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Before there Is a Table: Small Wins to Build a Movement against Sexual and Relationship Violence in a University Context

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Abstract

Addressing sexual and relationship violence (SRV) on campuses requires coordinated engagement from all members of the campus-community; however, many campuses do not yet have the infrastructure or institutional commitment to build an all-campus action plan. In such cases, campuses lack the metaphorical table around which collaboration happens. This paper presents tensions and lessons learned so far from a faculty-staff-student partnership to build a movement toward university-wide collaborative practice. Through iterative, collaborative reflection on our context, practice, and intermediate outcomes, we identified recommendations for improving praxis in campus-based, intersectional anti-SRV organizing. Our analysis explores how our individual positionalities both open up and limit our potential to move this work forward. We share our guiding values and frameworks, including intersectional feminist attention to power and oppression; centering survivors and students; strategic collaboration within systems; and integrating self-care and other supportive practices for building a sustainable movement. Our emergent strategy, illustrated through ten lessons/tensions and four case examples, focuses on finding close collaborators with shared SRV analysis; making the best use of resources and spaces we control; identifying meaningful “small wins;” and pursuing opportunities to connect to others through positive collaborations. Efforts to intentionally raise awareness and grow strategic institutional connections build momentum toward institutionally-supported campus-wide evaluation and reimagining of prevention and survivor-support efforts. While feminist collaborative social change is challenging, we celebrate and learn from our “two steps forward” to sustain us through the inevitable steps back. We write to stir a conversation where we help each other interpret and learn across our varied contexts.

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Notes

  1. Credit to Rosenberg and other staff who shared their hesitation about working with faculty and educated me (Lichty) in this process.

  2. The club name reflects a moment where our different vantage points produced sometimes difficult conversations. In this case, both Rosenberg and Lichty expressed concern about the acronym given legacies of white savior complexes and the problematic idea that people who experience SRV need to be saved by others. These points were taken to the group and the students elected to retain the name but develop a mission statement grounded in survivor empowerment.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Anna Bui and every survivor of relationship and sexual violence at UW Bothell. We also want to acknowledge all of our colleagues who worked to raise the visibility of sexual and relationship violence practice on our campus. We cannot name everyone, but we are especially grateful to our collaborators in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies and Student Affairs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Washington Bothell, Box 358530, 18115 Campus Way NE, Bothell, WA, 98011-8246, USA

    Lauren F. Lichty, Karen Rosenberg & Kyra Laughlin

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  1. Lauren F. Lichty
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  2. Karen Rosenberg
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  3. Kyra Laughlin
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Correspondence to Lauren F. Lichty.

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Lichty, L.F., Rosenberg, K. & Laughlin, K. Before there Is a Table: Small Wins to Build a Movement against Sexual and Relationship Violence in a University Context. J Fam Viol 33, 629–645 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-018-9986-z

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