#SheSpeaks
#SheSpeaks gives sexual assault survivors a voice - the actual mic - to direct the conversation through their own lenses and experiences. It allows them to confidently take a stand, expose the perpetrators, protect our girls from sexual grooming, sexual assault, and rape, and challenge the culture of silence and cover-ups.
The Angelic Ladies Society launched the #SheSpeaks Advocacy Campaign on July 1, 2021, in response to the overwhelming news stories we had seen about the sexual trauma that our girls were experiencing across the island of Jamaica.
Since then the campaign has evolved into one of our organization’s core advocacy programs with multiple initiatives.
#SheSpeaks first began as a social media campaign.
It gave young girls the opportunity to speak out online about their experiences, and us, the ability to share information and resources to help those experiencing sexual violence and trauma.
We will continue to promote this campaign online, particularly throughout April each year, which is globally recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence , which runs from November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, until December 10th, Human Rights Day, each year.
Dance Movement Therapy
So often, sexual assault survivors feel detached from their bodies. Dance Movement Therapy give girls the opportunity to get reacquainted with their bodies and move past the point of violation.
With this in mind, we facilitated a 4-week dance session for 21 sexual assault victims/survivors to help them heal emotionally through the movement of their bodies as they engaged in various dance workouts and team-building activities. Each session was complimented by an empowerment talk from an influential female personality, whether from media, entertainment or a past survivor.
Media Appearances
Odyssey with Yendi
Three members of The Angelic Ladies Society team - core #SheSpeaks advocates - were invited by Yendi Phillipps to appear on her show, Odyssey with Yendi, to share their stories. You can watch the full episode below.
Sexual Violence Sensitization
Training & Advocacy Campaign
As we engaged with high school girls during our regular Empowerment Talks in 2023, we learned that a significant number had either experienced or been exposed to sexual grooming, incest, rape and/or early sexual exposure.
At one school, in a room of 24 girls, we discovered that a whopping 14 were victims of sexual violence, 4 were suicidal, and the others express feelings of hopelessness and deep sadness. It triggered us into action.
We know that sensitization helps to reduce sexual assault incidences, increase awareness, improve the confidence and the capacity of our girls to #SpeakUp and #BreaktheSilence.
With aid from the Canada Fund for Local Initiative, we extended the parameters of our Campaign, taking it offline and heading directly into our schools, where we engaged with over 320 girls ages 12-15, along with parents, middle managers and academic staff, Guidance Counselors and Deans of Discipline across the 6 High Schools in the parish of St. Thomas - Robert Lightbourne High School, Yallahs High School, Seaforth High School, Paul Bogle High School, Morant Bay High School, and St. Thomas Technical High School.
The project aimed to bring awareness to the issues of sexual assault, define and understand the terminologies (rape, sexual grooming, incest, molestation etc.), bring exposure to the relevant laws, emphasize the importance of reporting as responsible and prescribed caregivers, identify the signs of sexual assault and direct victims/survivors, schools administration, and parents to resources available for help and holistic support.
