What Do We Owe Our Youth?

One in four girls is sexually abused before age 18; one in four boys before age 18. These statistics assume that that children are cisgender. The 2019 U.S. Transgender Survey reports that 13% of transgender youth (both girls and boys) have been assaulted while in school and other research finds that harassment and bullying of trans and nonbinary youth is increasing (Menvielle 2012; 2019 U.S.Transgender Survey ).This means that youth regardless of their gender identity are at risk of abuse, with some more at risk that others.

So let’s ask ourselves: What do we owe our youth?

We can provide youth with concrete tools to protect themselves while we also work to build a safer world, society, communities, and families. IMPACT Chicago currently offers IMPACT for Girls, a program for cis and trans girls 12-15 years old. If you have a non-binary teen interested in our program, please reach out to determine if this program would be a good fit.

In this 8-hour two-day program, participants learn how to handle common safety concerns of parents and youth. Participants practice projecting confidence, recognizing unsafe situations, speaking up, and taking action when they are feeling uncomfortable. They also have the chance to participate in frank, direct discussions about common situations and to practice verbal and physical skills to expand their range of choices—not only in threatening situations, but in everyday life.i

The next IMPACT for Girls program is

January 11 and 12, 2020

Glenview Park Center

2400 Chestnut Avenue
info@IMPACTchicago.org

While teaching youth self-defense skills, we can also create a safer environment for young people, for example:

• press for laws that will increase resources for those who have been victimized, such as, the 2019 Violence Against Women Act, which has new provisions for targets of violence who are transgender.

• support organizations trying to change how gender is portrayed in the media, such as Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, working with the entertainment industry to reduce stereotypes and expanding portrayals of female characters targeting children 11 years old and under.  

• join efforts to increase awareness about street harassment and how to create safer communities, such as Hollaback which raises public awareness and offers strategies to increase safety in public spaces. 

• support children making their own decisions about with whom to be physically affectionate, such as the Girl Scouts' reminder to family members to tell children that they do not owe anyone a hug—not even during the holidays.

So, what do we owe our youth? We owe them support on both fronts: the opportunity to learn and practice tools to protect themselves while we also owe them our efforts to create a safer world, society, communities, and families.

Martha Thompson

Lead Instructor

Admin Team Co-Chair

IMPACT Chicago

Thank you to Amy, Brett, Brooke, Lisa, Maple, and Rachel for their comments on an earlier version of this post.

IMPACT Chicago Comment on Title IX Proposed Changes

IMPACT Chicago is a nonprofit organization committed to ending violence and building a non-violent world in which all people can live safely and with dignity. Thousands of women and girls have taken self-defense with IMPACT Chicago. Within the past 30 years, we have offered programs at one time or another on almost every university campus in Chicago and in many high schools and elementary schools (e.g.  Chicago Waldorf School College of DuPage, Columbia College, DePaul University, Dominican University, Evanston Township High School, Francis Parker, Illinois Institute of Technology, Infinity Math, Science, and Technology High School, JCFS Therapeutic Day School, Latin School, University, Moraine Valley Community College, Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, North Park Elementary School, North Park University, Northside College Prep, Roosevelt University, School of the Art Institute, St. Ignatius College Prep, University of Chicago). Of the participants in our programs 16 and older, 46% have experienced unwanted sexual contact and 25% have experienced unwanted sexual intercourse, with 10% identifying their experience as rape.

Based on our experience with college, high school, and middle school students, we conclude that proposed changes in Title IX guidelines will harm students. We have comments on three proposed changes.

1.     Definition of harassment: “Unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the recipient’s education program or activity” or “Sexual assault, as defined in 34 CFR 668.46.” 106.30 Federal Register

To focus only on harassment and abuse that is “severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive” is harmful. “Nip it in the bud” is an old saying but one that is evidence-based. Research on effective management in schools indicates that interrupting disruptive behaviors at lower levels is more effective than trying to extinguish those behaviors once they have escalated (J.S. Kounin Discipline and Group Management in Classrooms, 1970; J. E. Brophy and C. M. Evertson Learning from Teaching 1976; C. M. Evertson and C.S. Weinstein Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, Practice, and Contemporary Issues 2013). Addressing inappropriate behavior in its earliest stages is effective in redirecting behavior that if left unattended could escalate into “severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive” behaviors with far-reaching negative consequences for targets, perpetrators, witnesses, and the school environment.

