Our Approach
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge that:
The sexual violence field has historically centered some survivors and not others, and we challenge organizations to expand their vision to the entire diversity of survivors of sexual violence.
We cannot address sexual violence without addressing how racism and other forms of oppression contribute to sexual violence.
In order to end sexual violence, we need to interrupt racism and other forms of oppression.
Healing includes not only the individual but also our communities. Meaningful work to support survivors in healing does not separate the two.
Individual and community healing also includes healing from historical trauma because Tribal and Communities of Color carry histories of colonialism, imperialism, slavery, displacement, and other forms of violence.
We center the practices of Tribal and Communities of Color in working with survivors of sexual violence.
guiding principles
We acknowledge that sexual violence and anti-racism work are interconnected. We are collectively committed to doing this work with deep integrity and maintain grounding in our guiding principles. We believe that processes are as meaningful as outcomes and recognize that working in partnership leads to good advocacy work. We stand committed to each other and ourselves.
As a people of many people, connected by the threads of our values, we will continue to do the work needed to grow, explore, and learn from one another. We will do this work rooted in love—connecting our threads of truth and respect, being accountable to each other, and with the bravery to call each other out and call each other in, in times of need.
as we do this work together, with project partners and project participants, we will be led by the following questions:
Is this intentionally building what survivors of sexual violence need?
Are we building connection by first building trust?
Are we speaking truth and acting from a place rooted in love and humility?
Are we practicing our commitment to have difficult conversations that may be unpopular, but critical, to provoking change and building bridges?
Are we embracing bravery, boldness, vulnerability, and silence, with awareness of the necessity at different times for each?
Are we practicing an awareness of power and privilege in our work, actively naming and undoing our thoughts and practices that uphold oppression?
Are we acting with an openness and commitment to our own learning and unlearning, with knowledge that this is a lifelong process?
Are we working from a mindset of abundance and collective well-being, aware that our individual and communal liberation and well-being are intertwined?
Are we sharing knowledge and resources in a way that honors, respects, and embraces one another’s wisdom, experiences and voices, including those who have paved the way for us?
Are we making spaces for the ways our own experiences with survivorship and oppression can inform our work, with a commitment to showing up as our full selves?
Are we working in a way that acknowledges the many different experiences, people, and stories that must guide our work?