Greetings!

As we approach the final days of 2022, we at team NSVRC would like to take this opportunity to reflect on a few notable releases.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) Theme Announcement

A few weeks ago we announced the theme of the April 2023 SAAM campaign: “Drawing Connections: Prevention Demands Equity”. The upcoming campaign will be dedicated to showcasing how systems of oppression such as racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, ageism, and ableism contribute to higher sexual harassment, assault, and abuse rates.

Drawing Connections recognizes that it will take ending all forms of oppression to end sexual harassment, assault, and abuse. Learn more about how you can join us in drawing connections leading up to #SAAM 2023.

Blogs

NSVRC blogs tackle timely and relevant topics and explore resources and research to drive progress in our field. We are highlighting two blogs from recent months that explore how we can make strides toward equity by recognizing and addressing the barriers faced by underserved communities.

• Deaf Awareness Month: Reflecting On Audist Barriers in the Sexual Violence Field: Within the sexual violence advocacy and services space, there are still audist structures, barriers, and attitudes in place. In honor of Deaf Awareness Month, we sought to identify those areas that still need improvement. We’re raising awareness on these issues as a means to encourage other advocates, organizations, and community partners to create more equitable spaces for all hearing, Hard-of-Hearing, and non-hearing sexual assault survivors.
• The Importance of Data Collection for Violence Against Native American/Alaska Native Women: This year’s Indigenous Peoples' Day, we recognized the importance of data collection as it pertains to sexual violence against Native American/Alaska Native women. There is still much work to be done, but we are proud of the grassroots work and legislative action made thus far to meet this problem head on. We also applaud Urban Indian Health Institute for their tireless work in researching and educating about this issue.

Podcast Highlights

We had some exciting additions to our podcasts in 2022, including a series in collaboration with Darin Dorsey, Principal and Co-founder of Rooting Movements, who interviewed five Black movement leaders about their experiences of Anti-Blackness in the movement.

Anti-Blackness in the Movement: 5-Episode Podcast Series: This 5-part podcast series dedicated to creating a movement that is inclusive of Black workers and survivors is a must listen. For organizations striving to serve as allies and accomplices to Black communities, these five podcasts are a tool to better understand how they can fulfill their commitments and create a movement that addresses gender-based violence against all people while following the lead of the most marginalized among us. Featured guests: Michelle Osborne, Tonya Lovelace, Valériana Chikoti-Bandua Estes, Theryn Kigvamasudvashti, and Paris Chapman.

In addition to the series episodes you can read reflections from host Darin Dorsey on this time of reckoning in our movement. This includes lessons learned and action steps for moving forward from the PCAR/NSVRC management team in their collective reflection on each episode.

Your Continued Support

We hope you’ve enjoyed looking through some of our noteworthy projects from this year If you would like to continue to support us as we continue to advance our catalog of resources, please consider donating to us. On our donation page, you can also find the link to our Relief Fund, which directly helps providers and survivors impacted by natural disasters!

This year may be coming to a close, but we are buzzing with all the possibilities for future conversations with you. We’d love to hear from you about the topics and tools that can continue to push us forward.

We wish you all a wonderful holiday season. See you in 2023!

Best,

NSVRC