PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

G20RP Sexual Consent Guidelines: No Perpetrators Welcome!
by Survivor Support Working Group Saturday, Sep. 19, 2009 at 3:45 PM

<b>Announcing the G20RP Sexual Consent Guidelines. Please disseminate widely.</b> <p> Perpetrators of sexual violence, assault, and harassment are not welcome in Pittsburgh or any G20 protest organizational spaces. <p> Support Structure for Survivors of Sexualized Violence and Assault: <br>If you experience harassment, abuse, sexual assault, or any other kind of consent violation while resisting the G20 this September, or if a perpetrator of sexual violence is interfering with your participation in the G20 resistance movement, or for any other reason you need support to deal with sexualized violence, please come to us. There will be trained and experienced advocates and support people for survivors of sexual assault at the WELLNESS SPACE (located in the clinic).

G20RP Sexual Consent Guidelines: No Perpetrators Welcome!

Perpetrators of Sexual Assault, Abuse, and Harassment Are Not Welcome in G20 Resistance Spaces

Perpetrators of sexual violence/assault/harassment are not welcome in Pittsburgh or any G20 protest organizational spaces. This includes people who have perpetrated in the past*, people currently engaged in or running away from accountability processes, and people who refuse to respect the ResistG20 consent guidelines. People who violate consent guidelines will be directed to leave G20 organizational spaces and housing arrangements. Given the short time frame, lack of people resources, and likelihood of state repression we don’t have the ability to deal with these situations in this artificially constructed community.

Perpetrators' presence should not hinder survivors' participation in G20 mobilizations (Perps: You are not welcome regardless of the survivor's plans). We are resisting the G20 in large part because the G20 acts WITHOUT accountability to or consent of the people it fucks over. Don't replicate the same paradigm of domination and abuse that you're claiming to want to smash.

*We understand and respect that other communities have engaged in their own processes around these incidents. If you have gone through an accountability process and the survivor, joined by the community, feels you have sufficiently dealt with your shit, this statement does not include you.

Support Structure for Survivors of Sexualized Violence and Assault

If you experience harassment, abuse, sexual assault, or any other kind of consent violation while resisting the G20 this September, or if a perpetrator of sexual violence is interfering with your participation in the G20 resistance movement, or for any other reason you need support to deal with sexualized violence, please come to us.

There will be trained and experienced advocates and support people for survivors of sexual assault at the WELLNESS SPACE (located in the clinic). People staffing housing and other spaces, as well as medics and (A)-minded legal observers (note: not the ACLU kind) should also be able to put you in contact with us.

We can offer you:
*Support, caring, and listening
*Advocacy on your behalf, including the removal of perpetrators of violence
*Emergency housing changes to quiet, safer space housing
*Transport to the Pittsburgh rape crisis center
*Medical, herbal, and wellness (massage, acupressure, music therapy) resources
*Resources for further support and/or action
*Support, with the legal team, to document sexual abuse by law enforcement

Consent Guidelines for G20 Resistance Spaces and Housing

Consistently asking for consent and listening to your sexual partner at every step in every sexual encounter, regardless of length, history, or specific situation, is the only way to prevent sexual assault from happening. Consent includes asking, listening, and respecting; it does not include coercion, expectations, or assumptions.

Consent: Consent is actively and voluntarily expressed agreement. Doing personal work to consistently seek consent and respect the times when it is not given helps to combat rape culture, and informed consent, sexual and otherwise, is necessary in the building of strong, healthy anti-authoritarian communities. The following do not qualify as consent: silence, passivity, and coerced acquiescence. Body movements, non-verbal responses such as moans, or the appearance of physical arousal do not, necessarily, constitute consent. Further, if someone is intoxicated, they may not be in a position to give you consent. Consent is required each and every time there is sexual activity, regardless of the parties’ relationship, prior sexual history, or current activity.

