By Savanah Norman, Op Ed, Vancouver Sun, October 13, 2018

On Thursday,  September  27th  2018, we  gathered around the screen in our Justice for Girls office to watch the  United States  Supreme Court  nomination hearing.  What we saw  transpire  with  Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh made us  feel reluctantly grateful for not reporting the sexual assaults that we have experienced as teenage girls.  
 
As a diverse group of women—teen to middle-aged, white, Indigenous, straight, lesbian, wealthy, poor, grade 12 to post-graduate education— every one of us related to Dr. Ford and to each other. We felt a collective nausea at the familiarity of her story. We know first-hand what happens to teenage girls at parties. Among women, it’s common knowledge that men spike drinks at parties with anything from grain alcohol (Everclear), Rohypnol, MDMA, GHB, Ketamine, muscle relaxants, benzodiazepines, ecstasy, and the list goes on. A number of us have had this experience; some were lucky to escape assault, some were not.

Who hasn’t been at a party where  young men prey on an intoxicated  girl? A girl who has lost her ability to consent to sexual activity. Drunk does not mean yes.  We also know that girls are  pressured  to drink  excessively  at parties,  verbally harassed,  groped,  trapped in rooms alone and  barricaded from escaping, pinned down  against walls or furniture, and woken up to being assaulted after passing out. These things happened to teen girls  when  Christine Blasey Ford was a teenager, and continue to happen today. The #MeToo movement is  a great example of how common and normal these experiences of assault are for young women then and now.  

As the  women in our office watched  the hearing and thought about  all the young women we’ve spoken to over the past 20 years as an organization that responds to violence against teen girls, we came to the sad conclusion  that  our reality has not changed  much .  If  teenage girls want  to socialize with their peers and have fun at parties, they must worry about being  sexually  assaulted and/or drugged. Girls  are given the responsibility of keeping themselves safe from  rape : you  shouldn’t have been drinking; you should know to never leave your drink unattended; maybe you shouldn’t have worn that or been out so late; and, in the case of the Kavanaugh gang rape allegations, you shouldn’t have continued to attend those parties. It’s like we are still  in 1983, but we are not. 

​In 2016,  Justice for Girls interviewed 51 young women and teenage girls and found that the  greatest  barrier to their success in education was male violence.  In the 2013 Adolescent Health Survey of 30,000 B.C. youth, the McCreary Centre Society concluded that girls were six times more likely to have experienced both sexual and physical assault than boys. And, of the five percent of sexual assaults reported to the police in Canada, girls under the age of 18 make up nearly half of all victims, with sexual assault rates highest among girls aged 13 to 15.  

Kavanaugh’s extraordinary sense of entitlement clearly extended to the bodies of the young women in his social group. The elite prep school and sports teams Kavanaugh so proudly pushed forward as his alibi against Dr. Blasey Ford’s allegations are likely where he learned and legitimized his sexual assault tactics. 

According to sociologists DeKeseredy and Schwartz, across race, class, and geography, male peer socialization groups teach, encourage and legitimize sexual assault against young women.  Check locker rooms, fraternities, Facebook groups, Instagram, Snapchat, private group chats and you will find young men teaching each other how to exploit and assault young women. In many ways, ‘pussy-grabbing’ Trump was accurate to describe his boast about sexual assault as “locker room talk”. As Dekeseredy and Schwartz point out, old school locker room sexual assault socialization is now supplemented by thousands of degrading and violent pornographic depictions of women that can be accessed on a smartphone anywhere, anytime, including on the bus to school. Justice for Girls dealt with a case in which men created a Facebook page called “Deflowered in Seconds”— literally a step-by-step teaching manual on how to  sexually abuse 12 and 13- year-old  girls.  
 
Thankfully, the majority of men reject the Brett  Kavanaughs  and Donald Trumps  of this world. Many men and boys have spoken out and stand beside women who expose male violence. More must step forward  now.  All must intervene when a teen girl is  being set up to  be assaulted at a party or anywhere else.  Men and boys must fight against those who give them a bad name; this is the moment in history to stand with the women and girls. Don’t worry guys, you are not required to wear a pussy hat.

