Sexual Assault Center of East TN

24 Hour Crisis Line 865-522-7273

[catharsisproductions]

[catharsisproductions]

Keep it festive, fun, and safe this holiday!

[merylstreepsmarts]

This is my new favorite shirt ! #consent #feminism #spicegirls #wannabe

[catharsisproductions]

[youfckinwhat-deactivated2013122]

It is rape if:

She says no

She says stop

She fights back

She is asleep

She is passed out

She is too drunk to say no

She is too high to say no

She is disabled and physically unable to say no

She is under the age of consent

She is pressured into sex with threats, both physical and verbal

It is also rape if:

He says no

He says stop

He fights back

He is asleep

He is passed out

He is too drunk to say yes

He is too high to say yes

He is disabled and physically unable to say no

He is under the age of consent

He is pressured into sex with threats, both physical and verbal

[sacet]

It is not a victim’s responsibility to avoid rape, and our emphasis in sexual education should not be teaching our children how to not get raped. Instead, we should teach our children that full consent is the most important sexual ethic of all. Still, I am filled with regret for what I believe is the biggest mistake of my life: I never once talked with my son about the risks of sexual assault, defending himself against it, or what to do if he ever was assaulted.

Why We Need To Talk To Our Sons About Rape

[theseptembreissue]

On consent.

[ungraciouslyblunt]

This.

[catharsisproductions]

Let’s work to build a world that believes, supports, and helps ALL survivors.

[sacet]

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (by HumanRightsActionCtr)

[genderqueer]

A boy and a girl run around on the grass at the park. The boy tackles the girl. The girl laughs. She gets up and runs away. She loves to run. He chases, she turns and they grab each other, tumble and land in a pile, giggling. After a few minutes, he tackles her again and she lands a bit hard. She is bigger and physical, but he more than holds his own in roughhousing. She pauses for a second. Then she laughs again; she’s still having fun.Dad gets his attention, and says, “If she’s not having fun, you have to stop.”He is two. He needs to hear this now, and so does she. And again, and again, and again, so that like wearing a helmet on the bike it is ingrained.

Yes Means Yes blog: “visions of female sexual power & a world without rape”

Parents, siblings, carers, cousins, teachers, tutors, mentors, aunts, uncles, etc, of young children: we have a chance to mold the gender relations of the future.

(via genderqueer)

Such great advice. 

I’ve done this with my kids since the moment they could each sign “more” and “all done” around 8 months old.  More tickles?  Or all done?  More kisses?  Or all done?  More bouncing?  Or all done?

When they’re old enough to play with others, you teach them to constantly check in with each other.  Are you having fun?  Or do you want to be done?

Is the shrieking laughter or fear?  ASK.

Is the giggling from joy or nervousness?  ASK.

Do you like being smacked with pillows?  ASK.

Are you having fun wrestling?  ASK.

And keep asking.  What was fun five minutes ago might not be fun now.

Both kids know the moment something stops being fun, they need to stop.  And they know that their wishes about what is fun and what’s not will be respected by their parents and by each other.  They’ve known it since 8 months old.

This truly isn’t a difficult concept.  It’s easy to teach it by example and it’s incredibly simple for children to do.

Are you having fun?  Or do you want to stop?

Fucking teach it, parents.  Please.  ~JJ

(via kvothetheraving)

[brandon-3-deactivated20220704]

[sacet]

Text: The butterflies you feel should come from love not fear.

[gerriceo]

[webelieveyou]

No more excuses.

[gaypanicdundun]

I will forever reblog this

[wanderulst]

It’s sort of horrifying that we all know what they’re talking about without them really saying it.. that it’s become that much of a norm in our society that we just know.

[clinicallydepressedpug]

Sorry I just had a question on how to decipher people in your life as toxic or not. How can you tell whether or not it is just your depressed state that is irrationally hurt or upset by them and not that they are truly bringing you down or neglecting you?

In a healthy relationship, you:

Treat each other with respect

Feel secure and comfortable

Are not violent with each other

Can resolve conflicts satisfactorily

Enjoy the time you spend together

Support one another

Take interest in one another’s lives: health, family, work, etc.

Have privacy in the relationship

Can trust each other

Are each sexual by choice

Communicate clearly and openly

Have letters, phone calls, and e-mail that are your own

Make healthy decisions about alcohol or other drugs

Encourage other friendships

Are honest about your past and present sexual activity if the relationship is intimate

Know that most people in your life are happy about the relationship

Have more good times in the relationship than bad

In an unhealthy relationship, one or both of you:

Try to control or manipulate the other

Make the other feel bad about her/himself

Ridicule or call names

Dictate how the other dresses

Do not make time for each other

Criticize the other’s friends

Are afraid of the other’s temper

Discourage the other from being close with anyone else

Ignore each other when one is speaking

Are overly possessive or get jealous about ordinary behavior

Criticize or support others in criticizing people with your gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or other personal attribute

Control the other’s money or other resources (e.g., car)

Harm or threaten to harm children, family, pets, or objects of personal value

Push, grab, hit, punch, or throw objects

Use physical force or threats to prevent the other from leaving

Those traits are for romantic relationships, but I think a lot of it fits for platonic relationships too.

If they repeatedly make you feel bad they are probably toxic.

-Eline

[vaspider]

When I was ten years old, a dog bit the back of my head. The doctor said, within earshot but out of sight — he didn’t think I could hear him — that had the dog’s teeth been a little longer, they could have gone in under my skull. Hit my brain stem. Killed me, crippled me.

I don’t know whether or not he was right. All I know is that for a decade and a half after that, I harbored a complete and unreasoning terror of dogs. It didn’t matter how big they were, or how tame, or how kind. Someone else could assure me that they were the best dog in the world, that they knew the dog, that he would never hurt anyone, and it didn’t matter, because I was convinced that any dog could suddenly turn on me, bite me hard enough to kill me.

There were two dogs I slowly learned to trust during that time period. And, eventually, I learned to understand dogs again, to understand their body language, to like them again, because my husband convinced me to get a puppy, to raise a dog from when it was small, that this would help me get over my fear.

No one ever told me I was crazy or irrational for not wanting to be around dogs after I’d been attacked and nearly killed by one.  No one. For fifteen years, it was understandable that I would be afraid — terribly, unreasoningly afraid — of dogs. A dog attacked me. I bore the traumatic scars. I found dogs terrifying, unpredictable. I could not trust any of them — no matter how kind they’d been to my friends, no matter how well-recommended they came or how well they’d been raised — not to turn on me and injure me.

When I was fifteen, I was raped.

Do I even need to finish this?

[bindupthesebrokenbones]

In the original self care kit post, we gave some general ideas of what to include in your kit. The rest of the SCK series will focus more in depth on what to include, and why to include it.

For part one we’re going to focus on self-soothing, utilizing your five senses…

[catharsisproductions]

Ask first and respect the answer. Consent is active, verbal, mutual, and ongoing!