2.     Scope of an investigation: “In addition, the proposed regulations only require investigations in the event of sexual harassment within a recipient’s education program or activity.” 4.C. Cost Estimates, Federal Register

The proposal to permit schools to limit investigations to that which occurs within education programs or activities distorts the reality of students’ lives and educational systems.  Relationships among students and between students, faculty, and administrators go beyond educational programs and activities. A student who harasses another in a grocery store, in a student’s off-campus home, or other places is using a relationship developed within a school program, activity, or environment as the basis for the harassment. The fear, anxiety, and abuse that can result from sexual harassment outside of educational programs and activities affect students’ participation within educational programs and activities.

3.     Hearing process for higher education: “For institutions of higher education, the recipient’s grievance procedure must provide for a live hearing. At the hearing, the decision-maker must permit each party to ask the other party and any witnesses all relevant questions and follow-up questions, including those challenging credibility. Such cross-examination at a hearing must be conducted by the party’s advisor of choice…”. Section 106.45 (B)(3) Investigations of a Formal Complaint

The proposed changes presume false reporting is a major problem when research has consistently demonstrated that it is between 2-10 percent (D.Lisak, L. Gardinier, S.C. Nicksa, & A. M. Cote. 2010. “False allegations of sexual assault: An analysis of ten years of reported cases.” Violence Against Women: 16). Cross-examination by representatives of that institution will have a chilling effect on students, decrease reporting, and have negative effects on those who have been targeted.  

IMPACT Chicago challenges the proposed changes:

·       The definition of harassment and abuse narrowly focuses on the most egregious cases.

·       A narrow focus on harassment within educational programs and activities ignores how relationships developed in educational settings extend beyond educational systems.

·       A presumption that false allegations are rampart instead of building a policy on existing research and prioritizing the well-being of students who have experienced harassment or abuse.   
      Martha Thompson, IMPACT Chicago Lead Instructor
       IMPACT Chicago Comment (approved by the IMPACT Chicago Board of Directors) on 66 FR6760 “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance," submitted  to Register.Gov on Sunday January 27, 2019. The official comment period has been extended to January 30. For background information and resources, check out "Add Your Voice: Proposed Title IX Changes and Sexual Harassment."

Combat Anti-LGBT Acts with Self-Defense: Interview with Meg Stone

Meg Stone is the Director of IMPACT Boston, the President of IMPACT International, and a member of the Empowerment Self-Defense Alliance.  Gillian Kendall recently interviewed Meg for Curve Magazine "Combat Anti-LGBT Acts with Self-Defense." 


Meg talks about:

• Her work and teaching self-defense
• The effects of the 2016 Presidential election 
• What keeps her energized
• Words of hope and encouragement to offer long-lived lesbians.

Check it out here.

Raising Awareness About Human Trafficking: "Kung Fu Nuns"

Photo: Huffington Post

The Drukpa Order in Nepal offered Kung Fu training to the nuns in the order after they experienced harassment and violence. In addition to these changing dynamics between nuns and the public, the nuns have also recognized the rise in human trafficking in response to diasters caused by global warming and leaving poor people especially vulnerable, particularly women and girls who have been subjected to kidnapping, sexual exploitation, and trafficking.

To raise awareness about human trafficking, 500 nuns completed a 4,000 km bicycle trek from Nepal to India. Jigme Konchok Lhamo said that people expect nuns to stay in the temples and pray. She says that the nuns believe they have to go out into the world and act on the words that they pray. 
    

Reporting by Nita Bhalla, Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, land rights and climate change.