Aug

5

Fight Back Productions – New Video

Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog, Girls Fight Back!, Video | 2 Comments

Message from the August e-Newsletter…

The other night my husband and I went out for Thai food, and had a lovely dinner on the outdoor deck.  The sun was setting on a very productive day, and I had gotten many things crossed off my to-do list.  At the completion of the meal, our server brought us fortune cookies.  And let me tell you – I love fortune cookies.  Yes, they taste good, but I’m also a big believer in fate and subtle (or not so subtle) messages that are dropped in our laps.  (Or in this case, show up in our food.)  I always take my fortune cookie messages very seriously.

This night was no exception. Perhaps with everything going on right now, I built it up more than usual. With the busiest Fall Tour we’ve ever planned starting in September, and our first baby due next week, I am open to all the wisdom I can get.  As I cracked the cookie in half with nervous trepidation, I hoped it would rock my world.  And it said…

“About time I got out of that cookie.”

Really? A fortune cookie with a sense of humor? How fitting. And that’s when I knew this is the message I needed most. To relax, to live, to laugh…and to trust in the simple idea that everything is alright in good time.

Because things over here are better than alright…let me bring you up to speed on a few things.  First off, in June I trained a team of incredible speakers who will be carrying out all presentations this Fall while I’m on maternity leave.  You can meet them all by watching this brand new video on YouTube.

Second, you probably noticed we changed our official name to Fight Back Productions.  This came about as customers began asking for educational programs for female employees (Women Fight Back) and for mixed gender audiences at colleges (Students Fight Back).  It was time to develop a larger umbrella organization beyond Girls Fight Back that would be the home for all our educational programs.  And so it was…

Third, we are currently planning our biggest and busiest Fall Tour to date.  Please see the tour stops at right to see if we’re coming to a city near you.  If your school, college or business would like to book a stop on the tour, we offer discounts if you book when our speakers are in your area.  And if you work for a business that might be interested in becoming a tour sponsor, please contact us for an info packet.

So that’s the scoop! Until next time…I’m sending you simple joys and lots of  good fortune.

Strong. Resilient. Spirited. Unified.

Aug

3

Charging victims for rape exams – really?

Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog, In the News | 2 Comments

The official definition of the word victimization is: to make a victim of.  The definition of re-victimization is: again anew.  Often in the anti-violence community, re-victimization is the concept of a child who endures emotional abuse as a child, will then find themselves in emotionally abusive relationships as an adult.  That’s why so often, violence is referred to as a cycle, which goes round and round…

So when I read this article in the Huffington Post today, I couldn’t help but think the same theory applies here.  Take a victim of rape, who makes the brave decision to go to the hospital and have an exam performed to collect evidence in hopes of catching and prosecuting her attacker.  After being sexually violated in the most vile way, you can only imagine the trauma that an invasive vaginal exam can have on a woman.  And that’s not the re-victimization part yet…that’s just what she has to go through in order to get her second dose of hell.

No, the re-victimization I’m speaking of is being doled out by state governments in sending a bill to rape victims to actually pay for their exam!  Here is a segment from the article:

Congress created the Violence Against Women Act to protect victims and encourage them to report rapes. The law known as VAWA has forced many states to crack down on billing problems.  But ambiguities in the law still allow a remarkable disparity in the legal system: Some rape victims, unlike victims of other crimes, have to pay for basic evidence collection.  “We never ask a robbery victim to pay for the cost of fingerprints,” said Sarah Tofte, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, which has been tracking how states comply with VAWA.

“As a victim recovers from her assault, the last thing she needs is a bill for her exam,” said Katherine Hull, a spokeswoman for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.  “Rape is not something you can budget for.”

Overall, I believe this is a national disgrace and we need to do something about it.  Most of the work we do at Fight Back Productions is focused on the proactive or preventative measures a woman can take to avoid becoming a victim.  But we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that violence is happening NOW and we need to take care of people who have been affected by it NOW.

Take action!  Get familiar with the Violence Against Women Act by reading up at Wikipedia.

Or…

Visit the RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) website to learn more about getting involved in the role of DNA testing for victims of rape.