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The courage to heal, the courage to live, the courage to seek justice, the courage to speak out and the courage to stand up and be heard |
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In 2003 a young mother of two, a teacher, a wife, a daughter, a friend; gave evidence as the victim of an horrific sexual assault. The woman was repeatedly questioned on her clothing, her dress, coat and footwear, each the colour black. The offender claimed the victim dressed “gothic” and “witch-like” and the focus of the colour black became the foundation of the accused claims that the woman dressed to impress, relying on the myth, lies and stereotypes about victims of sexual assault and that these would raise doubt in the jury members minds. They were right. Everyday, around the world, victims of sexual assault are repeatedly intimidated, humiliated and verbally assaulted as victims of sexual assault. Strategies such as these in courts of law are not unusual, in fact they are common place in sexual assault trials. There have been estimations of 60,000 –100,000 victims of sexual assault in NSW every year and these are the statistics we know. However, reports of sexual assault crimes to Police in NSW in most 12 month periods, remain at nearly 12,000. Why are victims not reporting these abhorrent crimes to Police? Violence against any person, must be of the highest priority of all communities. It is apparent from the continuing responses from sexual assault survivors, one of their greatest difficulties is facing the ignorance of their communities and the myths, lies and stereotypes about violence against women. Courage for Women is a volunteer operated website providing support, information and advocacy. Courage for Women has one priority— to eradicate sexual assault crimes from our communities by deconstructing the myths, lies and stereotypes about victims of sexual assault. Why only Courage for women? Courage for Women was founded with one goal, to provide a place for female victims of sexual assault to share their experiences, knowledge and support with each other in a non-judgemental, safe environment. Courage for Women acknowledges people of all age, male and female are sexually assaulted. Courage for women is a volunteer webpage for victims and survivors of sexual assault. It provides information on statistics, myths, related links and an opportunity for victims and survivors to express their emotions, journeys and stories with each other. Courage was founded by Glenda McMillan in 2004 with the hope, by speaking out about the inequalities and injustices of sexual assault crimes, a social change may occur, there would be justice for victims and a greater community and political awareness could take place. It is Glenda’s belief through a unified voice for victims and survivors of sexual assault crimes, we can empower each other to share; “the courage to heal the courage to live the courage to seek justice the courage to speak out & the courage to stand up & be heard”. It is the no.1 priority of Courage to eradicate sexual assault crimes form our community & to empower victims & survivors .
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