Sexual assault, abuse and harassment should not be a rite of passage for women and girls.
Yet, nearly 1 in 5 women in the United States have been raped at some time in their lives while 44% of women have experienced lifetime sexual violence victimization other than rape. For Black women in New York City and beyond, the stakes are intensified: they will experience rape at a rate of 22% higher than white women in New York City alone.
Black Women's Blueprint seeks to counter and disrupt the generational cycle of poverty and victimization that can occur due to experiences of sexual violence as it affects Black populations in particular. The aftermath of sexual violence too often sees Black women facing homelessness, unemployment, interrupted education and health, mental health, and other daily stressors and struggles.
We are committed to spotlighting Black women's experience with sexual violence and building sustainable, innovative, multi-pronged, culturally specific programs of comprehensive interventions that can serve and bolster the wellbeing of Black women survivors. To date, Black Women's Blueprint has launched the first and only Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the nation to focus on rape and sexual assault against Black women in the United States; organized the Black Women's March on Washington to denounce sexual violence against Black women and girls; co-hosted the Words of Fire Conference, centering Black women and girls' power, agency and pleasure; and provides ongoing crisis intervention, lone counseling, healing circles, solidarity economy, advocacy and community education.
It is a bold, innovative and groundbreaking move by Black women across generations, ethnicities, sexualities and other identities, to confront the ever shifting nature of rape culture and sexual violence against Black women in the United States. Will you stand with us?
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