Working for peace means working to end sexual violence

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We #BelieveSurvivors. We believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. We believe Deborah Ramirez, Julie Swetnick, and Anita Hill.

Our work for a more peaceful world demands we work across borders to end sexual assault and dismantle rape culture. Now.

After watching the Kavanaugh hearings, we’re nauseated. Enraged. Deeply exhausted. Just plain heartbroken. But we refuse to back down.

We need to show that we believe survivors and that we support them, even if those in power don’t.

Can you chip in to support these 8 organizations working to empower survivors of sexual assault?

The next lines will describe sexual violence, so please stop reading if you need to. But Win Without War wants to say clearly:

The United States’ violence-first foreign policies drive sexual violence within our borders and beyond them.

Around the world, rape is a weapon of war. Whenever the United States has driven conflicts — up to our current global, endless “war on terror” — we have enabled rape and other forms of sexual assault.

Moreover, U.S. defense contractors operating without oversight allows sexual assault to continue with impunity. We have heard horrific reports about DynCorp in Bosnia; Abu Ghraib in Iraq; and earlier this year, the United States’ watchdog agency in Afghanistan reported that U.S.-allied Afghan security forces were committing child sexual abuse without consequences.

And there is an epidemic of sexual assault in the United States military. When our nation asks servicemembers to risk their lives to fight our endless, unwinnable wars, we compound the cruelty by asking them to bear the risk of being sexually assaulted.

The stomach-churning Kavanaugh hearings have made it clear that no matter what, Washington will find a way to defend rape culture.

As survivors, and their allies; as women and non-binary people, and their allies; as activists for peace, the most powerful thing we can do right now is to act in solidarity with survivors.

We ask you to join us in supporting these organizations working to empower survivors of sexual assault and rape.

In this moment, as we set our eyes on the struggles ahead, let’s make sure that we take care of those who are hurting among us. We wish you strength and healing if you need it right now.