Respecting the NO

I am so excited to have gotten word that I was approved to work with the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center on their Texas PEACE Project.

The Texas PEACE Project (‘PEACE’= Peer Educators Acting for Change and Equality) was created by the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault to empower and support youth activists across Texas, and their adult allies, to end sexual violence by creating social change. DARCC is spearheading one such group in the Dallas area. This group is designed to attract a dynamic, service-oriented group of young people who have an interest not only in helping DARCC, but in ending oppression in the state of Texas and beyond. The Dallas Area Chapter of the Texas PEACE Project is currently being considered for pilot status by the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault.

The PEACE Project is based on the following concepts: Youth have the ability to create social change in their communities, and in order to change the world, individuals must first change themselves. Because peer education is the most effective strategy for mobilizing youth to create change, the PEACE Project offers a tiered system of mentorship: Advisors (age 31+) mentor Allies (young adults age 18-30), who offer guidance to Ambassadors (youth grades 9-12). Through participation in the Texas PEACE Project young people learn leadership skills, how a nonprofit organization works and how to develop, promote and implement their ideas. Program participants will engage in activities that are designed to create a critical consciousness of the various forms of oppression (such as sexism, racism, homophobia and adultism) that create space for sexual and dating violence to exist. The PEACE Project addresses each of these issues, in a curriculum composed of learning modules voted on by the participating students.

Something to know is that if you are in the DFW area,

DARCC is currently seeking volunteers to be active in this program as Allies (young adults age 18-30). If you are interested in promoting equality and ending all forms of oppression, then you or someone you know might be the perfect fit for this innovative mentoring program.

I am really looking forward to being involved with this program, especially through this dynamic organization.  I wasn’t self-aware, or self-caring enough to seek help with my own situation, but the bottom line is that my situation should never have been–and I honestly (with 20 years of distance, experience, and motherhood) believe could have been prevented if someone had taught my date-rapist to respect The No.  I hope that with this project, I can offer my small assistance in creating a world where No Means No, and it only needs said once.

In the meantime, please support your local rape crisis center however you can.  There are men and women, little boys and little girls who need a place to recover, and your local rape crisis center can help them overcome being victims, and help them live well as survivors.