|
| New Year’s Eve Dangers:
Alcohol and Sexual Assault
|
|
Cultural and Social Context for Alcohol Facilitated Sexual Assault:
When discussing the line between consensual sex and alcohol facilitated sexual assault, especially on a “party night” such as New Year’s Eve, it is important to recognize that certain norms within the drinking culture work to perpetuate and reinforce harmful and often abusive behaviors. One of these norms is the assumption that people drink with the intention of later seeking a sexual partner or sexual encounter. While alcohol may be chosen to lower inhibitions or create romantic moods, PAVE recognizes that not all social drinking is with that intent. Such cultural generalizations create an atmosphere of normalized sexual aggression towards intoxicated individuals and often serves as an excuse for pressuring or coercing sex. When sex is coerced and consent is not freely given, it is sexual assault. Remember, consent is a freely given YES, not the absence of a NO. Read more about PAVE’s Alcohol Statement.
|
| New Look for PAVE’s Website |
 With a new year fast approaching, we are excited to introduce a new website for PAVE. Click the logo to view the new look for the site. Comments are appreciated: info@pavingtheway.net.
|
| Transition – Internet Song of the Year! Please Vote Today! |
|
Angela Rose, PAVE’s Executive Director, wrote and performed the theme song to PAVE’s documentary “Transition to Survivor”. Click here to listen and vote!
Angela Rose (pictured left at a speech in California) created a song and film that delves deep into the path of being a victim into becoming a survivior. This journey is often a difficult process and it takes courage to heal. PAVE was very pleased to learn that the song “Transition” was nominated for the Internet Song of the Year award.
There is a cash prize for the winner and PAVE really needs the money for some big projects in 2008! You can vote once per day until the closing of the contest March 31, 2008. Click on the link above and vote daily…we need you!! Tell your friends and family to vote as well!! You can click here for the lyrics to “Transition”.
Angela’s music was also featured in the Chicago Sun Times article: For ‘Thriver’ Angela Rose, Her Music is the Message.
|
| Prison Rape: A Silent Epidemic |
New statistics compiled by a US Justice Department agency revealed this month that the rape and sexual abuse of prisoners by other prisoners and staff plague prisons nationwide. According to the report, released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), “Sexual Victimization in State and Federal Prisons Reported by Inmates, 2007″, 4.5 percent of the state and federal prisoners surveyed reported sexual victimization in the past 12 months. Given a national prison population of 1,570,861, the BJS findings suggest that in one year alone more than 70,000 prisoners were sexually abused.
“When nearly one in 20 prisoners reports being raped or sexually abused behind bars, it is clear that prison authorities are not doing enough to prevent these serious crimes,” Jamie Fellner, senior counsel for the US Program at Human Rights Watch.
PAVE’s Action: PAVE worked with the WI Chapter of Amnesty International to support the passage of the Custodial Misconduct Bill in WI. This bill made sexual contact illegal between members of the Department of Corrections and inmates.
Angela Rose, PAVE’s Executive Director said, “This bill was a major triumph for the state of WI. There can be no notion of consent in the power hierarchy that exists within the prison system.”
|
|
|
|
|
Angela Shelton’s New Book!
|
|
|
|
Pre-order Your Copy Today!
Our good friend, Angela Shelton, will have her debut book hit the shelves April 1, 2008. Click the picture above to reserve your copy!
A Note From Angela Shelton…
 I am the creator of the award-winning documentary, Searching for Angela Shelton , where I interviewed other women around the US who shared my name. I discovered that 70% of them had been victims of rape, childhood sexual assault and/or domestic violence. My survey became personal when I met an Angela Shelton who was tracking sexual predators and lived in the same town as my father who was my abuser. We arrived to her town on Father’s Day of all days. Things got too weird to be weird anymore when I decided to confront him on camera. The process of making this film forced me to face my past and myself. The Angela Sheltons taught me about the power of the human spirit, no matter what your name is.
The film has won many awards and I have been on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, 48 Hours Investigates and Lifetime Television for Women. The movie is truly independent and I went on all of those shows because of word-of- mouth. This powerful film has been spread through a grassroots movement of survivors and humanitarian organizations around the world who are breaking the silence about the epidemic of abuse.
Now I have written the full story of my own journey in my book Finding Angela Shelton. I tell how I faced my past of abuse as well as my abuser, how I covered my pain with self-abuse and addictions, and how I healed and now lead a joyful life. I share my dreams as well as my nightmares and I break my silence and tell how I broke the cycle of trauma in my life. I now teach ways to get off the trauma train and onto the Joy Jet! I have seen firsthand how people have transformed and changed their lives forever. When supporters wanted to start this campaign, I was again amazed by the dedication of my fellow humans. Thank you for working for Joy! I am so proud to be an Angela Shelton. Like the supporters say, my book goes beyond me – it is about you. I hope that through Finding Angela Shelton that more amazing warriors are revealed. Thank you for joining a team and being a part of this movement.
NOTE: PAVE is pairing up with Angela Shelton on an unprecedented national campaign called Report IT! Watch for future updates!
|
|
Please forward this to your friends…
Shatter the silence of sexual violence!
Sincerely,
ANGELA ROSE
PAVE: Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
PLEASE HELP PAVE CONTINUE ITS CRUCIAL WORK!
Donations can be mailed to:
PAVE
PO Box 476991
Chicago, IL 60647
You will be mailed a receipt of contribution for your tax records! Thanks!
PAVE is a national 501c3 nonprofit that uses social, educational, and legislative tactics to shatter the silence of sexual violence
|
|
|
Sign up and I will email you my blog posts. I don't automate my blog updates, I send them out by hand so I can add extra private messages.
