90-98% Of Sexual Assault Reports Are True

Last Friday, a 2013 interview with director Bernardo Bertolucci surfaced in which he admitted that actress Maria Schneider never consented to the violent rape scene in Last Tango In Paris. What’s more, Bertolucci minimized his crime by justifying the assault as necessary for Schneider to actually “feel…the rage and humiliation” in the scene. Bertolucci’s dismissal of sexual assault is all too common in our media and larger culture – just think of Brock Turner’s dad who reduced his son’s rape to “20 minutes of action” or the fact that it took 50-plus women to come forward to take the sexual assault accusations against Bill Cosby seriously. And even though 90-98% of sexual assault reports are true, survivors are often painted as self-aggrandizing liars or blamed for the crime as a result of their outfit or drinking habits. We must stop this cycle of blaming survivors.
sexualassaultsupport
This week, we are asking you to share this image on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in support of those who have experienced sexual assault. We must challenge this toxic culture that condones and perpetuates sexual violence.

Onwards,

Jennifer Siebel Newsom & The Representation Project Team


Representation Around the Web

CNNdeadspin
“”We as women do a lot of incredible things in this world other than just procreating, and not that that is not … but we just get boxed in. They love the narrative, they love the story, the love the ‘she’s jealous of this person,’ and ‘this person’s depressed,’ and ‘oh my gosh, never going to have a child.’ Whatever the horrible little headline is, we’ve just got to break out of that and go ‘whoa, whoa.’ And women, I have to say, are many of the authors of these horrible articles that are written in these BS tabloids. So, we have to stop listening to them and we have to stop buying them because we have to support each other, especially at this time, to love each other, to support, and to be proud of women, of whatever your choice is in life. It’s up to us what makes us happy and fulfilled.” – Jennifer Aniston, via Time

 

  • BuzzFeed: Just 27 Women Waiting Patiently for Men to Stop Talking in 2016
  • Business Insider: Kevin O’Leary of ‘Shark Tank’ Invests in 27 Companies and Says the Only Ones Making Money Have Female CEOs
  • Huffington Post: Merriam-Webster Has Become A Hilarious, Shade-Throwing LGBTQ Ally
  • The New York Times: How a Triathlon Helped America Ferrera Defy Her Inner Critic
  • The Players Tribune: What I Found in Standing Rock
  • The Washington Post: ‘You Belong. Stay Strong. Be Blessed’: A Texas man’s roadside message to Muslims

 

Planned

Happy belated birthday to trailblazer, Shirley Chisholm. Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to the United States Congress and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
Image via Miss Representation‘s Instagram