Jan
11
Law Professor Will Ask U.S. Supreme Court To Reverse Decision That A Woman Can Be Fired For Being Stalked
Filed Under Announcement, Guest Post, News, Powerful Women, Stalking | By Dawn Martin | 1 Comment
During Stalking Awareness Month, Supreme Court will Decide whether Stalking Victims are Protected against Employment Discrimination
Washington, D.C. – On January 13, 2012, the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear the case of Martin v. Howard University. The National Organization for Women (NOW) Foundation and civil rights attorney Dawn V. Martin, want the high Court to hold that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects a woman from being stalked in her workplace and from being terminated for reporting it. NOW Foundation has filed an Amicus (friend of the Court) Brief in support of Ms. Martin. This case is particularly timely in light of recent attention to the failure of universities to respond to resports of sexual attacks on campuses and because January is Stalking Awareness Month. Howard, specifically, still fails to take complaints of sexual harassment seriously. See Bello. v. Howard University, 1:11-cv-02106-CKK; http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/177504/158/Lawsuit-Howard-University-Negligent-In-Sexual-Assault-Harassment-Case. Howard opposes the participation of NOW Foundation in the case.
78% of stalking victims are women. 54% of female murder victims reported their stalkers to the police before being killed by them. In a 2009 documentary about the case, Kim Gandy, then, the President of NOW, said: “We’ve had situations like this, where women, stalked in the workplace, were fired, or let go, because they were stalked.” Ms. Martin said, “No woman should have to choose between her job and her safety.”
Law Professor Dawn Martin was stalked on the campus of Read more
Jan
4
Slut Walk Revisited: A Perspective Missing from the Conversation
Filed Under Announcement, Diversity, Motivating Moments, Powerful Women | By Rose Luna | Leave a Comment
Since its inception the “Slut Walk” events have carried a storm of controversy and have been met with both acceptance and resistance. TAASA responded with talking points and also created a space for staff to openly discuss their thoughts on the Slut Walk events. The results were featured in Soapbox-SlutWalk-Summer2011. A viewpoint missing from the national and international conversation is that of women of color. Below please find the collective response in the “Open Letter from Black Women to the Slut Walk”
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We the undersigned women of African descent and anti-violence advocates, activists, scholars, organizational and spiritual leaders wish to address the SlutWalk. First, we commend the organizers on their bold and vast mobilization to end the shaming and blaming of sexual assault victims for violence committed against them by other members of society. We are proud to be living in this moment in time where girls and boys have the opportunity to witness the acts of extraordinary women resisting oppression and challenging the myths that feed rape culture everywhere.
The police officer’s comments in Toronto that ignited the organizing of the first SlutWalk and served to trivialize, omit and dismiss women’s continuous experiences of sexual exploitation, assault, and oppression are an attack upon our collective spirits. Whether the dismissal of rape and other violations of a woman’s body be driven by her mode of dress, line of work, level of intoxication, her class, and in cases of Black and brown bodies—her race, we are in full agreement that no one deserves to be raped.
The Issue At Hand
We are deeply concerned. As Black women and girls we find no space in SlutWalk, no space for participation and to unequivocally denounce rape and sexual assault as we have experienced it. We are perplexed by the use of the term “slut” and by any implication that this word, much like the word “Ho” or the “N” word should be re-appropriated. The way in which we are perceived and what happens to us before, during and after sexual assault crosses the boundaries of our mode of dress. Much of this is tied to our particular history. In the United States, where slavery constructed Black female sexualities, Jim Crow kidnappings, rape and lynchings, gender misrepresentations, and more recently, where the Black female immigrant struggle combine, “slut” has different associations for Black women. We do not recognize ourselves nor do we see our lived experiences reflected within SlutWalk and especially not in its brand and its label.
As Black women, we do not have the privilege or the space to call ourselves “slut” without validating the already historically entrenched ideology and recurring messages about what and who the Black woman is. We don’t have the privilege Read more