How can we center childhood sexual abuse s urvivor healing without relying on prisons? There aren&rsquo\;t any easy a nswers\, but there are possibilities. Thirty-nine diasporic Black survivor s\, advocates\, and one former bystander\, courageously wrote about those possibilities in Ais hah Shahidah Simmons&rsquo\; 2020 Lambda Literary Award-winning anthol ogy\, Love WITH Accountability: Digging Up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse. \;
\nJoin us on Wednesday\, March 30\, 2022\, on DC Public Libr ary's Facebook and YouTube pages for an author ta lk between Simmons and two of the anthology contributors\, Indira Henard\, DSW\, MSW\, Executive Director of the D.C. Ra pe Crisis Center\, and alicia sanchez gill\, MSW\, Executive Director of the Emergent Fund. \;Th e three will be in conversation about healing and accountability for child hood sexual abuse survivors.
\nLove WITH Accountability fea tures compelling writings by child sexual abuse survivors\, advocates\, an d Simmons&rsquo\;s mother\, who underscores the detrimental impact of pare nts/caregivers not believing their children when they disclose their sexua l abuse. The silence around childhood sexual abuse in the familial institu tion plays a direct role in creating a culture of sexual violence in all o ther institutions&mdash\;religious\, academic\, activist\, political\, and professional. There are approximately 42 million child sexual abuse survivors i n the U.S. and millions of bystanders who look the other way as the abuse occurs and cover for the harm-doers with no accountability. Documentary fi lmmaker and survivor of childhood sexual abuse and adult rape\, Aishah Sha hidah Simmons invites diasporic Black people to join her in transformative storytelling that envisions a world that ends child sexual abuse without relying on the criminal justice system. Simmons' collection explores heali ng from and humanely disrupting the inhumane epidemic of child sexual abus e. \;
\nAishah Shahidah Simmons (s he/her) is an award-winning cultural worker who\, for over 25-years\, has examined the intersections of race\, gender\, sexuality\, and sexual viole nce. Her lived experiences as a survivor of childhood and adult sexual vio lence\, a Black feminist lesbian\, and a 20-year Buddhist practitioner com mitted to healing\, accountability\, and compassionate justice inform the creation of her work. She is the editor of the 2020 Lambda Literary Award- winning anthology\, love WITH accountability: Digging Up the Roots of Chil d Sexual Abuse(AK Press)\, and the producer/director of the 2006-groundbre aking\, Ford Foundation-funded film\, \;NO! The Rape Documentary. Aish ah is a recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including the 2022-20 23 Changemakers Authors Cohort\, a 2020 Soros Media Fellowship\, a 2016-20 19 Just Beginnings Collaborative Fellowship\, and the 2019 Breakthrough U. S. Activist Impact Award. She has presented her work\, guest lectured\, an d facilitated workshops and dialogues across the United States and Canada and countries in Europe\, Africa\, Asia\, and the Caribbean. She is on Twi tter\, Instagram and Facebook\, @Afrolez. \;
\nDr. Indira Henard has been with the DC Rape Crisis Center for the last fourteen years servi ng in different capacities\, lending invaluable experience including leade rship roles in fundraising\, operations\, cultivating relationships and st rategic partnerships\, as well as coalition building. Under Dr. Henard&rsq uo\;s Executive leadership \; she has not only repositioned the oldest rape crisis center in the country\, but she has laid a strong foundation as the agency is celebrating 50 years of survivor centered\, and community led services. Dr. Henard has worked nationally and internationally in hel ping organizations build capacity to respond to the needs of sexual violen ce in their communities. \; Dr. Henard&rsquo\;s high level training an d technical assistance provided to local nonprofits\, and international NG O&rsquo\;s has resulted in the repositioning of the sexual assault coaliti on in the District of Columbia\, partnering to help open the first rape cr isis center in Lagos\, Nigeria\, as well as working with a coalition of in ternational NGOs in developing a mobile app to aid refugee workers who are working with sexual assault victims. Most recently\, Dr. Henard was selec ted to serve on the Independent Review Commission to address Sexual Assaul t in the military under the Office of the Secretary of Defense as ordered by President Biden.
\nalicia sanchez gill is a queer\, Afrolatinx su rvivor and advocate with nearly twenty years of experience in intersection al anti-violence and harm-reduction work with organizations and collective s that center survivors who have often been left out of mainstream anti-vi olence movements. The belief that we will never end interpersonal and stat e gendered violence if we don&rsquo\;t end the carceral state is central t o her approach. Her writing has been published and referenced in national media\, academic journals\, and a variety of digital outlets. alicia holds a masters of social work but other survivors have been her best teachers.
\nPlease join us for what promises to be an educational and powerfu l event!
\nPhoto Credit: Zhee Chatmon
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