An Annual Publication of Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs Volume XXIII 2019 Healing Activated! In this issue: Reflections on Kavanaugh The Role of Activism in Survivor Recovery Confirmation Activism A conversation with Leah Green Survivors in Action: Profiles in Healing through Art & Activism WCSAP Program Highlight Beyond Survival A conversation with Maddie Graves-Wilson Survivor Volunteerism Tabitha Donohue Activist Burn-Out and Self-Care Know Your IX Question Oppression Resources Silence is one of patriarchy’s most oppressive mandates. We have the gift of testimony and our long- held philosophy of empowerment to fight back. Letter from the Editor Michelle Dixon-Wall Resource Sharing Project Coordinator, WCSAP even years ago, I interviewed several With the surge of activism, we have seen in survivors for an assessment project at my this last year and half surrounding the #MeToo S local program as part of the national Sexual Movement and the Kavanaugh confirmation Assault Demonstration Initiative. We wanted to hearings it is clear that survivors have been know what helped survivors heal so we could itching to move the needle and are more than best align our services with needs of those in our ready to share their stories as a catalyst for community. change. The sea change has inspired us here at WCSAP to dedicate this publication to survivor The survivors I spoke with identified that their activism and the healing found in it. participation in the anti-violence sexual violence movement contributed most to their healing. It Whether it is writing a letter to the editor, was the only unifying healing aspect all survivors participating in Take Back the Night, making shared with me. What I discovered should not change on Campus, protesting, performing, have been surprising but I was taken aback testifying, or voting, survivor activism helps to Because I realized two things: transform traumatic experiences into something vital and meaningful for society. Even when 1. in my many years of sexual assault advocacy, activism is not specific to sexual violence, using this was not something I had considered your voice and building your power is healing. working with survivors around, and Silence is one of patriarchy’s most oppressive 2. as a survivor myself, this was exactly what I mandates. We have the gift of testimony and our was doing here in this work: healing. long-held philosophy of empowerment to fight back. Volume XXIII 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS Reflections on Kavanaugh Confirmation Activism .................... 1 A conversation with Leah Green 4317 6th Ave SE, Suite 102 Olympia, WA 98503 (360) 754-7583 Survivors in Action: (360) 709-0305 TTY 7 (360) 786-8707 FAX Profiles in Healing through Art & Activism ............................ WCSAP Program Highlight: Beyond Survival ........................................................ 11 A conversation with Maddie Graves-Wilson Survivor Volunteerism .................................................. 13 Healing Activated! Tabitha Donohue The Role of Activism in Survivor Recovery The mission of the Washington 16 Coalition of Sexual Assault Activist Burn-Out and Self-Care ........................................ Programs is to unite agencies Know Your IX engaged in the elimination of sexual violence through education, advocacy, victim services, and social change. Question Oppression ................................................... 20 Connections Magazine is published annually and mailed to subscribing members of WCSAP. For membership information Resources ............................................................... 20 and to view articles online visit: www.wcsap.org Editor: Michelle Dixon-Wall Cover photo © Alice Donovan Rouse. Boston, United States. This sign was a trademark of the Women’s Marches around the world. The posters were available Design © Debi Bodett to download for free and were printed by many as a (literal) sign of solidarity. www.DebiBodett.com https://obeygiant.com/people-art-avail-download-free/ “One point of this healing journey is not just personal, but to use my personal narrative to create a better world. I want my story to be a jumping off point to critically understand what oppression is and how it relates to child abuse. I want you to make a commitment, if you have not already, to take responsibility for the kind of society you really want to live in. Any understanding you come to as a result of my words must push us forward to concretely and physically transforming society.” -billie rain, The Healing Journey as a Site of Resistance 1 Reflections on Kavanaugh Confirmation Activism A conversation with Leah Green exual assaults survivors nationally were deeply impacted by this year’s confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee S (and now Justice) Brett Kavanaugh. It was the boiling point that propelled us to claim our #MeToo promise in earnest, through anger and activism. Many survivors were there in the midst of the hearings-- lobbying senators in hallways, staging sit-ins in offices, and rallying those at home to keep calling and tweeting their representatives. Ana Maria Archila, was one of the women who confronted Senator Jeff Flake. About this activism she said, “what happened in that elevator was the result of thousands and thousands of women survivors and survivors of all genders who are doing something incredibly dangerous and incredibly generous.” www.wcsap.org 2 3 CONNECTIONS www.wcsap.org 2019 The national Women’s Law Center, Know Your IX, End Rape on Campus, and other leading organizations sponsored survivors to travel to D.C. to lobby their senators in person and participate in actions. Leah Green was one of those who was there, too. A survivor who works in the anti-sexual violence movement, Leah activated her support system and went to D.C. with organizers all over the country to speak out. She generously agreed to talked about her experience with us. Editor: You were present in DC at protests related I have found that sometimes when to the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, what I do things that really trigger my made you decide to go? survivorship or are really hard, it It just felt right. I saw they were looking for helps me. Because even though it people with the ability to go to D.C. at short was hard, I got through it and at the notice and I thought about all the survivors who end of it I feel some sort of relief, might want to go but didn’t have the access. I like I got just a little bit farther have the privilege to work for an organization down the path. that gave me adequate enough vacation time, I had a partner that was going to be supportive I rallied support around me before going: I had to me while I was there, I had friends around the supervisors who engaged me in conversations country from whom I could seek support, and about what I thought that was going to be the economic privilege to financially take care of like and how they could best support me. I myself in DC if that needed to happen. connected with the community of support I had around me to let them know I was doing this I looked at my situation and saw I had the real and people offered to be on-call to support me. ability to go so I just felt like I had to, who else I connected in a friend in D.C. who offered to was going to be supported in going at such a let me stay with her, to walk me to the Capitol, short notice-- if not me, who else was going to whatever I might find helpful. be able to go? And then I had to tell my family. I don’t have a I knew that going would feel like taking an strong relationship with my family. But I knew action and it was an impulse that I had to follow. that if I went I would talk about my survivorship I was really worried that once I got there I would and that involves my family so I felt the need to fall apart and that it was going to be terrible but give them a heads up. I didn’t know what was there was a part of me that felt like I had to do it going to happen or what the experience was anyway. going to be like. www.wcsap.org 4 Editor: From home, we saw a lot of survivors Editor: How do you think participation in these there, telling their stories and lobbying senators types of actions contribute to your healing? in hallways. What was it like to be there? For me, the most powerful healing I think the only other experience that I have had that I’ve done is getting the that was even somewhat similar was going to NSAC (National Sexual Assault Conference). In opportunity to say the words out the two block area of the Capitol and the Senate loud in public because for so many buildings, every single person you encountered years I was terrified to talk about it. was an activist or person trying to help survivors, or survivors themselves. It felt like almost Holding it in did so much damage to me, that everywhere you looked there were people who to say the words out loud as often and as loudly were excited to engage with you. When we as possible has, on a level, undone some of that were in The Russell (Senate Office Building) a trauma. group of us took a trip to the bathroom and the woman cleaning the bathroom asked what we So this felt like the next big scary step. I were doing there and when we told her even talk about my survivorship with friend, she was like “give ‘em hell.” So, it was cool to my colleagues, my partner, and only very see that even people who were just working in recently started to engage in some of these the building, that weren’t here for the protests conversations with my family and to out myself engaged with us and were supportive of us.