Transitioning Times

This April, we have provided NO MORE placards to participants in training and other people we meet to allow them to give their reason for saying NO MORE. Below you will find their reasons.  To view them individually, go to our Facebook !

Italy, 1992.  A teenage girl is picked up by her 45 year-old driving instructor for her first lesson.  Instead of teaching her how to drive, the instructor rapes her for over an hour and threatens to kill her if she tells.  The brave young woman discloses the assault to her parents and they support her in filing charges against the perpetrator.  He is arrested, charged, and convicted of the crime. However, in 1999, on appeal from the perpetrator, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the conviction "because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them...and by removing the jeans...it was no longer rape but consensual sex."  This truly horrible decision by the Italian Supreme Court inspired a national and international movement called "Denim Day."  Wearing jeans on this day demonstrates a protest against the erroneous and harmful attitudes about sexual assault. This year Denim Day is April 23, 2014.  Show your support to sexual assau

            Did you know that a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that 72% of 8 th and 9 th grade student are “dating”?  This fact can be frightening to parents of teens at this age and lead parents to wonder if their children will be safe in their relationships.  This April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the focus has been placed on adolescents and preventing sexual violence in these relationships by addressing healthy sexuality and healthy relationships.             Healthy sexuality is the ability to responsibly, understand and control one’s sexual behavior.  Sexuality is not merely sex, but includes values, attitudes, beliefs, feelings, behaviors, and interactions.  A discussion on healthy sexuality should focus on gender norms and inequality, as well as consent, healthy relationships, and boundaries.  Discussing healthy sexuality with your child can help prevent sexual violence.             During adolescence, children go through a stage

Thank you to Rosemary Neidig for coming to Barnes & Noble in Lewisburg to sign copies of her book Every Two Minutes: One Woman's Journey through Sexual Traumas. Pictured below, from left to write, are Transitions' Programs Director Heather Over, Transitions' CEO Susan Mathias, author Rosemary Neidig, Director of Bucknell's Women's Resource Center Tracy Russell, and Debbie Fitzgerald from Barnes & Noble at Bucknell.

I spent my International Women’s Day off spreading the message of equality to my son’s 1 st grade class during Read Across America Week 2014.  He chose one our favorite books, Mama Played Baseball by David Adler.  It is a historical fiction book based on the formation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (A-AGPBL).  The story features a little girl named Amy and her mother becoming a female baseball player while her father is serving in World War II. Our copy of Mama Played Baseball was actually autographed by a former Rockford Peach, Sara “Salty” Sands from Orangeville, Pa.  We passed her autographed trading card around for his classmates to look at. They were surprised to learn someone close to our area played in the A-AGPBL.  I told them how I had the honor of meeting her and what a humble person she is. She laughed when I told her she is piece of history and I keep her trading card locked in a firebox.  Before I read to my son’s class it gave me the o

I am a survivor!  I have had a lifetime of sexual assault.  The first time was from an uncle that lived in my grandmother’s home.  He was my caretaker when my grandmother was at work.  He would have me fondle him and at times would touch me.  I never told anyone.  This started my journey of being victimized time and time again, the next time in my life was by a neighbor boy, he would touch me and make a game out of it, as I was a teen when I was babysitting, sleeping on the couch and the father of the children tried touching me and crawling on top of me, luckily his wife came out when I yelled and the man pretended that he was too drunk to know what he was doing.  After all this, a man I was dating coerced me to have sex with him after pleading with him on several occasions saying that I was not ready,  I just gave up.  Lastly, I married with not knowing what a positive sexual experience was; the sexual abuse I suffered with him was as devastating as in my younger years. Today, I

            This is the tagline for End Violence Against Women International’s new campaign, Start by Believing.  Besides the obvious (though apparently, not always obvious enough!) action of not committing rape, the most helpful thing we can do for survivors is to believe and support them when they come to us and ask for help.  It is traumatic enough to be victimized in the first place; rapists rob their victims of their peace of mind, sense of safety, and temporarily their control over their own body and choices.  However, it is equally painful and demeaning to have the bravery to tell someone your story and then be doubted, brushed off, or vilified for speaking up.  Not only does this skeptical response hurt the survivor, but it also allows the rapist to continue on free of consequence—and most importantly, free to rape again.             One common protest argues that women simply ‘cry rape’ and lie about what has happened.  However, national FBI statistics that take into acco