Women of Color Leadership at Sexual Assault Coalitions: Addressing the Gap Report 2002 by the National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault
Racism has been at the foundation of many issues in society and as such is often the root cause for the absence of Women of Color in leadership in many arenas, including the anti-sexual assault movement. There is a misconception or naïve notion that racism is “not as bad as it used to be.” There is an ideology that in addressing the issue of sexual assault we are all equal. (read the full report here)
The Effects of Tokenism on Women of Color by Laura Zarate, Executive Director of Arte Sana (Art Heals)
For many of us as women of color, we feel the constant stress of not only having to do it all (with and on behalf of the particular group that we represent), but also having to be an “expert” at it as well. (read the full article here)
Anti-Oppression Work: Lessons Learned by Joanne Zannoni, Executive Director of New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault
NYSCASA, with the support of the National Women of Color Network, has been actively engaged in anti-oppression efforts since 2012. We have set agency anti-oppression priorities, re-established the women of color caucus and the aspiring allies workgroup, created a person of color listserv, developed an advisory group, secured grant funding for our anti-oppression work, taken a critical look at our organizational structure, revised personnel policies, and enhanced hiring procedures. This work has been both incredibly challenging and satisfying. I could share many aspects of our anti-oppression activities, but I will focus on some of the lessons we learned during our journey so far. (read the full article here)
Building a Roadmap for Diversity and Anti-Oppression Work for your Coalition by Mary Keefe, former Executive Director of the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence
This is a very personal journey for me, and you will find this chapter is written from the heart, as opposed to a comprehensive paper on the topic. It is from the perspective of an executive director who has worked hard to promote the leadership of Women of Color, from an ally point of view. It tells the story of Michigan’s journey and is sprinkled with practical advice that may or may not fit your state, but might get the creativity flowing for you and your coalition. (read the full article here)
Building a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Movement within Your Coalition: The Journey of PCAR’s LGBTQ Workgroup by Katherine Taylor, former Technical Assistance Coordinator and PCAR’s LGBTQ Workgroup
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape’s (PCAR) LGBTQ Workgroup has had a couple of different starts by various PCAR and National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) staff members. Originally, people came together with specific projects in mind, saw those projects to fruition and dispersed. Then in February 2010, several PCAR and NSVRC staff members branched off of the larger Diversity Workgroup to focus specifically on sexual violence against and within the LGBTQ community. (read the full article here)
State of Latin@ Victim Advocacy by Alianza Latina en contra la Agresion Sexual (ALAS). (read the full report here)
Relevant ReShapes
ReShape Newsletter: Language Access (Spring 2017)
ReShape Newsletter: Anti-Racism Efforts from Coalitions (Winter 2017)