Domestic & Sexual Violence

A HISTORY OF ATTITUDES

This timeline is a compilation of significant events, issues and attitudes in Western history related to domestic violence, sexual violence, and child abuse.

The items highlighted are not intended to disparage any particular group or individual. Items were chosen because they are representative of significant cultural trends at different points in history, and each has something to teach us about how we arrived at the place we are today.

In any history or narrative, it is important to ask– whose voice is missing?

It is often the individuals who live at the intersection of multiple oppressions – sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism – whose voices go unheard, and stories go untold.

As you look at this timeline, please ask yourself:

Whose stories are being told?

Whose voices are loudest?

Whose story is seen as 'the story'?

1. 900 BCE - 200 BCE

“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee.” (God to Eve. Genesis 3:16. Old Testament.)

*Woodcut for “Die Bibel in Bildern,”circa 1860, Adam and Eve at Day 6 illustration*

2. 1400s

“When you see your wife commit an offense…take up a stick and beat her soundly, for it is better to punish the body and correct the soul than to damage the soul and spare the body…Then readily beat her, not in rage but out of charity and concern for her soul…” (Friar Cherubino of Siena, The Rules of Marriage)

3. 1600s

“The husband cannot be guilty of rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract, the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband, which she cannot retract.” (Matthew Hale. History of the Pleas of the Crown. Written circa 1650s, published 1736)

Approximately 375 years later, Justice Samuel Alito would quote Hale fifteen times in the majority opinion in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which decided that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, writing, “Two treatises by Sir Matthew Hale likewise described abortion of a quick child who died in the womb as a “great crime” and a “great misprision.” Pleas of the Crown 53 (P. Glazebrook ed. 1972); 1 History of the Pleas of the Crown 433 (1736) (Hale).” (United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.19-60455 - Jackson Women's Health Orgn, et al v. Thomas Dobbs, et al.)

*Printed by E. and R. Nutt and R. Gosling for F. Gyles, Portrait of Matthew Hale, 1736, London*

4. 1700s & 1800s

Sexual violence against Indigenous women is used as a tool of colonization over centuries.

"Historically, Indigenous women were raped by settlers and soldiers, including during the Trail of Tears and the Long Walk between the 1830s and 1860s. Such attacks were not random or individual; they were weapons of conquest and colonization. The attitudes towards Indigenous peoples that underpin such human rights abuses continue to be present in the USA today." (Amnesty International. Maze of Injustice. 2011)

*Theodor de Bry, circa 1700s, engraving depicting an encounter between Indigenous people and an Englishman*

5. 1824

“[T]he Husband should still be permitted to exercise the right to use moderate chastisement in cases of great emergency, and to use salutary restraint in every case of misbehavior, without subjecting himself to vexatious prosecutions for assault and battery, resulting in the discredit and shame of all parties concerned.” (Mississippi Supreme Court. Bradley v. State, 828.1824)

*Author unknown, 1782, From “The Rambler’s Magazine,” The British Museum*
Etching of Francis Buller in a judge’s wig and robe, beating his wife with a stick. Buller says “Tis no bigger than my thumb” to which she replies, “would I had known this before marriage.” A partially unrolled scroll reads, “A husband may chastise his wife with a stick the size of his thumb.”

6. 1838

The North Carolina court rules that schoolmasters and teachers will not be held criminally responsible for the infliction of punishment upon their students unless the act endangers their life or causes permanent injury. (Supreme Court of North Carolina. Pendergrass v. North Carolina, 19 N.C. 365. 1837)

*Circa 1850s, U.S. Classroom, location and source unknown*

7. 1839

Mississippi is the first state to pass a Married Women’s Property Act which gives White women the right to hold and sell property, keep contracts, keep wages, and bring about a lawsuit. The act also allowed White women to maintain ownership of enslaved people and can be traced to the landmark lawsuit of Fisher v. Allen. (Mississippi Supreme Court. Fisher v. Allen, 611. 1837)

*1848, New York newspaper column discussing a later Married Women's Property Act*

8. 1840s

The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, during which participants outline women’s grievances and demands in the Declaration of Sentiments and the Resolutions, marks the beginning of first-wave feminism. First-wave feminism specifically benefits and advocates for white women.