Sexual Assault: Sexual assault is any non-consensual sexual interaction. Sexual assault happens, and it happens in activist and radical communities as much as anywhere else. Sexual assault can be perpetrated by a complete stranger, but is often perpetrated by someone known and trusted by the survivor and community. Sexual assault is a tool of domination, of taking power, and can rob someone of their self respect, self worth, and autonomy. Sexual assault is rooted in broader systems of oppression- such as patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, homophobia, and colonialism- and is not separable from them in how and why it is perpetrated, experienced, and dealt with.

Rape Culture: Rape culture is the culture in which sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence are condoned, excused and even encouraged. Rape culture is part of a broader culture of violence, wherein people are socialized to inhabit different positions in hierarchical relationships, to commodify their fellow human beings, and to relate to each other through violence and coercion.

We are survivor centric and survivor oriented. When a decision needs to be made to give “benefit of the doubt” to a perpetrator or support to a survivor, the preference will be to support the survivor. State language which serves to cast doubt onto survivors experiences (eg referring to experiences as “allegations”) has zero space in radical support and communities.

Thank you G20RP, Antioch College Consent Policy, Denver on Fire, Unconventional Denver, and the RNC Welcoming Committee

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This Policy Is Itself Oppressive and Authoritarian
by anon e mouse Monday, Sep. 21, 2009 at 5:11 AM

you write "State language which serves to cast doubt onto survivors experiences (eg referring to experiences as “allegations”) has zero space in radical support and communities."

Yeah. Right. So anyone who identifies hirself as a "survivor" can make false charges against a "perpetrator" and the alleged "perpetrator" has no right to defend hirself. And *that* is *not* hierarchical or authoritarian? People identified as "perpetrators" by people who identify themselves as "survivors" get to be freely oppressed even if the charges are totally false... Here's a new kind of oppression and hierarchy: You do what I say, or I'll identify you as a "perpetrator" and claim "survivor" status. Disobey me, and you'll have no rights to defend yourself. Perfect, you've created a new hierarchy: "Survivor" over "Perpetrator" - and you've laid the grounds for the most absolute form of authoritarianism possible.

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wierd
by from elsewhere Monday, Sep. 21, 2009 at 5:47 AM

is this policy necessary? i mean, i'm not from there, but i do not understand why this is so important. have you experienced these kind of assaults, during an "anti-summit"?! for me, it's totally unnecessary, as i've been in many mobilizations of this kind and never noticed a problem.

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Thanks
by about time Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009 at 1:47 AM

It is about time that survivors were taken seriously. For those who decry the policy, remember that allowing any sort of subjugation sends the message that ALL forms are okay. The concept of owning people as property and making them commodities started with women. I think that minimizing the problem of sexual violence undermines our work by hurting activists who happen to be female. Victimization by the state or by a male is still victimization. Let us put an end to victimizing people. It is just stupid.

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I don't buy this, either...
by anon e mouse Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009 at 8:36 PM

"remember that allowing any sort of subjugation sends the message that ALL forms are okay"

When you raise children, it's sometimes the case that you have to punish them to get the message across that some sorts of behavior aren't appropriate. That's subjugation, whether the punishment is physical or mental, a spanking or sharp words or a sharp look. It's superior force used to limit the actions of another person. It doesn't send the message that, say, rape or bullying or assault is OK. Often, it's used to send the opposite message, and it works, quite often.

Denying "perpetrators" the ability to defend themselves against self-identified "survivors" is an insidious form of subjugation; it's authoritarian, and sets up a hierarchy in which "survivors" have all rights and "perpetrators" have none. It's a great way to destroy any kind of movement or disrupt organization, by dividing people against themselves. Think about it...

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the continual insanity of leftists
by debate coach Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009 at 11:41 PM

"We can offer you:
*Support, caring, and listening
*Advocacy on your behalf, including the removal of perpetrators of violence
*Emergency housing changes to quiet, safer space housing
*Transport to the Pittsburgh rape crisis center


***Medical, herbal, and wellness (massage, acupressure, music therapy) resources


*Resources for further support and/or action
*Support, with the legal team, to document sexual abuse by law enforcement"

Yeah, I've been forcibly boned in the ass by one of your Protected Classes of lowlife, and you wanna offer smelly candles and Lisa Loeb?

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