02/14/2017
Together We Triumph! 💙
As Vice President Joe Biden prepares to leave office this week, a personal letter from “A grateful citizen” reminds us what his decades of advocacy work on behalf of survivors of s*xual assault and violence has meant to so many people. "When I was just a 20-year-old who couldn't muster the confidence to a tell a soul what had happened, you stood behind a podium at the White House and loudly declared what I could not for the whole world to hear. You said that ‘no means no whenever it is stated,’ and you said it with such a fierceness that I felt a little piece of my shame get knocked off my shoulders." This heartfelt letter from a young survivor is a touching expression of gratitude to the Vice President. "You used your signature grit and unwavering dedication to shine a light on a cause few were willing to discuss," she writes, "and history will remember you for it — I know I will."
Over the past 25 years, Biden has been on a mission to combat s*xual assault and domestic violence. He considers one of the greatest accomplishments of his 46 years in public office the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which he drafted with the support of many advocacy groups in 1994. The bill created a network of services for survivors of violence, instituted stricter penalties for s*x offenders, and improved the law enforcement response to violence against women. After entering the VP’s office in 2008, he appointed the first White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, established the first White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, and launched the "It's On Us" campaign to engage students on the issue. “Rape culture happens whenever women are reduced to s*xual objects instead being treated with the inherent rights and dignity that belong to all humans,” he said in a recent Refinery29 interview. “And because this culture is pervasive in our society, we all have a responsibility to step up to change it.”
Having such a visible advocate in Washington has made a tremendous difference for many survivors. As the letter's anonymous author wrote: “You, the vice president of the United States, defended me without even knowing me. Without so much as a single question about my character, you believed me. And without having to ask, you volunteered yourself as my loyal ally. In my eyes and the eyes of countless other women who have been in my shoes, these gestures meant the world... Having your steadfast support in my corner gave me the confidence to confide in just one friend, a simple act that was enough to move me forward when I feared I might feel stuck in the past forever.”
Like many people, Biden has expressed concern about the incoming administration's willingness to continue to address s*xual violence. "I’m working very hard with this incoming administration to convince them that this is, in a sense, the civil rights issue of our time," he said earlier this month. "It’s the human rights issue of our time." However, at the White House’s recent It’s On Us Summit, Biden stressed the importance of individuals and organizations continuing this critical work. "I’ve never felt this momentum before,” he asserted. “I pray they will continue to make it a priority, as Barack and I have. But whether they do or not, we can do so much of this as private citizens.” And, Biden declared that his dedication to this cause will not end with his term as VP: “I’m no longer going to be vice president, but I’m going to be associated with several major universities and have a significant staff. I’m going to set up a foundation, to devote the rest of my life to dealing with violence against women.”
A Mighty Girl thanks Joe Biden for his many decades of work on behalf of women!
To read the tribute to Biden from “A grateful citizen” on PopSugar at http://bit.ly/2k3WIOW -- or read his new interview about r**e culture and the part we all play in ending it on Refinery29 at http://r29.co/2jnjw8R
To start teaching children -- girls and boys alike -- from a young age about the need to respect others and their personal boundaries, we recommend "Your Body Belongs To You” for ages 3 to 5 (http://www.amightygirl.com/your-body-belongs-to-you), "No Means No!: Teaching Children about Personal Boundaries, Respect and Consent" for ages 3 to 6 (http://www.amightygirl.com/no-means-no), and "My Body! What I Say Goes!" for ages 3 to 6 (http://www.amightygirl.com/my-body)
For older children, issues of body autonomy, boundaries, and consent are discussed in more comprehensive books that also address topics such as puberty, s*x education, and health, including "It's So Amazing!" for ages 6 to 9 (http://www.amightygirl.com/it-s-so-amazing) and the more detailed "It's Perfectly Normal" for ages 10 and up (http://www.amightygirl.com/it-s-perfectly)
The powerful documentary “The Hunting Ground” addresses the r**e epidemic on college campuses -- to learn more about this film, recommended for ages 15 and up, visit http://www.amightygirl.com/the-hunting-ground -- or stream it online at http://amzn.to/1Pigpr6.
If you know a teen girl struggling after s*xual abuse or trauma, “The Sexual Trauma Workbook for Teen Girls: A Guide to Recovery from Sexual Assault and Abuse” may help; to learn more about this new release, for ages 13 and up, visit http://www.amightygirl.com/s*xual-trauma-workbook-girls
And, for books about healthy relationships for tweens and teens -- as well as titles on recognizing and ending unhealthy ones -- check out our blog post, "20 Mighty Girl Books for Tweens & Teens About Healthy Relationships," at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11338