More importantly, this is a huge moment for women and girls.  When the Senate voted  Brett Kavanaugh  on to the US Supreme Court, and the White House blocked thorough, honest  and impartial investigation into sexual assault allegations, all while mocking women who came forward, what did this say to women and girls?  It  tells us we don’t matter, we don’t have the same rights as men, and that attempting to rape women or girls won’t stop you from serving in the highest level of court.  It  tells us that we don’t deserve justice. It reminds us that we are not equal.

Well it won’t work. We won’t bow down to the kind of raw male power and disdain for sexual assault survivors asserted by Kavanaugh, Trump and the Republicans. We won’t let the drunken Brett Kavanaughs of the world laugh in our faces. Instead, we will strengthen our resolve and fight harder for justice. Women and girls will stop accusing men of sexual assault when men stop sexually assaulting.

Angela Sterritt is an award-winning journalist, writer, and artist. Angela's intelligence, resilience and passionate commitment to justice is an inspiration. We are honoured to have worked with Angela at Justice for Girls.

Please follow Angela's journalism at: 
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AngelaSterritt?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Website:
https://angelasterritt.com

In the video below, Angela explains how, as an Indigenous teen girl, she rose up from poverty, abuse  and discrimination to graduate from high school (as valedictorian) and become an artist and award winning journalist.

I remember the day I found out about the Justice for Girls Internship opportunity. I didn’t think I’d have a shot at being hired, but I was so excited about the organization and the possibility of becoming a part of it that I tried anyway. To my surprise, I landed a spot on the Girls' Advocacy & Education Center project team. It was the first job I had had in over four years, and it meant the world to me. As I began to become more involved in the Internship, I started to grow as a person. I felt my voice being heard and my words moving people.

When I was abused and entered the court system as a young teenager, I was alone. I was alone in my addictions and in all of the abuse that followed. It’s easy to feel like you have no worth when you’re a young girl who is being poked and prodded, stuffed full of unnecessary medications, and passed along from psychiatrist to psychiatrist. Becoming a part of Justice For Girls made me realize I could have been saved from so much damage if only there had been enough support, enough resources and enough people who believe that my voice matters.

This is what I love about Justice For Girls: their social justice perspective, their ability to trust and support young women who are feeling the most hopeless. Over the past few months, I have been educated on my rights, the rights of the young women around me, and what can be done to help us work through all of the systems that dangle us by strings like puppets. The organization has helped me learn that the best way to help youth is to listen to the words they say.

I’m proud of being an intern with Justice for Girls. I’m proud of myself for turning my life around and I want other young women and girls to feel this pride too.
 
JFG Intern

When I was younger I desperately needed a program like Justice For Girls in my life. But at 13 and 14, I didn’t know of any resources for help and I quickly slipped through the cracks of the education system. From a very young age my home life was unstable and unpredictable. I had no voice and felt I had no worth. By the time I was in the eighth grade, I suffered from depression, anxiety and often thought about suicide. I did not feel like I belonged anywhere, especially at a very wealthy westside school with high academic standards. Half way through grade eight, I started attending less and less, failing classes and felt like giving up every day. At the same time, I had to deal with the provincial courts because of a custody battle between my parents. The court counsellor I talked to claimed the notes would help the judge make an impartial decision, but my confidentiality was broken. Everything I told her was recorded and copies were sent to my parents. Any sliver of trust I had for people with authority over me vanished.
 
The next year came and home life continued to be very rocky.  I soon discovered a solution to my life problems in the form of drugs and alcohol. Addiction took over my life and I stopped going to school altogether. I spent the majority of my time on the street with people who were just like me. I had run-ins with the police, and saw my friends who fit into racial stereotypes being treated unfairly. Trips to youth detoxes became frequent, as did mental health assessments, drug and alcohol counsellors, twelve step meetings and even a 10 week stay at the only local youth treatment centre. I was afraid, traumatized and trusted no one.
 
After a year and a half of struggling to get sober, I was ready enough to do whatever it took to not have to live like that anymore. I started to grow and learn about myself and helping others became more important in my life.
 
Justice For Girls came into my life when I was about 6 months sober, and changes started happening fast. I am now surrounded by strong women who I trust and relate to. We have all struggled in our own ways and have walked through it, and now we are able to walk with other young women. I’m now over a year sober, and being a part of Justice For Girls is one of the best gifts I have received. My experience can now be used to help others, and to make changes where they are needed. As an Intern now, I have a voice and the power to help create something that 13-year-old me needed so desperately.

​JFG Intern