Confronting patriarchal violence

Necessary Means
See the original blog post, "PLP Defends Rapists" for the announcement and call to action regarding PLP's defense of admitted rapist
Seth Miller.
***TRIGGER WARNING*** Everything in this blog is a frank discussion of sexual violence and rape.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
On Solidarity and Sexual Violence: An open letter to
the Palestine Solidarity Movement
The explosion of media coverage of sexual assault and community response to gender
violence, following the gang-rape and murder of a Delhi medical student, has sparked a
lot of important discussion around the world. What is often missed in this discourse is the
fact that the issue of sexual violence extends far beyond India and into our own
communities, and that most people who experience it are assaulted by someone they
know, and often trust. In activist spaces we tend to assume that we are safe, surrounded
by like-minded people, however reports of harassment and sexual assault within hacker,
Occupy, and other communities have proven that this is not always the case. Historically
sexual violence has been tragically prevalent in revolutionary movements. There is a
long and troubling history of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault being
forced out of their organizations for reporting their attackers, or staying silent for the
sake of the movement. At times leaders in various activist spaces have made this even
worse by openly reinforcing patriarchy. Stokely Carmichael, storied leader of the Black
Panthers and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), once infamously
commented The only position for women in SNCC is prone. The hard work of womens
and LGBTQ rights activists may have improved the situation since then (not that those
spaces are immune to sexual violence), but even in todays social justice movements
sexual assault is often closer than many would like to think. I hope that sharing my own
story can help spark some discussion about how we want to deal with this issue, in both
the wider Palestine solidarity movement, and in our local organizing spaces.
While living in Palestine several years ago I was sexually assaulted by a fellow activist. It
happened after what seemed like a pretty normal night of blowing off steam with friends.
Earlier that day I met a guy Ill call M through some organizers who were hosting me.
We knew a lot of the same people and he worked with a group I have a huge amount of
respect for. After hanging out in the evening M and I hit it off and he kissed me, asking
me to join him outside. Once we were alone he became very sexually forward, but when
I made it clear I wasnt interested in going further we went inside, and I thought that was
the end of it.
Hours later, after Id gone to sleep, I woke up abruptly to find M standing over me. I was
so startled that I gasped, and he told me to be quiet so as not to wake up our friends
sleeping in the same room. He got into my bed, and started trying to kiss and grope me
against my will. When I told him that I did not want this kind of contact, he ignored me.
He became more aggressive when I physically resisted, only backing off after
remembering that there were others in the room. When he finally got frustrated and left, I
locked myself in the bathroom for a long time before returning to the bedroom and bolting
the door.
The next morning I tried to tell a friend what had happened, but was too ashamed to say
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Blog Archive
communique from radical women's
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When Men on the Left Refuse to
See Their Sexism
For supporters of survivors of
sexual violence
Strategies for Survivors
Betrayal - A critical analysis of
rape culture in anarchist subcircles
NE Anarchist Sexual Assault
Resources
Notes on Survivor Autonomy and
Violence
said the pot to the kettle - feminist
theory for anarchist men
Misogynists Make Great
Informants
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phenomenon in India - it is
endemic everywhere
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anything other than M came in here last night... I felt like it was somehow my fault for
kissing him back earlier that night, and worried that my friends would not believe me, or
would take his side. For a long time I refused to speak to anyone about what had
happened, barely even admitting to myself that I had experienced a sexual assault.
In my head there were a lot of reasons to stay silent. Would people believe my story or
think I was a traitor for accusing a popular fellow activist? I didnt scream or alert others
in the room, so did it really even count as a sexual assault? I also worried about how
my identity would affect the situation if the authorities got involved. M is Palestinian and
Im an American with a huge amount of privilege in Israel and abroad. I doubted the
Palestinian police would do much about it, but thought if Israeli authorities found out, my
assault could be politicized in ways that I was not comfortable with. I also did not want to
endanger the already imperiled institutions we were both associated with. After leaving
Palestine and holding all of this in for nearly a year, I finally opened up to a close friend
back home, who is also a solidarity activist. Talking with her helped me see my
experience in a different light and come to terms with the fact that the assault was the
fault of my attacker, and not my own.
I want to be clear; I do not think sexual violence is uniquely prevalent in the Palestine
solidarity movement, or even in Palestine itself. Ive heard too many accounts from too
many friends about similar experiences at bars, on college campuses, at parties, and
even in their own homes. Im telling my story now because I consider this movement to
be like my family, and unfortunately sexual assault can and does happen anywhere and
everywhere, including our safest spaces. It is up to us to decide how we deal with it in
our communities but I think the best way is to be proactive.
Many Palestine solidarity groups have gotten off to a good start with statements
denouncing sexism along with other forms of prejudice, but we can and should do more.
Promoting more discussion about how patriarchy and gender violence impact the
occupation, our organizing, and our relationships with our fellow activists is a good
starting point. How this dialogue is constructed will very from space to space, but some
things should remain constant:
1) The onus should always remain on perpetrators not to commit assault, rather than on
victims to prevent it from happening. Establishing clear and consistent guidelines about
responding to incidents of sexual violence in our organizations, and identifying how best
to support those who experience them, is key.
2) We must acknowledge sexual violence as a social problem. While addressing rape
culture in our spaces is important, so is replacing it with something positive that affirms
the value of all our fellow activists and allies. Addressing dynamics within our groups is a
crucial part of this; the idea that some individuals are perceived as being more popular
and thus more valuable than others can contribute to predatory behavior and the
silencing of victims.
3) While it goes without saying that this is a sensitive topic and should be treated as
such, we should always conduct these conversations with the knowledge that this issue
may already be affecting people in our communities in ways that are not readily visible. It
will not always be easy for everyone to hear or talk about. The way we initiate and
sustain our conversations on sexual violence must be sensitive to this.
4) Finally, we should not limit our discussion to violence within our own circles, there is
also a deafening silence about the sexual harassment and assault associated with
military occupation and ethnic cleansing, which is enabled in part by the difficult and
often taboo nature of the subject. Addressing this in our organizing will not only
strengthen our solidarity with Palestinians, but also can create space for new and
creative coalition building.
These are not easy discussions, but I believe they are necessary for creating a truly just
and equitable movement. Those among us who experience sexual violence should not
feel that we have to remain silent for the sake of solidarity, and should be able to know
that we will find it if we choose to confide in our follow activists. The Palestine solidarity
movement is not going to single-handedly solve the issue of sexual assault, but we can
take action against it and refuse to be complicit in covering it up.
Meet the Predators
Who are self-reported rapists?
Towards Transformative Justice
STFU Rape Culture
Activists and "Difficult People"
Rapists and Abusers Called Out
(tumblr)
Seth Miller - PLP, Math teacher at the
Bronx High School of Science
"M" - Palestine solidarity movement
Yufu Cheng - R20 and Peking Uni. -
Los Angeles & Beijing
Paul Meyer - Theta Chi, UCLA
Ian Chinich - SJP, "Struggle to Win"
Chilean Anarchist Tour, Los Angeles
Ari Palos - Filmmaker, Tucson AZ
Hakop Jack Kaplanyan - Water Polo,
UCLA
Chad Walter - Oregon
Tetsuro Namba - UCI/San Diego
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Cassandra Solanas is a loose collective of feminist radicals struggling to end patriarchy, end rape culture, and hold rapists to account. Cassandra
is named for the legendary Greek woman who could predict the future, but was cursed so that her predictions were never believed. Cassandra
Solanas is the kid sister of SCUM Manifesto author Valerie Solanas.
Contact the collective via cassandrasolanas@gmail.com
Who is Cassandra Solanas?
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