NSVRC Blogs

All too often, white Americans mythologize our history to the point where we erase the horrors perpetrated by the leaders of our past. On Thanksgiving, we commonly celebrate the story of Native Americans and Pilgrims coming together while ignoring the centuries of bloodshed and trauma colonizers enacted upon the original inhabitants of this country.  Oppression is a root cause of sexual violence and stems from the violent past committed in the name of white supremacy. Rooted in history, institutional oppression is very much part of the nation today. Native women continue to

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just released a new report, The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 Report on Intimate Partner Violence. This report  highlights the most recent findings from the the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Surivey (NISVS) specifically around experiences of intimate partner violence.  NISVS was launched in 2010 as an ongoing survey of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence against adult women and men in the United States (at this point, CDC does not collect data about

The history of indigenous women in this country has been undeniably stained by centuries of brutality at the hands of their oppressors. For too long, laws and policies in the United States have denied Indigenous women the basic human rights of bodily autonomy, self-advocacy, and justice -- all of which they are entitled to as a basic human right. The ripple effects of this long-standing abuse, mainstream ambivalence toward the problem, and lack of accountability for these crimes can still be felt today. In the last couple of years, however, the United States’s Justice and Interior

Harrisburg, PA — SAAM 2023 planning is well underway, and we are excited to announce our upcoming theme in the coming weeks. As we prepare, we also recognize the significance of violence prevention campaigns taking place in the now. Each year, in October, advocates, survivors and supporters recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). This fall, NSVRC is joining the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) in their national combined campaign for Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) and GiveForDV.

The first American school to teach American Sign Language (ASL) was the Hartford-based Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons in 1817 (renamed the American School for the Deaf). While the focus on educating persons with disabilities was groundbreaking at the time, it is clear from the institution’s name alone that there was an implicit, audist prejudice in its perception and approach to its students. Audism, the preferential treatment and bias towards hearing people over Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (HoH) people, has informed how the hearing population has

In the library world, we believe in the right to read and the freedom for anyone to choose what they want to read, regardless of the content. In recognition of these beliefs, the Respect Together Libraries stand together with other libraries all over the country to support Banned Books Week. This year’s time of recognition runs from September 18-24 2022, with the continued theme from last year of, “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” The American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom offers a variety of ways you can get involved to support your local library and ideas to

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    Harrisburg, PA — The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) are pleased to honor Kim Alaburda with the 2022 Gail-Burns Smith Award. Alaburda, who is the Executive Director of the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs (NMCSAP), will receive the award during the 2022 National Sexual Assault Conference® held online on August 17.  Presented jointly by ATSA and NSVRC, the award is named in honor of Gail Burns-Smith,  one of the first advocates to recognize and speak publicly

We are continuing to explore lessons learned by participants from our effective data visualization training series we conducted with Dr. Stephanie Evergreen. I interviewed a few training participants to hear about how their data storytelling has shifted and the larger impacts they’ve experienced. I had the opportunity to connect with Erin Chambers, Visual Communications Designer from the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence (MOCADSV) to learn how data storytelling is evolving for state coalition staff.   NSVRC: What brought you to the data visualization workshops?

When the pandemic hit and we weren’t able to meet in person like we usually do with our Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) partners, we realized we needed a new plan.  Part of the new plan included a fantastic partnership with Dr. Stephanie Evergreen to conduct a series of virtual trainings on effective data visualization. These trainings have forever changed the way we tell our prevention stories. To help us share some of the key lessons we learned, I gathered stories from a few training participants to share how their data storytelling has shifted and the larger impacts they’ve

June 19, 1865 is a day that is held in high regards for this country, but more importantly for Black people who have come before, those in today’s society, and those who will come in the future. Respect Together is proud to recognize Juneteenth with the knowledge that racism and anti-Black racism is a root cause of sexual violence. I encourage everyone to check out the blog Respect Together is proud to honor Juneteenth to learn more. Although Juneteenth is now a federal holiday, for the Black community, it represents something far more important. I wanted to share some fabulous resources