Taking Action After Steubenville

This week many of us have followed coverage of the Steubenville verdict, which found two teenage boys guilty of the rape of a 16-year-old girl. The responses from the media and public alike have invoked rape myths and rape culture once again, and we are glad to see the anti-sexual-violence movement responding. We wanted to link to some of the best responses that we’ve read recently and offer links to resources for learning more and creating change in your own community. We would also love to hear from you—what are the most powerful or motivating responses you’ve seen or read this week?

1. Jaclyn Friedman’s column on Steubenville discusses Toxic Masculinity and how our culture is reinforcing to young men that masculinity is superior, and how that leads to violence. “If we want to end the pandemic of rape, it’s going to require an entire global movement of men who are willing to do the hard work required to unpack and interrogate the ideas of masculinity they were raised with, and to create and model new masculinities that don’t enable misogyny. Masculinities built not on power over women, but on power with women.” Read the full article here.

2. CNN’s reaction to the Steubenville verdict was wildly off target--sympathizing with the defendants. “CNN decided to paint the tears of the convicted Steubenville rapists in a sympathetic light and say how their lives were ruined.” There was no mention of the young woman who survived the attack during these remarks. Sign this petition on Change.org to ask CNN to apologize for its coverage.

3. In the larger context of sexual exploitation, the media often misrepresents topics like prostitution, trafficking, and violence against women. CAASE’s Responding to the Media toolkit offers ways to respond to inaccurate editorials, reports, and TV segments that you might encounter.

4. Responses to rape are often not victim-centered, and all of us could stand to learn more about responding when someone discloses a sexual assault.  If you would like to learn more about constructive ways to help a survivor of sexual assault or rape, these tips from Rape Victim Advocates offer some best practices.

5. Learn about CAASE’s legal services for survivors of sexual assault. Our attorneys offer free legal counsel to survivors of both sexual assault and the sex trade, helping them to navigate the criminal justice system and representing them in civil court to seek justice against their perpetrators. Learn more here. 

Written by CAASE's Prevention Intern, Roxy Kozyckyj, and Kristin Claes Mathews 

Felony Prostitution Doesn't Make Sense Anywhere in Illinois: Take Action!

Yesterday, the Cook County Board heard a resolution to place a moratorium on felony sentencing for prostitution in the county, in response to overcrowding in Cook County jail. They also urged support of Senate Bill 1872, our End Demand Illinois legislation to eliminate the felony sentence statewide. Senate Bill 1872 passed unanimously in the Illinois Senate Criminal Law committee last week and will soon be called on the Senate floor.

Felony sentencing for prostitution doesn’t make anywhere else in Illinois, and Senate Bill 1872 eliminates it statewide.

“We appreciate that Cook County officials don’t want to see people charged with felonies for prostitution,” said Lynne Johnson, policy and advocacy director for the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation. “We urge lawmakers and the public to support Senate Bill 1872 to eliminate the felony upgrade for prostitution throughout Illinois. This is not just a Cook County issue, as it affects people in counties throughout our state.”

You can take action TODAY. Call your Illinois State Senator. You could say "I'm calling to ask the senator to support Senate Bill 1872 to eliminate the felony upgrade for prostitution in Illinois."

• Contact information for Illinois senators is here.
• Not sure who your State Senator is? Use this search and find your State Senator.

Want to know more?

• Felony prostitution unfairly targets women for harsher punishments. The “solicitation” offense for customers does not have a felony upgrade for subsequent offenses and is rarely enforced. In 2011, when law enforcement charged under the state criminal code, there were 1,875 arrests for prostitution and 95 arrests for solicitation. Since 2010, 370 women have been admitted to IDOC for felony prostitution. Fewer than 10 people in Illinois have ever been convicted of the felony offense of “patronizing a prostitute” since its passage in 2010.
• Felony prostitution sentencing is rare in the United States.  Only seven other states have a felony prostitution sentencing option for subsequent offenses. (Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Texas)
• Felony prostitution is an expensive waste of diminishing local and state public safety resources. Illinois’ Department of Corrections reported 127 felony prostitution admissions for 2012, costing the state $2,011,680. Pretrial detention for those facing felony prostitution charges costs Cook County Department of Corrections between $5.3 to 9.5 million annually.

