The truth is that the way we treat survivors is unacceptable. The pain of women matters. Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, a Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), director of the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies (CISPS), and co-founded the African American Policy Forum, has mapped the intersection of sexual, gender, and racial violence. Kimberlé W. Crenshaw has coined the term intersectionality to describe patriarchal and colonial power, as it intersects with identity politics, and its role in perpetuating gender violence, as the underlying dynamics allowing a deeply rooted rape culture to spread.
"1 in 4 North American women will be sexually assaulted during their lifetime." [3]
Survivors of sexual violence deserve dignity and justice. When women’s stories are not being heard, a cultural tendency well portrayed in the news today by the motion to vote on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination for the supreme court of the United States tomorrow Saturday October 6th, 2018, we have to ask ourselves what are our North American social values? What values are we teaching our children? As a Canadian citizen, I understand that it is my duty to contribute to public health and act in ways that improve the social fabric of our society.
Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html
[2] http://www.panzifoundation.org/dr-denis-mukwege/
[3] https://www.sexassault.ca/statistics.htm