Yemi Akande, is a playwright, theatre director, and artistic director of YemiArts Creation. Ms. Akande wrote and directed ‘My Room, My Doom’ which was selected for the 2020 Lagos Theatre Festival. This production explores the world of domestic violence and its consequences on society. I have the privilege of interviewing Ms. Akande and learning about her motivations and goals for her project—and how through a live theatrical performance she is challenging her audience to take a stand.

Victims of sexual abuse are unfortunately getting younger, as are their perpetrators. Despite the depiction of adolescents as “young adults” in our media, we must remember that they are not. They are children.

RHF is taking a holistic view of helping abused women. They refuse to limit their approach to dealing with the immediate needs of the individual woman or child who has been violated. This foundation is going after prevention methods. They are tackling problems of education and awareness.

The Rape Hurts Foundation has now expanded to support children who are at risk of abuse, including boys who are increasingly the targets for sexual abuse. Ms. Tanyinga is not simply supporting girls and women who have been raped or trafficked. She is changing the culture by changing how girls, boys, and women perceive themselves and giving them the means to control their destiny. 

Women need to engage in a dialogue with men who care about women and who care about ensuring that our boys get the —sometimes countercultural— messages that support them to be the “best men” that they can be.

It takes a village to protect victims of abuse and assault. That village by necessity requires the strong support of men who care deeply about the lives of girls and women.

Congress has not reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act since 2013. Vital programs are at risk. Expansion of programs based on recent data has not occurred. It is unacceptable to treat 50% of our population in this manner.

At this moment, the 2019 Re-Authorization of VAWA is sitting in the US Senate.  It has been sitting in the senate for about 6 months waiting for an approval.  Unlike previous sessions of congress (both Republican and Democrat controlled), there is not an esprit du corps at work on behalf of female citizens of the United States.  

The road to bringing perpetrators to justice can go through the criminal and/or civil justice system(s). Considering the relatively small percentage of assault cases that are brought forward by district attorneys, especially in the case of intimate partner abuse, the civil legal system is an avenue to punish perpetrators.

I spent some time talking with Dr. Shani Glaudé who practices clinical psychology in the DC Metro Area to get her insights on the psychology of abuse and the impact of an assault on a victim. 

We must ramp up the dialogue on sexual assault prevention. Like any other public health issue, we have the ability to study both the impact and the potential interventions, that could substantially decrease the impact of this societal scourge.

We need many prevention strategies to decrease the prevalence of rape. We need to invest in good research to see what works.  Interestingly, there is already data to support approaches that work. This blog will highlight the SARE trial.

Limiting the focus on prevention suggests that either potential perpetrators cannot have their behavior positively redirected or that girls/women will always be put into the role of “victims”. I’m more hopeful.

For a victim of abuse or assault, having a life after the event starts with getting to safety and then getting physical, emotional and psychological care. Often, that starts in the emergency room or at a doctor’s office. 

We all owe a debt of gratitude to Howard and Constance Clery, who after losing their daughter, fought to change the way campuses report crime.  The follow on effect is that campuses are upping their game in crime reporting, awareness, investigation, prevention and victim support.

We all know that the culture has changed dramatically in the last 15 years with advent of social and digital media. What we may not quite get, is how profoundly that has affected interactions between adolescents.