Students Stopping Rape

Next Meeting: May 9

SSR will be meeting tomorrow to discuss plans for the rest of the quarter and the current campaign, with Amnesty International, to pass CEDAW, an international women’s bill of rights that the US government has yet to ratify. For more information about the campaign and the petition, go to: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Amnesty International: Ratify the Treaty for the Rights of Women.

This week and next, SSR members will be tabling in the Arbor to ask students to sign and participate in the petition, a photo campaign, to give faces to the voices calling for the United State’s government to ratify this monumentally important treaty.

Next Meeting: April 25

The next meeting will be Wednesday, April 25! New members welcome! We will be discussing projects and activities for the rest of the Spring quarter.

Next Meeting: April 18th

Just wanted to remind you about meeting this Wednesday! It will start at five and will go to 6ish. We will be doing a bit of a reflection and Sharon will be talking to us about the campaign, about activist burnout, etc. Afterwards, I encourage all of you to go to TBTN’s “How to help a friend” workshop at the Women’s Center.

See you all on Wednesday!
Katie

PS. here is the calendar of events for all of TBTN

FULL CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

MONDAY, APRIL 16
11:00-1:00 Opening Rally- Building 434 lawn
5:00 Workshop: Healthy sexual relationships and communication -San Miguel Formal Lounge
6:30 Pizza and movie night- Multi Cultural Center -Boys Don’t Cry at 7:00

TUESDAY, APRIL 17
10:30-3:30 Safe Spaces part 1- Women’s Center
10:30-12:00 Queer survivors- facilitated by Carol Mosely
12:15-1:45 Male survivors- facilitated by Gary White
2:00-3:30 Women of color survivors facilitated by Jeanne Stanford and Eriko Kobayashi
5:30 Self defense workshop- Women’s Center
7:00 Panel discussion: Sexual Assault Resources and Responses- 3rd floor forum of Student Resource Building

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18
10:30-3:30 Safe Spaces part 2- Women’s Center
10:30-12:00 White women survivors- facilitated by Carol Mosely
12:15-1:45 Partners of survivors- facilitated by Rhett Walker
2:00-3:30 Transgender survivors facilitated by Kegan Allee
6:00 Workshop: How to help a friend who has been sexually assaulted-Women’s Center
7:00 Self defense workshop- Women’s Center

THURSDAY, APRIL 19
5:00 Rally!!!- Anis’q’Oyo Park in Isla Vista
-Student performers, bands, keynote
-March
-Open mic for testimonials

FRIDAY, APRIL 20
12:30-3:00 Day of Reflection- Women’s Center

Next Meeting: April 5

After spring break, SSR will meet for the first week of Spring quarter to reunite and get ready for the big awareness and visual campaign, It Affects Me, from April 9 to April 13!

What is IT AFFECTS ME? It Affects Me (IAM) is a campaign that Students Stopping Rape holds during a week of April, National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, to educate, inform, and enlighten the UCSB and surrounding areas about sexual violence, sexual harassment, and rape in our community.

Why do you hold the It Affects Me campaign? Rape and sexual assault is a problem intertwined with the system of rape culture present in our society today.

To end rape means to look within ourselves as individuals and live consciously - which means being aware of the language that we use, the prejudices we hold, and the beliefs that the media and popular culture instill in us.

The objectification of women, standards of masculinity, stereotypes of race and gender, and sexist language all make it harder for us to believe women when they have been raped and to blame the rapist rather than the survivor. To end rape does not involve telling people to just not rape, it means educating our peers about rape culture, the way language, beliefs, and behaviors allow it to happen, and informing them on how to be more supportive of everyone, women AND men.

One in four women in college will experience a rape or an attempted rape experience. Chances are, someone you know has been affected by rape and you may not realize it. Being more sensitive is the first step to alleviating the epidemic of rape in our community.

How can I participate in It Affects Me? We also pass out royal blue t-shirts emblazoned with “IT AFFECTS ME” on them. Since this is a visibility campaign, we pass out free t-shirts to the UCSB community with information about sexual violence and assault so that when asked, “What affects you?” they can start a dialogue and discuss these issues. One of our goals is to get all people in our community talking about this problem.

IAM involves educational, informative, and enjoyable events all week long! Check out the calendar (TBA) and come to as many as you want! We also welcome new members and are looking for interns for next year, so come to a meeting. We meet Wednesdays at 5pm.

Upcoming Event: Jeff Bucholtz Performance

Thursday, March 8, 7 pm First floor forum of the Student Resource Building FREE ************************

Fogged In: Exploring the Connections between Oppression and Sexual Violence

Why does sexual violence happen? How are racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and classism linked to sexual violence?

This educational performance answers such questions by combining lecture, acting, and humor to address the intimate relationships that exist between oppression, power, privilege and sexual violence.

Sexual violence will continue to flourish until every person accepts their responsibility to challenge all forms of hatred, intolerance, and oppression. ************************

Jeff Bucholtz is a UCSB grad who went on to get his master’s in Women’s Studies at San Diego State . While Jeff was at UCSB he was a coordinator of Men Against Rape, Students Stopping Rape and the Multicultural Outreach Program. He also lent his dramatic expertise to WETT for a performance of the Vagina Monologues, was an Orientation staff member, and worked at the UCSB Women’s Center as the Male Violence Prevention Specialist. During the last seven years Jeff has made over 100 presentations on sexual violence prevention.

Next Meeting: March 5

This week we will be breaking out into It Affects Me committees to continue planning the week-long campaign the second week of the Spring quarter. Come for some food, music, planning, and all-around good times!