Resilience News
Resilience office closure Wednesday, 1/30/19
Please note that all Resilience offices will be closed on Wednesday, January 30th due to weather. If you need to speak with someone immediately, please call the Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline at 1-888-293-2080. Thank you for your understanding.
OMMB Featured in The Alternative
In an article on The Alternative, OurMusicMyBody was featured for its work to promote consent in the music scene. OMMB is a collaborative campaign led by Resilience and Between Friends.
Resilience Mentioned in Survivors Project on NBC 5
In an article posted on NBC 5 on April 2, 2018, Resilience was listed as resource for survivors of sexual violence. In an accompanying video, 2018 Evening of Impact Featured Speaker Kelly Kitley tells her own story of surviving sexual violence, as a part of the network’s initiative called the Survivors Project.
OurMusicMyBody Featured in Chicago Reader
In an article in the Chicago Reader on January 21, 2019, OurMusicMyBody was featured for its work to promote consent at music festivals. Maggie Arthur, Resilience Prevention Educator, and Matt Walsh, Between Friends Prevention Education Specialist, speak about the importance of raising awareness of sexual harassment in the music scene, supporting survivors across different festival environments, and their hopes for the future.
Free Attorney Consultation this Thursday at Resilience
Resilience has partnered with Legal Assistance Foundation (LAF), Chicago’s largest provider of free, comprehensive civil legal aid, in an effort to assure survivors have access to civil attorneys who can provide support on legal matters that have arisen from sexual assault. Specifically, we invite those who have been harmed by sexual violence to come to our office located at 180 N Michigan Ave, Ste 600 Thursday 1/24/19 from 10am-2pm read more…
Resilience Staff Protest Outside R. Kelly’s Studio on the Today Show
In a video featured on the Today Show, Resilience staff join a protest outside of R. Kelly’s Chicago studio on January 12, 2019. Recent protests were shown after another survivor came forward. Watch the video read more…
Resilience Featured at Protest Outside R. Kelly’s Studio on Fox
In a video on Fox, Resilience was filmed joining protesters outside of R. Kelly’s Chicago studio last Saturday.
Dr. LaShanda Nalls, Director of Trauma Therapy, Speaks About Sexual Violence and Black Women and Girls on Fox
In an interview on Fox 32, Director of Trauma Therapy LaShanda Nalls spoke about her support group and about Black women and girls’ experiences of sexual violence.
Dr. LaShanda Nalls, Director of Trauma Therapy, Speaks about Support Group and Surviving R. Kelly in Tribune
In an article in the Chicago Tribune, Director of Trauma Therapy Dr. LaShanda Nalls spoke about her upcoming support group for African American women who have been affected by sexual trauma. In light of the new documentary Surviving R. Kelly, the support group is experiencing its first waitlist.
Salamishah & Scheherazade Tillet, Co-Founders of A Long Walk Home, Write Op-Ed Centering Black Girls in #MeToo
Co-Founders of A Long Walk Home Salamishah and Scheherazade Tillet co-authored their first op-ed in The New York Times today. The article, titled “After the ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ documentary, #MeToo Has Finally Returned to Black Girls,” reflects on the historically invisible presence of Black girls in social justice movements and marks the exposure of R. Kelly as a “seismic cultural shift.” The co-founders send a powerful message to readers to use this momentum to support and center Black girls.
SALAMISHAH AND SCHEHERAZADE TILLET:
“With each passing day, more young women accuse R. Kelly of sexual assault. That means more people and institutions — with the glaring exception of his label, RCA records — are taking their voices, and, by extension, girls who look like them, seriously.
We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. Let’s not squander it.”
A Long Walk Home is a Chicago-based national nonprofit that uses art to educate, inspire, and mobilize young people to end violence against girls and women.
Resilience Featured in Chicago Reader
In an article in the Chicago Reader on January 8, 2019, Resilience was featured as an organization in Chicago that supports survivors of sexual violence and works to prevent sexual violence. The list of resources was motivated by the recent airing of Surviving R. Kelly.
Maggie Arthur Comments on Coachella Anti-Harassment Policy in The Daily Beast
In an article published by The Daily Beast on January 4, 2019, Prevention Educator Maggie Arthur commented on Coachella’s new anti-harassment policy. Maggie Arthur spoke on behalf of OurMusicMyBody, a collaborative campaign between Resilience and Between Friends to raise awareness of sexual harassment at music festivals and promote consensual music experiences.
Maggie Arthur Comments on Coachella’s New Anti-Harassment Policy in the LA Times
In a recent article published in the LA Times, Maggie Arthur, Resilience Prevention Educator and Co-Lead of Our Music My Body, commented on Coachella’s new anti-harassment policy. The new policy, called “Every One,” is meant to provide Coachella festival attendees with resources and policies for preventing sexual misconduct and to help improve the festival’s own response to sexual misconduct when it occurs. Maggie Arthur is the Co-Lead of Our Music My Body, a collaborative campaign with Between Friends to raise awareness about sexual harassment in the music scene and promote consensual music experiences for all.
