- Target:
- Our Peers
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- feminats.wordpress.com
StopdaBlame realizes that this is not a traditional petition in the sense that we are not aiming to send it to anybody. Rather, we want to showcase support towards US victims of gender-based violence, in an effort to make it a more visible issue. Largely, GBV is still considered a private matter, despite the fact that 1 in 3 women (and who knows how many men), will experience physical or sexual violence within their lifetimes. By reaching out to you, our college age peers, we hope to end the silence and stigma around violence.
We know that for many of you, you see signing your name to a statement as just another form of "slacktivism". But, in this case case, it truly isn't. We are the ones who hear first about our friends experiences with gender-based violence, and we are the ones capable of affecting the most change through out attitudes, reactions, and the small actions we take. By pledging to educate ourselves, actively promoting a culture of openness, and encouraging our friends to do the same, we can become a generation where talking about gender-based violence is no longer taboo.
So, lets get our friends on board and make gender-based violence everybody's business!
(P.S. Use the hashtag #StopdaBlame to show your support and follow us on Twitter @StopdaBlame)
I pledge to stop victim blaming.
I pledge, through my individual actions, big and small, to help promote a culture of openness and understanding, free of judgement, so that a woman (or man) does not fear being discredited when speaking up about violence committed against her.
I realize that being told about a friend's experience with gender-based violence is both a huge honor and a huge responsibility, and I promise to be supportive and believing. I will not victim blame, and I will not invalidate her feelings or experiences.
In order to do this, I promise to educate myself on how to support victims of violence, and become familiar with the resources available in my area or on my campus.
I realize that there is no excuse I can make for someone who has hurt someone else. By giving benefit of the doubt to someone I know to be a perpetrator of violence and by asking what the victim did to deserve it, I realize that I am only exacerbating the problem.
I pledge to promote the ideas that gender-based violence is everybody's problem, and not a private matter.
Finally, I pledge to help create a society where we stand up for each other and support each other instead of staying ignorant because it is the more comfortable and acceptable thing to do.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The StopdaBlame Campaign to End Victim Blaming petition to Our Peers was written by feminat and is in the category Gender Rights and Issues at GoPetition.