Check out this great stalking awareness campaign called Stalking: Know It. Name It. Stop It. Not only do they have promotional materials to raise awareness about stalking, there are also numerous resources related to safety planning, outreach materials, and information specific to responders like law enforcement and prosecutors.
Last year, the Men’s Anti-Violence Council developed a workshop about commonly exploited technology used to stalk and harass individuals. It has been extremely popular and we have presented it at numerous conferences and workshops. We’ll be presenting it next month at The Big Ten Counseling Center conference regarding how this topic relates to counseling centers and college students. Stay tuned for when we upload the Power Point from that presentation.
Previously, “Forcible rape” had been defined by the UCR SRS as “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.” That definition, unchanged since 1927, was outdated and narrow. It only included forcible male penile penetration of a female vagina.”
The new definition, “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” provides the flexibility to classify someone as a victim regardless of gender and accounts for rape that occurs while individuals are incapacitated, which includes rapes that occur without physical force.
One of the major reasons that these changes were made was because of the efforts of sexual assault advocates and their public campaigns. These changes allow for more accurate reporting and tracking of rape on a national level.
From 2008 to 2010, William Cassidy harassed Alyce Zeoli through Twitter sending her over 8,000 tweets. He criticized her looks, made fun of her religion, described graphic ways in which she could die, and repeatedly told her to commit suicide. Zeoli blocked his accounts but Cassidy just created another one. In 2010, Zeoli reported the harassment and the FBI pressed charges against Cassidy for stalking Zeoli and causing her “substantial emotional distress.”
However, this week federal judge Roger W. Titus, dismissed the case stating, “while Mr. Cassidy’s speech may have inflicted substantial emotional distress, the government’s indictment here is directed squarely at protected speech: anonymous, uncomfortable Internet speech addressing religious matters.” Apparently Judge Titus doesn’t really understand what Twitter is. He compared it to a colonial bulletin board where if you didn’t like something, you don’t read it. News flash Judge Titus, Twitter is no different from a text message, email, or phone call. It is direct contact through electronic means with another individual. Just telling someone to “ignore it, turn it off, or don’t look it” is about as good as telling a stalking victim to just block the phone number, quit their job, or simply ignore the animal head left in a box on the front porch. The message this sends to victims is ridiculously callous, “If you don’t like it, too bad, just ignore it.”
However, there was some protection from harassment and stalking enforced this week. A judge in Minnesota ordered a man to take down his “revenge” blog about his ex-girlfriend because individuals have a “right to be free from harassment”and instated a 50 year restraining order! But wait, isn’t a blog is like a colonial bulletin board? No, no it’s not.
Anyone in a position of enforcing or creating rules/laws/policies about harassment, stalking, bullying, or any other inappropriate conduct through electronic/Internet/technological means should have a basic understanding of what the Internet is and how social media services on it function. People should be protected from those who intimidate, threaten, harass, monitor, record, impersonate, and stalk them regardless of the method.
By now, everyone has probably heard details about the child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State. I’ve purposefully not written anything about this situation because I am still trying to wrap my head around it. I’m not sure that I have anything else to add that hasn’t been written about somewhere else. My reactions have ranged from rage, to disappointment, to, “What’s new?” The “What’s new” isn’t about apathy or resignation. This situation is another example of powerful people and institutions protecting themselves at the expense of others. Speak with a dozen victims and survivors who have reported on college campuses, within companies, or about powerful people and you will probably hear a dozen different ways that they were ignored or blamed for what happened.
However, Up with Chris Hayes convened a panel to discuss the situation in a novel way, namely in relationship to the power and financial influence of college football on the the campus and community. (Hint: Of the entire annual athletic revenue of $116 million at Penn State, $72 million of that is from football). How do you hold a powerful institution and the leaders accountable? The discussion also likened the Penn State situation to the way child abuse and rape accusations were handled by the Catholic Church (also, the Boys Scouts of America have done the exact same thing).
One of my favorite quotes from the clip is, “We should not just talk about the (child) predation but discuss the sickness that feeds it (referring to silence, ignoring, coverup, and denying about child sexual abuse/rape).