Kelley Kitley, 2018 Evening of Impact Featured Speaker, Shares Her Story on NBC
Kelley Kitley, owner of Serendipitous Psychotherapy, LLC in downtown Chicago and our 2018 Evening of Impact Featured Speaker, recently shared her personal story of sexual assault on NBC 5 on December 28, 2018. Kitley is a former Resilience client and a licensed clinical social worker who has been helping others to heal for the past fifteen years. To watch her powerful message, play the video below or click here.
Resilience’s Comments in Response to Proposed Rulemaking Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds
On December 10, 2018, Director of Programs and Public Policy Sarah Layden submitted comments to express Resilience’s strong opposition to the changes regarding the public charge rules for inadmissibility. Resilience has grave concerns regarding the immense harm that the proposed public rule change will have on immigrant survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault as well as their families and children. To read our full comment, click the link below.
Proposed Change to Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility Letter with Citations.
The Decision of Judge Ralph Strother to Accept a Plea Deal From Jacob Walter Anderson is a Harmful Message to Survivors Everywhere
THE DECISION OF JUDGE RALPH STROTHER TO ACCEPT A PLEA DEAL FROM JACOB WALTER ANDERSON IS A HARMFUL MESSAGE TO SURVIVORS EVERYWHERE
The decision issued just days ago by Judge Ralph Strother to dismiss four counts of sexual assault against Jacob Walter Anderson for repeatedly raping and choking a 19-year old student at Baylor University, nearly killing her, is appalling and harmful. Permitting Anderson to accept a plea deal, despite objection from the survivor, allowed him to evade both jail time and registration as a sex offender and sends a message to survivors across the country that our court system is not a place where accountability lives for them. With this decision, the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office and Judge Strother have denied justice for this survivor and have contributed to making it harder for survivors to seek help and pursue justice nation-wide.
In another decision, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled last week that Cyntoia Brown, who is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted for first degree murder for shooting her rapist, must serve 51 years of her sentence before she can become eligible for parole. She will be 67 years old. Brown is a survivor of child sexual abuse and trafficking, and although the shooting happened when she was just 16 years old, she was tried as an adult. By making this decision, the Tennessee Supreme Court further punishes Brown for surviving child sexual abuse and allows yet another abuser to evade accountability again. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is considering the decision to grant Brown clemency, but the precarity of her situation nevertheless speaks to the magnitude of injustices that survivors, especially survivors of color, face when they attempt to protect themselves from violence. We must acknowledge and ensure that survivors, including survivors like Cyntoia Brown, have a right to safety and support.
To come forward and speak about your experience with sexual assault is an act of tremendous courage.
Resilience will always stand with survivors. As we make incredible strides through national survivor-led movements, we also know that survivors continue to endure persistent attacks on their freedom and human dignity while abusers are not held accountable daily. In the midst of a national rape culture that still blames survivors for the choices of their abusers, we owe it to survivors everywhere to stand in solidarity with them, not against them.
Survivors deserve better and we must do better.
CALL 615-741-2001 to ask that Gov. Bill Haslam grant clemency to #CyntoiaBrown before he leaves office in January. Visit Color of Change for a script and tips for calling: https://tinyurl.com/y7y7p4on. #RiseUpWithResilience #CyntoiaBrown
Resilience is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the healing and empowerment of survivors of sexual violence. Through programs, outreach, and support, Resilience strives for a world free of sexual violence for everyone. Learn more at www.ourresilience.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @ResilienceChi.
#GivingTuesday is here! Support Resilience and double your gift today.
It’s finally here! Today, on #GivingTuesday, you can invest in a world without sexual violence. By making an online gift to support our prevention education program, you will help us:
- Educate nearly 18,000 youth, parents, and teachers to prevent child sexual abuse
- Train over 4,000 law enforcement, healthcare, education, and social services professionals to prevent sexual violence and stand with survivors
- Care for over 2,000 survivors through advocacy, counseling, and support groups, including specialized support through our expanding art therapy program
- Create cultural shifts in the way people view and respond to sexual violence
Resilience, formerly Rape Victim Advocates, is committed to ending rape culture. As we continue providing compassionate care to survivors, now, more than ever, we strive to prevent sexual violence from happening in the first place. Last year, we raised just over $10,000 on Giving Tuesday. This year, our goal is to double this amount to $20,000. With your help, I know we can do this. Today between noon and 2pm, your gift will be matched by an anonymous generous donor.
Rape culture ends with prevention education. Together, we can work toward this change.
Thank you for your gift and support.
Rape culture ends with prevention education. You can help on #GivingTuesday
Dear Friend,
Rape culture ends with prevention education. In our current social climate, where rape myths have a bigger voice than survivors, it is estimated that every 98 seconds a sexual assault happens. One in three women and one in six men experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, those who identify as transgender or bisexual face the highest rates of sexual violence, and every 8 minutes a claim of child sexual violence is substantiated. By investing in prevention education, you can help change these statistics. I have no doubt that together we can end rape culture.
Please consider making your online gift to Resilience by clicking here on #GivingTuesday (November 27) to work toward our shared vision. Or, if you would like to make your gift today, please click here.