End Demand Illinois envisions a statewide response to prostitution that includes community-based, specialized services for survivors. To learn more about this legislation, visit the End Demand Illinois website.

Loyola Sexual Assault Case: Start by Believing

This week, we’ve learned more about the sexual assault case involving Loyola University students. Two women have come forward to report that an acquaintance, Colin Kennedy, had sexually assaulted them, in two separate incidents, in their dorm rooms.

First of all, it’s incredibly brave of them to come forward, and we as a community should start by believing them. It’s very difficult for most people to report sexual assault, which is why most sexual assaults go unreported. Many fear that they won’t be believed, or that what happened was somehow their fault. Sexual assault is never the victim’s fault. Never.

Sadly, these common fears were realized as Kennedy’s defense attorneys accused the women of lying, citing their delay in reporting and their continued interaction with Kennedy after the assaults. What they say they experienced is all too common—being sexually assaulted by someone whom they knew and trusted. Now is the time to stand with these women as they fight for justice.

We applaud the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for charging Kennedy with criminal sexual assault. By working to hold him accountable, the prosecutor’s office is sending a message that the victims’ testimony is credible and important to the case.

Not reporting a sexual assault right away is very common. It’s very normal after being assaulted by an acquaintance to continue to interact with them and, as one of the young women said, “pretend that things were OK, even though they were not.” The victims’ testimony underlines their own disbelief that a friend had done this to them. From the Chicago Tribune:

"I honestly did not know what to think. I was extremely frightened and flustered," the 19-year-old testified in a calm voice. "I started cleaning (the kitchen) in a panic. I was pacing back and forth."

You can take action to support survivors of sexual assault.

Learn more about the issue: Check out the Start by Believing campaign from End Violence Against Women International. This rich multimedia campaign is a great place to start.    

Familiarize yourself with local resources: Chicago and Illinois have strong communities who are working to end sexual violence.

Learn about CAASE’s free legal services for survivors of sexual assault.

Connect with our allies, including Rape Victim Advocates.

Learn the Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline number or keep it posted where you can find it: 888-293-2080

Outside of Chicago? Use the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s map to find your local rape crisis center.

Share this post: Tell your network to start by believing survivors of sexual assault. 

Photo from WeNews on Flickr. 

 

Taking on an Offensive Chicago Billboard

This week, a billboard went up in downtown Chicago asserting that the “best kind of job is a blow job.” The ad is from an online company called Arrangement Finders, and the marketing director of the company spoke with RedEye about their approach:

Women using the site are typically seeking low-pressure relationships, and they tend to be in their 30s, sometimes with children ... Two other factors unique to Chicago pushed the company to launch the billboards here: a struggling job market and a 3-to-1 ratio of women to men on the site, the highest in the country.

What we gleaned from this interview is that the company is targeting women who are struggling to find a job and support their children. The billboard makes light of this by suggesting that ideal work for women is a performing oral sex. This is offensive on so many levels, and yet the owner asserts that this is something he thought would “get a chuckle and also start some buzz.”

We don’t think that it’s anything to laugh about when people are exploiting women who are struggling to find employment. Because that’s the target audience—women who are trying to make ends meet. Men who are signing up for this site should know that they’re not providing a job; they’re potentially exploiting women who lack other options.

We believe that this is a human rights issue. Women should not be forced to exchange sex for money in order to avoid poverty, homelessness or hunger. Young men should not need to see messages prominently displayed in our city that embolden them to buy sex.

What can you do? Reach out to Seeking Arrangements and ask them to take down the ad.

http://arrangementfinders.com/contact_us (Warning: there’s explicit content on this site’s home page)

Or, reach out to the billboard company that is providing space for the ad, Urban Core, and ask them to remove it.http://www.urbancoreoutdoor.com/

Sex Trafficking Charges in Schiller Park

Another local case of sex trafficking in Chicagoland has made the news. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office announced charges this weekend against three traffickers who were controlling women in the sex trade. Law enforcement had uncovered the trafficking in a home in Schiller Park.

