My Favorite Bit of Information From The Week:
Sexual Violence and Consent
Introduction: I have spoken a bit before on the topic of domestic violence, but there is always more to learn in all areas of mental health and this week I have some more that I wanted to share. I listen to the Tim Ferriss Podcast often, and discovered Debbie Millman’s interview this past week, I thought she was above and beyond incredible. I find her career and her origins very awe-striking (you can check out her impressive resume and work here). However, when she started talking about her history with domestic abuse and her practices with mental health I was both moved and inspired. Every time I find a woman like this, A person I can admire and who speaks openly about their mental health struggles, I am reawakened with a new source of energy to move forward with life. Her bravery and vulnerability are worth the time. She mentions two organizations that I had not known about before the interview, and as I researched them, I realized the themes revolved around consent. I became aware that this was not a topic we have truly covered in the blog up to now. Conversation around consent is a vastly important need in our community, especially in a world where 1 in 3 women, 1 in 6 men, and 1 in 2 transgender humans are sexually abused in their lives. To check out her interview with Tim Ferriss click here. I really recommend the whole interview, but she begins talking about her history with abuse and her mental health at minute 42:00. My below headings today will be unpacking a few of the organizations named by Debbie in the interview and a bit on why education surrounding consent is so important.
Joyful Heart: This organization, or which Debbie Millman is chair, is an incredible cornucopia of information and free resources! They also have most of their resources listed in Spanish as well. Joyful Heart was originally started by actress Mariska Hargitay (who played Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims’ Unit) who, through her work and the fan mail that was coming to her from thousands of victims, realized the extreme need in our community for education and change surrounding domestic violence. There are free courses you can take, free quizzes, information on how to help a person you think may be in need, how to identify a person in need, or where to go if you are in need yourself. It’s very beautiful and very easy to navigate. If you have even two minutes to check it out, you can click here.
No More Organization: They are actually a partner of Joyful Heart’s and they have many amazing opportunities to volunteer and connect with other folks who want to end domestic and sexual violence across the globe! Check them out here, and a link to specifically helpful tools for Chicago and Ohio.
Consent: As I listed above, the statistics for sexual violence in our culture and community are unbelievably high. One of the staggering bits of information I read this week from the No More organization is as follows “With recent research from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) showing that 1 in 3 men don’t believe that intercourse resulting from coercion and pressure is sexual assault , we see that one solution is clearing up fundamental misunderstandings about consent”. As ever, simply supporting education that shares on consent and toxic masculinity can be huge with regard to changing our community.
Consent Quiz: This short quiz to tell where you land on consent is delightful, even if you think you are pretty solid on the topic of consent, I recommend it! Click here to take Joyful Heart’s Consent Quiz!
Domestic Violence is Not Just Towards Women: I think it’s important to note that sexual violence and domestic abuse does not just happen in heterosexual couples. I listened to another interview this past week where Russell Brand interviewed Karamo Brown from the popular T.V show Queer Eye. Karamo discusses his history with domestic abuse, and the entire interview is helpful and I love how they talk about toxic masculinity, domestic abuse, and mental health in general. But if you are just interested in his explanation of why he has struggled with domestic violence in his own life with other men go to 26:25 of the interview- it’s only a few minutes and I find him very concise and powerful on the topic.
Rape Kits: How You Can Help: In the interview Debbie Millman mentions the fact that she was working with Joyful Heart to draw attention to the fact that tens of thousands of rape kits go untested in the United States, which means that serial rapists are left on the street to attack again. The interview with Debbie was conducted in 2017, and since then we have made progress, but we still have a long way to go. For more on why this is important and to help you understand the enormity of it, you can check out the documentary I AM EVIDENCE, created by HBO with Joyful Heart as their social action campaign manager. You can check out the trailer here. And if you are moved to take action, here is a link to the bills in place to help change this situation and make sure it never happens again. You can click here to let your local representatives know you support these bills.
The Breathe Network: The Breathe Network connects survivors of sexual violence with trauma-informed, sliding-scale, holistic healing arts practitioners. They provide training and education for healing arts practitioners in understanding the impacts of sexual violence and how to provide trauma-informed care within their practice. Please check them out here.
Update On My Show:
Fundraising: I had a few meetings this past week on fundraising! We still have a lot of work to do, but I am hopeful with the plans that are being set in motion. In the mean time, if you have a dollar, or a friend who has a dollar, ten dollars, or a hundred dollars – the project is free for audiences and therefore is completely independently funded – any support is appreciated! If you have already donated, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, you have made it possible to get this far. And if you are not in a place to give a dollar right now, thank you for being here and being a part of breaking the stigma on mental health. Much love!If you would like to donate to my show, share this project with a friend, or find out more about it please check out my gofundme here.
Please check out the One Woman Hamlet Website: www.onewomanhamlet.com
AND! my update Video.
Many, Many thanks: Margo Siwak and Joe Siwak for the design of the logo, and to Jillian Best and Bill Best for the Website creation and Design! I feel very blessed to have such beautiful humans in my life.Thank You: Thank you VERY much to all who have donated time and funds thus far, making this project possible.
Ways to Support: If you would like to donate to my show, share this project with a friend, or find out more about it please check out my gofundme here: https://www.gofundme.com/one-woman-hamlet
Thank You: Thank you VERY much to all who have donated thus far, making this project possible.