Check out the clip below for an interesting and in-depth discussion about the issue.
If you want to learn more about the scandal, here are links to the timeline and grand jury report. Regardless of your thoughts about these current allegations, we need to do what we can to end systems and policies that allow sexual assault and rape to go unreported for decades. We shouldn’t be focused on protecting the image on institutions and “legends.” Legendary people protect others and speak for those who may not be able to speak or advocate for themselves.
The Office of the Vice President and the White House Office of Science and Technologyjust announcedthe winners of the Apps Against Abuse challenge. The two apps are called Circle of 6 and On Watch. TheCircle of 6app was created by by our very own friend of MAC, Nancy Schwartzman over atThe Line!
The Circle of 6 app lets you designate six individuals to be in your “circle.” Once you have selected your six allies, you can select different ways to ask for their support. If you tap the car icon, a text message to come and get you along with your GPS location is sent. Tapping the phone icon sends a message to call the sender to interrupt the current situation. The chat icon connects the sender with their circle so that they can get advice about a situation. A danger button automatically calls a national safety hotline. Once it is set up, it would take a user two taps in the app to get help. Take a look at some of the screen shots below. This looks like a great way to stay connected and get help in a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation.
The app is a prototype and is set to be released on the app markets across a variety of operating systems in January, 2012. You can support and stay updated about the app on their Facebook page.
MAC member, Derrais Carter has created a new project for the Men’s Anti-Violence Council called Mobile Masculinities. The goal is to create a critical discussion about masculinities and anti-violence work through online videos.
During the University of Northern Iowa’s Men’s Institute last week, Derrais got the opportunity to ask the keynote speaker, Jackson Katz a few questions. As many of you know, Dr. Katz is an expert in the movement to get men involved in reducing gender violence. He wrote The Macho Paradox and was responsible for creating the first film I ever watched about masculinity, Tough Guise. See the video below for the first installment of Mobile Masculinities with Jackson Katz!
Check out this great bystander intervention PSA from the New Zealand Transportation Agency about “drink-driving.” This is one of the funniest campaigns I have seen without losing the message of getting involved. It highlights the train of thought many bystanders have in these situations. They are concerned, but they don’t know what to say and don’t want to look stupid.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation or discussion about difference (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) and you just didn’t know what to do or say but you knew you needed to do something?
It doesn’t matter if it is overt racism, covert sexism, bullying or offensive language. Inappropriate conduct needs to be addressed in order to create a safe and welcoming campus and community for everyone. Helpful and active bystanders can create the positive change needed in our community. If bystanders remain passive and silent because they don’t know what to say or do, the problem is allowed to continue, and often escalate.
This interactive discussion is designed to provide information about the bystander intervention model regarding diversity and violence; provide training in identifying harmful and inappropriate situations; and teach specific bystander intervention skills and techniques to address inappropriate conduct. There will be opportunities to discuss realistic scenarios, process real-life situations, and practice the bystander intervention skills.
You need to register for this workshop on WRAC’s website here.
Join us on October 21, 2011 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm at Iowa Advanced Technology Labs Conference Room (Across the street from WRAC) to learn how to be an active and helpful ally.
The University of Iowa’s first ever Walk A Mile In Her Shoes event was a great event! Approximately 150 women and men participated in the October 1st fundraiser that benefitted RVAP. The route took the walkers down Clinton Street in Iowa City, past some of the residence halls, back through campus and into MacBride Auditorium for an educational program about the issue of sexual violence and how members from the community can make it a safer place.
We wouldn’t have had the event if it weren’t for the hard work of Billy Davies and Patrick Grim from Phi Delta Theta fraternity and Erica Sheck from Pi Beta Phi sorority, and the 150 individuals from their chapters that attended, participated, and spoke out against sexual and gender violence in our community. The educational afterwards highlighted the importance of bystanders to speak up and speak out against inappropriate conduct in the community.
You can check out the UI fyi coverage and the press release for the event here and here. You can also learn more about the Walk A Mile events on their website http://www.walkamileinhershoes.org.
