You are more involved than you think. According to the Commission on Domestic Violence, "nearly 25% of women and 7.6% of men were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or dating partner/acquaintance at some time in their lifetime". The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network reports that every 2 minutes someone is the United Stated is sexually assaulted. They are your neighbors, your friends, your sisters, your brothers, your lovers.
My platform is to help survivors of sexual violence to find a voice through others. Advocacy is a way that people can help survivors receive the help and support that they need. This can be through speaking on their behalf or it can be little things like helping a person by making time to clean their house or go grocery shopping with them. The most important part of being an advocate is just offering support and being there to listen and validate a survivors story and experiences. Anyone can be an advocate for people in their lives or themselves and education and support gives people the skills that they need to make their lives fulfilling.
In addition to helping survivors, promoting the development of healthy relationships in youth is a key part of prevention of violence. Teaching adolescents how to find a person they trust to confide in, about building lasting friendships and about asking for consent in romantic relationships are key steps to building a strong foundation in self-confidence and interpersonal relationships. These skills can help prevent sexual violence by targeting one source of the problem: preventing unsafe and unhealthy relationships.
If you are curious about ways that you can help stop the silence are to educate yourself and others about the dangers and impacts of domestic and sexual violence, visit the resources below, or send me an email at missvermont2013@missvermont.org- because we can make a difference.
H.O.P.E Works, Burlington Vermont
United States Department of Justice
National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence
Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
No comments:
Post a Comment