Opinion

Prevention Is Possible: Recognizing The Intersectionality Of All ‘Isms’ In The Eradication And Prevention Of Sexual Violence

This is a Sexual Assault Awareness Month editorial. Oppression is ‘the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner’; and ‘the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions & anxiety’ (1). Oppression is sibling to expressions of abuse, coercion, domination and injustice – much like the descriptors of acts of sexual violence. This April, as we observe Sexual Assault Awareness Month and promote the national theme ‘Prevention is Possible’, you – the reader – is asked to take ‘a pause for the cause’; and, in this moment of reflection, you are also urged to seek a sense of urgency in examining, identifying and acknowledging oppression and the means through which it manifests in our community through your thoughts, your communication and your actions. Likewise, you are urged to assess how these concepts and ‘norms’ perpetuate oppression through sexual assault and rape in our community. We are not always inclined to condu...