We know that ending institutionalized and systemic racism is vital to ending sexual violence. The mainstream movement to end sexual violence has historically been tied to working in systems, including the criminal justice system.
We know that a lot of people in our movement and beyond are thinking, reading, and taking action to end the racist violence of those systems, including Black women and other advocates who have been doing this work for years and even decades.
We also know that advocates may be encountering or taking this work seriously for the first time. Our team has been sharing resources internally and externally during this time and wanted to share some of the tools we've been using to help gain a greater understanding of the links between sexual violence, racism, and justice for survivors. Learning about these connections can help us better serve survivors especially Black survivors and survivors of color, and can inform the way our movement prevents violence from happening in the first place.
We know that this is by no means an exhaustive list. We want to add to this resource list.
What other resources are you and your teams reading? What have you found helpful on the connections between racism, sexual violence, and working with the criminal justice system? How are you turning this time of reading into action? You can contribute to this resource list by emailing us at resources@nsvrc.org or by contacting us through our website.
Racism and Sexual Violence:
- Addressing Systemic Racism in the Anti-Violence Movement (Texas Association Against Sexual Assault)
- Anti-Racism as Violence Prevention (Video series by Futures Without Violence)
- Anti-Racism is fundamental to sexual assault services (Recorded webinar by Sexual Assault Demonstration Initiative)
- Expanding Our Frame: Deepening Our Demands for Safety and Healing for Black Survivors of Sexual Violence (Andrea J. Ritchie)
- Exploring Intersections: A Primer on Racial Violence (Free eLearning course by Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs)
- Harriet Jacobs on Rape and Slavery (Trigger Warning - The American Yawp Reader)
- How can advocates better understand Transformative Justice and its connection to gender-based violence intervention and prevention work? (Laura Chow Reeve, Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance, via VAWnet)
- Racism & Sexual Violence: What’s the Connection? (Technical Assistance Bulletin by Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape)
- 'Who will protect you from rape without police?' Here's my answer to that question (The Guardian)
Policing and Racism:
- #SayHerName Campaign (African American Policy Forum)
- Alternatives to Police Poster Series (Metro Atlanta DSA)
- Angela Davis Speaks On Racism And Police Militarization At Annual MLK Jr. Convocation (Huffington Post)
- George Floyd’s Death reflects the racist roots of American Policing (The Conversation)
- How to reform American police, according to experts (Vox)
- Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind (NYT Magazine)
- Militarization and Police Violence: The Case of the 1033 Program (Research and Politics April-June 2017)
- Police Abolition: A Curated Collection of Links (The Marshall Project)
- Protests against police have broken out across the country. Here’s how policing has evolved in the US since its beginning in the 1600s (Insider)
- Race and the Police (National Police Foundation)
- Stop Law Enforcement Violence Against Women of Color & Trans People of Color toolkit (INCITE!)
- The fury in US cities is rooted in a long history of racist policing, violence and inequality (The Conversation)
- The Violent State: Black Women’s Invisible Struggle Against Violence Violence (Michelle S. Jacobs)
- Violence in Minneapolis is rooted in the history of racist policing in America (Washington Post)
- What Breonna Taylor’s killing says about police treatment of black women (PBS)
- Why is this happening? (100-year-hoodie)
Organizations and Campaigns:
- #8ToAbolition
- American Public Health Association policy statement: Addressing Law Enforcement Violence as a Public Health Issue
- Black Futures Lab
- Campaign Zero
- Center for Policing Equity
- The Movement for Black Lives
- NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
- Survived + Punished
Podcasts and Online Learning:
- Black Trans Lives Matter (Nancy podcast)
- Collective Healing—Healing By Choice (Irresistible podcast)
- Free Racialized Trauma e-course (Cultural Somatics Institute)
- Good Ancestor (Layla F. Saad’s podcast)
- Re-Becoming Human: (An online educational platform that supports you in addressing everyday oppression in a humanizing way - at the personal, relationship, and community level)
- Ruth Wilson Gilmore Makes the Case for Abolition (Intercepted podcast)
- Sustaining Ourselves When Confronting Violence (Irresistible podcast)
- Uprooting Racism with Paul Kivel and Loretta J. Ross (PA Centered podcast)
Blogs, Curricula, and Guides:
- Healing Justice Framework (Fireweed Collective)
- Healing Justice Practice Spaces: A How-To Guide (Healing by Choice)
- Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color online study guide
- Momentum: A Medium blog about the fight against anti-Black racism (Medium)
- Resources for Talking about Race, Racism and Racialized Violence with Kids (Center for Racial Justice in Education)
- Teaching about Race, Racism and Police Violence (Teaching Tolerance)
- These books can help you explain racism and protest to your kids (Jessica Grose, The New York Times)