VALOR Conversations

In this episode we spoke to Patty Berne, co-founder and executive director of Sins Invalid, a performance and disability justice movement organization. Vulnerable populations in our society tend to be devalued, marginalized, and treated as powerless. Devaluing people is the first step toward dehumanization, and in its place we start a process of “othering.” When disabled people are made “other” their artistry risks becoming fetishized. Counteracting this begins with centering each other's humanity, which is an essential element in the work of Patty and Sins Invalid.

In this episode we spoke to Triana Silton, Deputy Chief of Staff with Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers (SEIU-UHW). As a leader in the labor movement Triana shares why her organization has a part to play in preventing sexual and domestic violence. No one should ever have to choose between their livelihood and experiencing violence. To change our culture - both at work and otherwise - we have to articulate a vision for what is possible and prove we live our values through our actions.

In this episode, we spoke with Comfort Dondo, the Founding Executive Director of Phumulani Minnesota African Women Against Violence, and author of the recently published book "Facing the Giants: A Journey to Freedom from Domestic Abuse," and we really zoom in on the idea of culturally specific solutions. This is a huge focus in the world of gender based violence, because providing services through a cultural lens, for diverse groups, can be complicated. Take for example working with immigrant populations. Migrants can be an especially vulnerable group for many reasons, from residency status to culture shock. We need numerous strategies to combat gender-based violence, as no one strategy works for everyone. These are complex societal issues that require comprehensive solutions that are flexible and affirming in holistic ways.

In this episode we speak with Tinisch Hollins, Executive Director for Californians for Safety and Justice, Vice Chair of the San Francisco African American Reparations Advisory Committee, and an all around believer of getting into good trouble. Sexual Violence doesn't happen in a vacuum, and to prevent it, we have to understand how violence in our communities, and by extension the punishment and justice system, are all related. In addition, the needs and wants of survivors are rarely considered in these debates and discussions of reforming the criminal justice system. So in this episode, we talk about how individual acts of violence harm not only the targets of violence, but the broader community, and how the rights and needs of survivors of trauma should be centered when thinking about alternatives to incarceration.

In this episode we speak with Kandi White, a leading voice in bringing visibility to the impact that climate change and environmental injustice has on Indigenous communities. We talk through how violence against the earth relates to sexual violence in Indigenous communities, its associated lack of visibility in American society, as well as some of the root causes. She also helps us understand how reconnecting to the sacred is a violence prevention strategy.

Tony Porter from A Call to Men joins us to consider the question, "what's a man's role in ending sexual violence?" The #MeToo movement caused men across our society to wrestle with the realization that they could have done something harmful in their past. But “The Man Box”, or the way in which our society teaches young boys about what it means to be a man, taught all these men that what they were doing was right. Things get even more complicated when we consider how all of this intersects with racism and our society's lack of attention on men's mental health.

Across the United States, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, approximately eleven hundred sexual assault centers and programs respond to survivors of sexual violence. Responding to those calls are the advocates. The advocate is tasked not only with pulling from all their skills and understanding to support a survivor and their families, but must also adapt to unknown situations in real time and do so with care and compassion and trust. This work can be doubly complicated when working with groups targeted for victimization because of their status: those with disabilities, the elderly, and undocumented people, to name a few. In this episode, we are joined by Sandra Henriquez, Peggie Reyna, and Ryssa Fleisher, who have a combined sixty plus years of work in the field, and will share their experiences in working with survivors to heal in the aftermath of sexual violence.

In this episode, we are joined by Sujatha Baliga, Jackson Katz, Maria LaGanga, Farah Tanis and Byron Hurt who dive into the issue of accountability and justice for survivors and communities impacted by sexual violence.With overincarceration of people of color and the poor, high recidivism rates, and low probability of prosecution in sexual assault cases, this raises questions like: Are there other ways to think about meeting the needs of survivors that don't involve the criminal legal system? Does incarceration really equal accountability? Who benefits from the criminal legal system? And, who does the system really serve?

In this episode, we are joined by Ashley Thomas and Patti Giggans and we ask ourselves the relationship between community safety and design. From the removal of Indigenous people across the US, to the construction of interstate highways in the 20th century, land development means progress and growth for some; but for many others it can mean being pushed to the margins, and the destruction of existing communities and habitats, which creates isolation and disconnect often fosters the conditions for violence.Yet the most important thing to know is that these cities are created by design, by people. They're not naturally occurring things they are created and they can be recreated in different ways.

Messages are often subtle, or simply accepted as normal in our conversations but if we begin to listen closely, truly break down the way we frame stories where people experience harassment or abuse, we can begin to see the patterns and make the connections between the way we think and the way we speak. VALOR (formerly the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault) had a chance to speak with a few people who specialize in the role of language and its connection to sexual violence.Jackson Katz, Maria La Ganga, and Matthew Baum walked us through person to person conversation, the way the media frames stories around sexual assault, and even how these stories actually set the tone and attitudes of an entire community.When it comes to understanding the role we each have in creating more inclusive and safer communities, words matter. Language matters.

Sexual violence is not inevitable, or a logical outcome- it is preventable. Each one of us has the power to take small, yet impactful steps to address and change our behavior in order to impact our communities and society at large. In this episode, we speak with Farah Tanis, Byron Hurt and Patti Giggans- and dive into a conversation about the roots of the movement to end sexual violence and the conditions that lead for sexual violence to happen in the first place.