Unrestricted Survivors of Sexual Assault and Intimate Violence (US SAIV)

Vital Stats

Desire J

Oakland, CA

  • people helped200
  • People Doing It 25

The Problem

Currently the group is aimed at the women who attend my college. Given that I am active in my community, I meet women of all creeds who have experienced or know someone who has experienced a sexual offence. My goal is to provide a support system for women who are survivors of sexual assault and intimate violence; however I have made myself available to the public at large as a spoken word artist and painter. I employ the techniques that I personally use -- i.e. music, poetry, painting, drawing, meditation, disclosure and etcetera -- to give the women a structured outlet for expression. Consequently, as soon as the second meeting we were able to identify other areas of commonality. As a result we are friends who happened to share a similar experience. We are working to reach the emancipation of the self and to live as we aspire to -- instead of being perpetual reactors to trauma. We all recognize that this goal may not be reached any time soon yet we are willing to take the most important steps, the first steps to our personal liberation. We are a sounding board of women who respect the fact that some choose to remain anonymous and are satisfied being listeners for them. We understand that it takes gumption to come out to the public beyond the four walls of our meeting space. We aim to have women be comfortable-enough to be true to their emotions regardless of the form they come in. Whether it is as anger, confusion, or tears the ultimate goal is reach the final stages of transferring blame and having compassion for the self. We also aim to one day help non-victims and non-survivor better understand the impact of rape. Yet, we can only do so by being able to explain it to ourselves. We also acknowledge that men are the victims and survivors of sexual assault and how the implications differ between cases. The main problem being solved is breaking the silence.

Plan of Action

When I got the idea to start the group I knew that it was a task I was ready to conquer. At the time, we did not have a support group for survivors on my campus. Given that I had been a part of several activities during Sexual Assault and Intimate Violence Week (as a panelist, a performer at Taking Back the Night demonstrations and as an exhibitor for the Breaking the Silence Art Exhibit) many people know my story. In turn, people would come up to me and let me know that they too were survivors. After finishing up court business, I decided to bring these women together. We were all searching for people who could understand statements like: "I feel so lost" or "My body is grieving." However getting the group together took more effort than expected. After 4 weeks of failed attempts at meeting as a group, I almost gave up. That was until everyone seemed to email me the same day saying that they would be coming to the next meeting. And now the rest is history. This semester we have made postings in our Students New to let the rest of the campus know that we were having these meetings. We have received several responses and as a result we are looking to relocate to a larger meeting space. In addition, our meetings prompted our Counseling Services to begin training faculty, staff and some students to be rape crisis counselors. Furthermore, they are moving towards creating an official support group sponsored by our Division of Student Life. I have extended my support to the larger surrounding community by providing my poetry and chap books to a crisis counselor who works at a local county hospital. This is significant because my city is a hot-spot for human traffickers to lure, and essentially kidnap young girls into prostitution. Some of these girls cannot see beyond the money, drugs and pseudo-love because they are not fully grasping the fact they are being used. In addition I have performed at several campuses during Sexual Assault and Intimate Violence Weeks. Following these performances there are people who come up to me and tell me their story and ask if we can remain in contact. I have had mothers and grandmother want me to contact their daughters; nieces; grandchildren who are victims and survivors. People see me as a role model and I see them as the pioneers to awareness and action.
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Discrimination
Physical and Mental Health
Sex and Relationships
Suicide Prevention
Sex Education
Sexual Assault
Bullying and Violence

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