At SASHA we want to ensure our society includes a range of viewpoints and perspectives. Continuing our series on Instagram, newly named “Diversifying conversations around Sexual Assault”, we explore how intersectionality can help inform us of the inequalities in sexual violence activism and information.
We begin with a quote from the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
"Working towards a future without sexual violence means that advocates, survivors, and communities need to respond to a complex and layered reality that centres the needs of those survivors most marginalised, silenced, and unseen."
What is intersectionality?
Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term to help understand and describe how people's identities overlap or 'intersect'.
It operates as a lens for seeing how different inequalities can operate and exacerbates each other
It brings together separate conversations about inequality and magnifies how they can interact
Statistics:
68.8% of bisexual women reported a lifetime experience of any violent sexual contact
Native American/Indigenous women (27.5%), Latina women (14%) and Black women (21.2%) experienced rates of sexual violence significantly higher than the national average in the United States
1 in every 10 rape victims is a man
Transgender students are at higher risk of sexual violence
Disabled adults, aged 16-24 are almost twice as likely to experience sexual assault than their non-disabled counterparts
Sexual Violence Activism
White, heteronormative, Western women often lead sexual violence activism
Notorious movements such as SLUTWALK, are not inclusive for Black women who do not possess the same privilege as white women to call themselves 'sluts'.
It is vital to have these conversations, including discussing the term intersectionality, so we can understand different identities and how power influences their experiences.
A member of our community came forward to explain their personal relationship to the lack of diversity in sexual violence activism. Below is their full quotation:
“It can be very lonely and frustrating seeing the limited research, information and resources for black women, particularly for black queer women like myself, who have experienced sexual assault. Being black, queer and also a woman has influenced how I have experienced sexual violence, similarly to other individuals with intersectional identities. However, these experiences often are ignored or lost amongst other more ‘common’ experiences shared by the majority of survivors, when they should be recognised as equally. It’s difficult to want to speak up and share my experiences because they have been both racialised and sexualised, something that not all survivors can relate to or something I feel like some of my friends can understand. There have been several occasions where I have experienced public sexual harassment and when I have responded negatively or ignored them I have been met with racism, like when I was called a “black bitch” for ignoring someone who was harassing me. There is already the fear of reporting, but that is also layered with the repeated failure of institutions that are supposed to protect black queer women, which makes it even more difficult to approach them for help. We need to educate ourselves more on how sexual violence impacts different identities and start speaking up about them when we’re having these conversations.”
For more information check out the post on our Instagram post for this article! For help, if you relate to or found this post triggering at all, check out our Resource Tab on our website. We want to make sure SASHA is representative of all voices, please fill out our Feedback Form - if there is something you think we are missing we’d love to hear about it!
Written by Nina Piotrowska
Edited by McKenzie Burnett
Picture Credits: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/amp/intersectionality-101-understanding-your-privilege-oppression-2478625053
References:
Armstrong, E.A., Gleckman-Krut, M. Johnson, L., 2018. Silence, power, and inequality: An intersectional approach to sexual violence. Annual Review of Sociology, 44(1), Pp.99-122.
Armstrong, E.A., Hamilton, L., Sweeney, B., 2006. Sexual assault on campus: A multilevel, integrative approach to party rape. Social problems, 53(4), Pp.483-499.
Beres, M.A., 2014. Rethinking the concept of consent for anti-sexual violence activism and education. Feminism & Psychology, 24(3), Pp.373-389.
Williams, S., 2016. # SayHerName: Using digital activism to document violence against black women. Feminist media studies, 16(5), pp.922-925.
Steinmetz, K. (2020, February 20). She Coined the Term ‘Intersectionality’ Over 30 Years Ago. Here’s What It Means to Her Today. Time. https://time.com/5786710/kimberle-crenshaw-intersectionality/
Flanders, C. 2022. A Quantitative Intersectional Exploration of Sexual Violence and Mental Health among Bi + People: Looking within and across Race and Gender. 22 (4), Pp 485-512.
Californian Coalition Against Sexual Assualt. 2017. SAAM, Ending Sexual Violence: An Intersectional Approach.