"It is morally impossible to remain neutral in this conflict. The bystander is forced to take sides.

It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. The victim on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain.

The victim demands action, engagement and remembering...

In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. Secrecy and silence are the perpetrator's first line of defense. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure no one listens. To this end, he marshals an impressive array of arguments, from the most blatant denial to the most sophisticated and elegant rationalization. After every atrocity one can expect to hear the same predictible apologies: it never happened, the victim lies, the victim exaggerates, the victim brought it upon herself; and in any case it's time to forget the past and move on.

The more powerful the perpetrator, the greater is his perogative to name and define reality, and the more completely his argument prevails."

--Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

It is a privilege to do sexual violence prevention and survivor advocacy work in the era of the #MeToo 'Silence Breakers'. Thank you to our communities and advocacy partners for your continued support in ending violence and oppression for all people. We look forward to advocating for more social change in 2018! We wish you all a safe and very happy holidays.

In Peace and Solidarity,

Embrace Staff Members