We live in the United States of America in 2008 – when our laws and our rhetoric are moving towards civil rights for all. That movement is not yet complete, and we know that the right to live free of rape and sexual assault is still not consistently embraced by our culture or our laws. We believe that we must be a people who reject rape in any form and who value sexual autonomy and freedom from fear of sexual violence in every circumstance. Sexual autonomy is the recognition that sexual intimacy must always be preceded by affirmative, freely given permission of all parties. We are committed to justice for every person.
To protect all people adequately, we must revolutionize how we understand and value sexual autonomy. Deciding whether and with whom one shares physical intimacy is a primary right. Coercing sex acts from a person violates the fundamental human need and the right to bodily integrity. Violations of free choice in the realm of sexual intimacy carry grave and often lifelong consequences for victims, as well as for families and communities.
Our intention is to do nothing less than change both the laws and the culture. We are writers, lawyers, advocates, educators, and activists. We are mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers. On this day, we declare that we will work to change the hearts and minds of the people, and the laws of the United States, so that we can live in a world in which the following basic truths are recognized:
- The freedom to decide whether, when, where, how, and with whom to have sexual intimacy is a civil right that should be upheld in our nation’s laws and culture.
- Violations of sexual autonomy – by force, threat of force, fraud, intoxication, exploitation, or any type of coercion – should be condemned by both public opinion and our laws.
- Full responsibility for the violation is that of the rapist, not the victim.
- Our laws exist to help make whole victims of rape and sexual assault. We must ensure victims’ rights in education, employment, housing, immigration, medical, privacy and other arenas of their lives.
We, the undersigned, are committed to a three-fold strategy:
- We will engage new allies to reach out to victims and advocates from every community to ensure that our work is inclusive, and that its efforts reach all victims of sexual violence.
- In a world in which the media are ever-changing, we will identify new ways and places to talk about rape and sexual violence.
- We will work to enforce current laws, to pass new laws, and to implement all these laws, so that sexual autonomy and freedom from fear is recognized as a civil right for all.
Signed:
Founding Signers
- Joanne Archambault
- Executive Director, End Violence Against Women International
- Houston Baker, Ph.D.
- Distinguished University Professor, Professor of English, Vanderbilt University
- Helen Benedict
- Professor of Journalism, Columbia University. Author.
- Sarah Buel
- Clinical Professor, University of Texas School of Law. Co-Director, Domestic Violence Clinic.
- Steve Bush
- Treasurer and Director, End Violence Against Women International
- Sarah Deer
- Visiting Professor, William Mitchell College of Law. Citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
- Karen D. Carroll, SANE-A
- Associate Director, Bronx SART
- Rachel Durchslag
- Founder and Director, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation
- Susan Estrich
- Robert Kingsley Professor of Law and Political Science, USC Gould School of Law. Author.
- Katie Feifer
- Research Director, The Voices and Faces Project
- Rev. Marie Fortune
- Founder and Senior Analyst, FaithTrust Institute. Author.
- Jaclyn Friedman
- Program Director, Center for New Words. Writer, performer, activist.
- Samir Goswami
- Director of Policy and Outreach, Justice Project Against Sexual Harm
- Monika Johnson Hostler
- Executive Director, North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault
- Katie Hnida
- Colorado Cobras football team. Author.
- Lynne Johnson
- Director of Advocacy, Chicago Foundation for Women
- TK Logan, Ph.D.
- Professor, Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky. Author.
- National Director of Training and Technical Assistance, Victim Rights Law Center
- Diane Moyer
- Legal Director, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape
- Georgia Murray
- Board of Directors, Victim Rights Law Center
- Leslye Orloff
- Director, Immigrant Women Program, Legal Momentum
- Charlotte Pierce-Baker, Ph.D.
- Professor of Women's and Gender Studies and English, Vanderbilt University. Author.
- Mónica Ramirez
- Founder of Esperanza, The Immigrant Women's Legal Initiative, Southern Poverty Law Center
- Jody Raphael
- Senior Research Fellow, Family Law Center at the DePaul College of Law. Author.
- Anne Ream
- Founder, The Voices and Faces Project. Writer.
- Ilene Seidman
- Clinical Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School. Director of Family Advocacy Clinic.
- Gail Burns Smith
- Former Executive Director, Connecticut Sexual Assault Services. Co-founder, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
- R. Clifton Spargo, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor of English, Marquette University. Author, literary critic.
- Gail Stern
- Director of Consulting, Education and Training, Catharsis Productions. Co-author and co-producer of "Sex Signals."
- Susan Vickers
- Founder and former Executive Director, Victim Rights Law Center
- Lydia Watts
- Executive Director, Victim Rights Law Center
Leadership Signers
-
Karen Baker
- Director, Sexual Violence Resource Center
- Tina Chanter, Ph.D
- Professor of Philosophy, DePaul University
- Harriet Chessman
- Author, feminist scholar
- Emilee I. Coulter-Thompson, MSW
- Barbara Engel
- Torrie Flink
- Executive Director, Zacharias Sexual Abuse Center
- Stephen Glaude
- Executive Director, Men Can Stop Rape
- Kellie Greene
- Founder/Director, Speaking Out About Rape, Inc. (SOAR)
- Trustee, William H. Donner Foundation
- Executive Director, Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force, state of Oregon
- Kaethe Morris Hoffer
- Justice Project Against Sexual Harm. CAASE
- Serene Jones
- President, Union Theological Seminary
- Sharmili Majmudar
- Executive Director, Rape Victim Advocates
- Attorney General of the State of Oregon
- Angela Rose
- Founder and Executive Director, PAVE - Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment
- Delilah Rumburg
- Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape/National Sexual Violence Resource Center
- Robin R. Runge, Esq.
- Director, American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence