, \u201cThere needs to be less discussion on how to prevent [people] from becoming a victim and more discussion on how to prevent these people from becoming these predators\u2026 and victimizing other people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Also in order to prevent people from being sexual assaulters, society needs to \u201ctake away the labels that frame women and girls as victims and boys and men as perpetrators,\u201d said Blowe. Additionally advocating for sexual assault prevention needs to not just be aimed at victims and perpetrators: \u201c[Anyone] can be a part of this movement without having to be a victim or a perpetrator,\u201d said Blowe, \u201cIt is important to have everyone is the room,\u201d said Kelleher.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most importantly, the #MeToo advocates emphasize the importance of mutual respect, communication, and consent in a healthy relationship. Blowe said, \u201cConsent is not the absence of a no but the presence of a yes.\u201d Both participants need to communicate to each other the interactions, whether sexual or not, that feel good, they are both comfortable with, and they desire. Tucker said, \u201cIt is not for [anyone but yourself] to decide [what] makes you uncomfortable or not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to consent, Blowe hopes to educate youth on how to build healthy relationships, including: \u201censur[ing] boundaries and expectations are being met by a partner\u2026 there is equality and a healthy power dynamic\u2026 and mirroring a relationship to [values] in a friendship,\u201d said Blowe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite common misbelief, even if a perpetrator does not intentionally sexually assault or harass, the victim can communicate that, \u201cit felt like sexual harassment\u2026 [and] that made [them] feel uncomfortable,\u201d said Ashley Blowe, \u201chaving that clear line of communication is really important.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alexandria residents proclaim their hopes to integrate consent and healthy relationship education into middle and high school curriculums because right now, \u201ca lot of the health education we have [in school] is about the physical side of sex\u2026 We don\u2019t talk that about the emotional side and consent,\u201d said Tucker. Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancies coordinators work \u201cto ensure the way sex ed is both medically accurate\u2026 and the social emotional side of [sex]… and consent education.\u201d The organization advocates for resenstating the requirement for high school students to take a class similar to Human Growth and Development taught by Stephanie Ghent. Ghent has rewritten the curriculum to incorporate sex safety, consent, healthy relationship boundaries, and respect into her curriculum in order to ensure compassionate and success for students in relationships, and hopes for this curriculum to be included in middle and high school health classes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, Blowe hopes for school curriculum that teaches how to communicate, \u201cwhat feels good [in sex], what is welcome and unwelcome [in sex]\u201d and how to form \u201chealthy relationships, boundaries, expectations, consent,\u201d said Blowe.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Alexandria community members support Ghent\u2019s proposal to include this curriculum in health classes, they can communicate this to the school board by attending the meetings, speaking with student representatives Jay Falk and Betelhem Demissie, and communicating these goals to administrators in order for this curriculum to be approved and taught to students.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, in order to promote awareness for sexual assault and harassment, students can follow AlexandriaTeenLife on Twitter and AlexTeenLife on Instagram. These resources will educate followers in consent and will provide support groups and other Sexual Assault Center support services.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSo many [celebrities] have used [their power] against the powerless,\u201d said Me Too Movement Talkback student organizer Vanessa Frimpong. \u00a0As a result, sexual assault victims’…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/me-too.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99Jai-nm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1448"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1618,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1448\/revisions\/1618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}