#MeToo, Believing Survivors, and Leveraging this Moment for Lasting Change

Dec 14, 2017

Over the past two weeks, NCCASA has released two statements and a set of talking points, responding to the recent wave of survivors coming forward with accounts of sexual violence and the resulting consequences for those who have caused harm. One of these statements was released today, in response to the Alabama election and the report that was put out by WUNC about sexual harassment in the NC General Assembly. You can access all three of these documents at the links below.

“The shift we are seeing in believing and supporting survivors and holding people accountable for sexual violence is a welcome and important step. However, to be clear, while some elected officials have stepped down or lost elections, there are many more elected officials who remain in power in spite of multiple credible allegations of sexual violence against them. The election in Alabama was not a landslide, and it was Black voters, specifically Black women, who overwhelmingly influenced the election results. Survivors who have bravely come forward continue to experience public attempts to discredit and shame them…NCCASA is committed to holding elected officials and legislative bodies in North Carolina accountable for instances of sexual harassment and for policies that enable a culture of sexual violence to exist. We believe that North Carolina voters, like Alabama voters, will not tolerate or ignore sexual violence and harassment from the elected officials who they choose to represent them. We are committed to pushing forward the momentum of #MeToo, powered by the courage of survivors who persist in telling their stories. We are committed to believing, supporting, and following the lead of survivors, as theirs are the voices who will continue to carry this movement forward and change our culture. We are committed to ending sexual violence.”

On Believing Survivors and Accountability of Elected Officials (12/14/17): http://www.nccasa.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/On-believing-survivors-and-accountability-of-elected-officials-2017-12.pdf

#MeToo: How do we Support Survivors and Leverage this Moment to Create Lasting Change? (12/5/17): http://www.nccasa.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/MeToo-Statement-2017-12.pdf

Talking Points: #MeToo: http://www.nccasa.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/MeToo-Talking-points-2017-12.pdf