Message from Director Carbon: May 2011

Dear Friends, The month of April marked the conclusion of my first year as Director of OVW.  It has been a tremendous honor and a privilege to serve in this position, within an Administration that is so committed to ending violence against women.  President Obama, Vice President Biden and Attorney General Holder, along with many others in the Administration and within the Department of Justice, are deeply committed leaders and partners in ending the vicious cycles of abuse and violence in the lives of women, children and men.  Add to that the brilliant and passionate staff at OVW and there couldn’t be a more opportune time to recommit ourselves to ending domestic, sexual, and dating violence and stalking, as well as all other forms of violence that plague women here and abroad. I joined OVW in April, just after the President declared that month Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the first President in our history to do so.  In addition to focusing in prevention efforts and reaching more underserved communities, addressing sexual violence has been one of my top priorities.  I was so pleased when President Obama again declared this April Sexual Assault Awareness Month. At the beginning of April, I had great hope for this year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month: how many communities we could reach, how many individuals we could influence, and how much of an impact the sexual assault community could have across the country over these four weeks.  As April comes to a close, I am in absolute awe: my expectations were not only met, they were exceeded beyond imagination. With the amazing leadership of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one of our TA providers, we carried their theme of “It’s Time … to Get Involved” across the country.  With the dedication and hard work of the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the California National Guard; the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault; ContactLifeline in Delaware; the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault; the Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault; the DC Rape Crisis Center and DC Children’s Hospital; Day One in Rhode Island; Women Organized Against Rape (the Philadelphia Rape Crisis Center) and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape; the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence; the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the Clinton School of Public Service; the George Mason University Social Work students and Benjamin Banneker High School students in Washington, DC; we were able to participate in 16 different Sexual Assault Awareness Month events in nine states across the country and the District of Columbia. At these events, our staff were able to experience first-hand the incredible, and incredibly challenging, work that advocates in the field do each day.  We were humbled to see how those with great courage and passion, even when afforded only limited resources, can make profound impacts on their communities. We also were excited and surprised to see some of the remarkable compassion within these communities: hundreds of community activists – women and men, survivors and supporters alike, expressing their desire to get involved in the work to end sexual assault.  We spoke with military service members, federal employees, students, children and parents, elected officials, and counselors.  We spoke to advocates of all ages: young children of survivors to great-grandparents of survivors.  We spoke to survivors of child sexual abuse, survivors of sexual assault later in life, survivors of many races and ethnicities, survivors of all genders and sexual orientations, and survivors of various backgrounds. We stood with advocates, victims, survivors, Governors, United States Attorneys, state Attorneys General, state legislators, business and community members – all united to end violence. And we listened.  We heard the stories of legislators working to change laws in their states. We heard stories of advocates transforming the lives of those they serve. We heard stories of prosecutors and law enforcement who work every day to create safe and supportive environments for survivors to report.  We heard students discuss the importance of changing campus culture to alter attitudes about sexual assault. We heard individuals highlight the importance of supporting underserved populations including those from tribal communities and individuals with disabilities.  We heard advocates for those who had been abused later in life spotlight the importance of discussing all age groups when addressing issues of sexual assault.  We heard stories of brave bystanders who had the gumption to stop a situation of sexual assault before it started.  We heard countless conversations of individuals who had never participated in a Sexual Assault Awareness Month event, shocked by the statistics and energized to be included in this work.  We heard the stories of countless courageous survivors, urging us all that it is, in fact, time to get involved. This month, we were able to share and listen to the stories of the one in six women who will experience an attempted or completed rape at some time in her life. We were able to break misconceptions of what many believe rape is: only weapon wielding strangers in dark alleys.   We heard the stories of acquaintance rape, child sexual assault, date rape, and countless other forms. We culminated the month, after travelling to communities across the country, with two events in DC. The first was a presentation to all OVW staff by George Mason University Social Work students about impressions and misconceptions within specific communities about sexual assault. More than 30 students reported on over 100 different interviews with different population groups including law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, senior citizens, deaf individuals, the military and first generation Americans. Members of OVW’s staff, as well as guests from the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, the Bureau of Prisons and other Offices with the Department of Justice were able to hear some of the interesting, and often shocking, impressions that each community shared. This event was also OVW’s annual Denim Day.  Denim Day originated in this country in Los Angeles in the 1990s in response to the Italian Supreme Court’s reversal of a rape conviction in which the Chief Judge argued: “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex.” Women wore jeans to work on the established “Denim Day” as a way of protesting the verdict. Since then, Denim Day has become a national rape prevention campaign. This year, OVW had over 150 federal employees attend this Denim Day event, our largest to date!  You can see our annual photo on our website. The second was an event with Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli at Benjamin Banneker High School in which high school students shared their views on sexual assault.  Here, students were able to ask questions and give opinions regarding sexual assault and sexual harassment to federal officials from the Department of Justice and the Department of Education, as well as those working in the field including Break the Cycle, Men Can Stop Rape, and the DC Rape Crisis Center. At both events, we had the amazing opportunity to share with, but mostly hear from, young people.  Their insights, ideas, and energy for this cause left us all with a feeling of great hope for the next generation of advocates and the future of the movement to end sexual assault. Although Sexual Assault Awareness Month has come to a close, our work to end sexual violence is only beginning. At OVW, we will continue to work to provide resources so desperately needed in the sexual assault community.  We look forward to the forthcoming announcement of our new Sexual Assault Demonstration Initiative (SADI) project sites next month.  We will continue to work with the White House following last fall’s Sexual Violence Roundtable.  We have begun discussions regarding the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, stressing the importance of addressing sexual assault along with domestic violence, stalking and dating violence. We are excited for our continued work with the field and advocates across the country to encourage community members to get involved in our important efforts.  As Vice President Joe Biden stated in early April at the University of New Hampshire:

I urge you to view this moment as a starting line for you and your community as we all look to the finish line: a world without sexual violence. With Hope, Susan B. Carbon OVW Director U.S. Department of Justice