“I can’t forget what happened”

In attempts to help spread the word of FORCE, here you go:

The most common trauma of women remains confined to the sphere of private life, without formal recognition or restitution from the community. There is no public monument for rape survivors.
-Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery

This Valentine’s Day, FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture is creating a public memorial for survivors and victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse and rape. During V-DAY’s 1 Billion Rising event, FORCE will float the words I can’t forget what happened but no one else remembers on the reflecting pool of the national mall. The statement, written by a survivor, reflects the isolating and traumatic experience of living with sexual violence.  The temporary testament is a public call to create a permanent national monument to honor survivors.  If we continue to forget the reality of rape, abuse and assault in a country where 30-45% of women and 13-16% of men are affected, how will we ever prevent it?  As a nation, we need to honor the survivors living with sexual violence today, so that, for future generations, this violence may stop.

We are looking for individuals and organizations that want to join our effort to make a public monument to rape a reality.  On V-Day we are calling on local supporters to gather on the national mall at 3pm to celebrate the unveiling of “I can’t forget what happened” and to rally for a permanent monument.  We are also looking for volunteers who can join our team starting at noon to put the poem together.  

Starting now and until the day a monument is created, we are looking for organizations that want to join and support the effort through petitions, contacting congress, and fundraising.  If you or your organization is interested in joining a coalition of feminists and anti-rape activists working to make this idea a reality please contact FORCE at upsettingrapeculture@gmail.com.

More about the need for a public memorial:
Memorials create a platform for individuals and communities to grieve trauma. When our country undergoes a traumatic event, like a natural disaster or a war, memorials serve as a focal point for people to understand violent and alienating experiences. The existing memorials on the national mall are places to honor the important people of our history, to grieve the losses of violence, and for society to remember.  When our nation remembers difficult parts of our history, we are better able to prevent injustice and atrocities from repeating.

This important public process has not happened with sexual violence.  The statistics anti-rape activists were quoting 40 years ago are still being used today.  One in four women have been raped.  By the time Americans are 18, one in three women and one in six men will have been sexually abused as children.  Women in the US are twice as likely to experience rape in their lifetime than breast cancer.  

In the midst of an epidemic of sexual violence, our country has no public space for survivors to heal.  There is no public process for survivors to rebuild a connection to their community that has been devastated by the violence and violation of rape.  There is little national recognition of the overwhelming epidemic of rape and the need for our country to find an end.  A history remembered is less likely to be repeated.  An epidemic recognized is less likely to continue.  We need to honor survivors living with the memory of sexual violence today, so that this violence will not be repeated in future generations.  We would like to see our temporary gesture honoring survivors become a permanent monument, testament and promise to future generations, that, as a country, we are committed to ending rape.

More about FORCE:
FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture is a creative activist effort to upset the culture of rape and promote a culture of consent. We believe that a more difficult and honest conversation needs to happen in America to face the realities of sexual violence, and we envision a world where sex is empowering and pleasurable rather than coercive and violent. As activists, we are here to force the issue.

FORCE is most widely known for their most recent actions “PINK loves CONSENT” and “RAPE is RAPE”.  “PINK loves CONSENT” was a web-based prank that made consent go viral and sparked an internet revolution.  FORCE pretended to be Victoria’s Secret promoting a new line of consent-themed, anti-rape panties. The action and internet aftermath got millions of people talking about consent, rape culture, and the sexual empowerment of women.  On the eve of the last presidential debate, FORCE projected “RAPE IS RAPE” onto the US Capitol Building along with stories of survivors.  The text tells the experience of survivors, which in a national conversation about the politics of rape, have eerily been left out.

You can follow FORCE’s efforts at upsettingrapeculture.com.  FORCE can be contacted at upsettingrapeculture@gmail.com.