“Keith Williams was the chief operating officer of a sex trafficking house of horrors, providing the sexual services and drug-addicted women to countless numbers of paying customers and collecting all of the significant cash profits for himself and his associates.”

This case is a step forward in Cook County’s work to address human trafficking and to recognize that prostitution and trafficking often overlap. CAASE applauds law enforcement for taking the time to investigate and bring traffickers to justice. All too often, people in prostitution are arrested and re-arrested without meaningful intervention. In this case, the women in the house were identified as crime victims and law enforcement went after the traffickers.

CAASE endorses a law enforcement model that holds pimps, johns, and traffickers accountable while creating a supportive network of services for survivors of the sex trade. Read more about our proposal for these services here.

Want to learn more? Sign up for our Action Alerts.

Take on Super Bowl Sexism via Twitter

As America gears up for the Super Bowl this weekend, once again there will be discussions about which Super Bowl commercial generated most sales and which one was the sexiest. These ratings and entertainment will once again become the talk of millions of living rooms where people from both sexes, young and old, who will be watching the game together.

According to Miss Representation, almost half of the Super Bowl audience is women, and they exercise more purchasing power than their male counterparts. Some of the most expensive and much-awaited ads will once again reinforce sexual objectification of the female body. Many women (and men!) continue to feel let down by the advertisers that repeatedly perpetuate sexual stereotypes, with false assumptions about their audience. Viewers will have a choice—do we shrug and look away, or take action?

Miss Representation is inviting you to tweet about it. This Sunday, as you are watching the big game, look for disparity in the representation of women and men. Point out sexism as it happens and express your disapproval via Twitter. Use the hashtag #NotBuyingIt with #SuperBowl to call out the offensive and sexist ads in real-time.

Many women enjoy watching football, and it’s time to let the NFL know that we’re watching closely. There must be a better way to make football great for all, instead of glorifying the power of male players while merely objectifying women.

What do you think—will you watch the Super Bowl? (Or maybe just the ads?) We’ll be tweeting along with you on Sunday!

This post was written by Shobhana Johri Verma, a CAASE volunteer. 

Chicago Man Charged with Sex Trafficking of Minors

Photo from Vectorportal.com

A Chicago man pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of four female victims, two of whom are minors. Carl Brandon Smith now faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison after pleading guilty to transporting a minor from Wisconsin to Illinois for prostitution. This case is another sign of progress as law enforcement is identifying and prosecuting traffickers, as well as further evidence that traffickers bring victims to Chicago to meet the high demand for paid sex. 

Last year, we saw Alex Campbell sentenced to life in prison for trafficking women in a fake massage establishment in Mt. Prospect, a suburb of Chicago.  These cases prove that sexual slavery is happening internationally, nationally, as well as locally.  It is happening all around the United States, in our own cities. These victims subjugated in the commercial sex industry, being manipulated and exploited for little or no money, are not only being brought into the United States from other countries. Every single day, pimps like Smith are recruiting abused and vulnerable girls around the country sometimes by posing as their boyfriend (Smith admits to have done that), caretaker, or rescuer from an abusive or dysfunctional home only to later subject them to a life of sexual slavery and violence.

According to Trafficking in Persons Report 2011, thousands of underage victims in the United States are often “runaways, troubled, and homeless youth” who are lured, coerced through physical and sexual violence into the sex trade through pimps who traffic them across state borders. People who buy sex from these young people are the main source of this problem, and yet they are rarely held accountable for the harm they cause. 

These young women are regularly physically and sexually abused by their pimps / traffickers as well as customers as evident from Smith's statement who admits to have inflicted physical violence on his victims especially when one of them gave him “attitude” or when she indicated that she no longer wanted to work as a prostitute. On one occasion, Smith beat Victim A so severely that her eye swelled shut. The experiences of Campbell's and Smith's trafficking victims bring into light the nature of violence and coercion that persists in sex trade, and this motivates us to continue to encourage law enforcement to steer their resources toward pimps, johns, and traffickers.
It is important that we recognize the painful and degenerating experiences of these victims and provide them with much needed support and counseling instead of incarcerating them through the law enforcement authorities.

If you want to take action to stop sexual exploitation, sign up for our action alerts.

This post was written by CAASE volunteer Shobhana Johri Verma.