Though many supported both the women’s rights movement and the abolitionist movement, members of both groups often had conflicting opinions. For instance, the World Anti-Slavery Convention refused to have female delegates while prominent feminists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton argued that it would be insulting if Black men gained the right to vote before White women did. (Melder, Keith E. Beginnings of Sisterhood: the American Woman’s Rights Movement, 1800-1850. Schocken Books. 1997)

Eight leaders of the women’s rights and abolitionist movements. Top (left to right): Angelina Grimke, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Purvis, William Lloyd Garrison. Bottom (left to right): Sarah Grimke, Elizabeth Cady Stanton Lucy Stone, Frederick Douglas

9. 1855

The Missouri Court rules that given their chattel* status, women who are enslaved have no right to protect themselves against their masters’ sexual advances. (Missouri Supreme Court. State v. Celia, 42 Mo. 502. 1855).

*Chattel: a possession or item of property

*Circa 1800s, depiction of Celia in chains as an antislavery medallion of the late 18th century, The British Museum*

10. 1851

Sojourner Truth delivers her "Ain't I a Woman" speech at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention. In the speech, Truth, formerly enslaved, emphasizes that both the abolitionist movement, which focused on Black men, and the women’s rights movement, which focused on White women, largely ignored the plight of Black women. The marginalization of Black women continues to be a problem in the modern feminist movement.

“That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman?”

“Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.” (McKissack, Pat, 1944-2017. Sojourner Truth : Ain't I a Woman? New York: Scholastic, 1992)

11. 1869

A man in Illinois is prosecuted for confining his blind son in a cold cellar in the middle of winter. The father’s attorney argued that parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit. However, the Illinois Supreme Court disagreed, writing that parental “authority must be exercised within the bounds of reason and humanity. If the parent commits wanton and needless cruelty upon his child, either by imprisonment of this character or by inhuman beating, the law will punish him.” (Illinois Supreme Court, Pletcher v. People, 141 Ill. 414.1892)

This is one of the first times that a parent is found guilty of child abuse in the U.S.

12. 1874

Etta Wheeler meets Mary Ellen Wilson, a 9-year-old girl living in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC who is experiencing severe emotional and physical abuse from her parents. Wheeler turns to the police for help, who refuse to intervene. Given that there are no organizations dedicated to child welfare, Wheeler asks Henry Bergh, the founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) for help.

Bergh and his attorney, Elbridge Gerry, make a legal argument that Wilson needs to be removed from her home, and a judge agrees. After this case, Bergh and Gerry found the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC), the world’s first child protection organization. (Perez, Amanda. “Protection for Our Children: The Mary Ellen Wilson Case” St. Mary’s Research Scholars. 2017)

13. Late 1800s

First-wave feminists decry marital rape:

“What father could rest at home by night, knowing that his lovely daughter was at the mercy of a strong man drunk with wine and passion and that, do what he might, he was backed up by law and public sentiment?” (Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The Solitude of Self. Speech presented at Seneca Falls Convention. Seneca Falls, New York. January 18, 1892)

*Circa 1880, Photo of Elizabeth Cady Stanton*

14. 1880s-1890s

Willam Dorsey Swann, the first known drag queen, organizes a series of drag balls in Washington, D.C. Swann called himself “the queen of drag,” and was previously enslaved. Many of his balls were attended by other formerly enslaved men who came together to dance in drag.

Swann was arrested multiple times by police for “female impersonation,” running a brothel, and whatever else the state could throw his way to keep him from continuing to hold space for queer Black people. After being wrongfully convicted for running a brothel, William requests a pardon from President Cleveland. While his request was denied, William became the first American on record who fought for the LGBTQ+ community’s right to gather through legal and political activism.

*William Dorsey Swan, date and source of photo unknown*

15. 1892

"...they leave the white man free to seduce all the colored girls he can, but it is death to the colored man who yields to the force and advances of a similar attraction in white women.” (Ida B. Wells, Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases.1892; repr., New York: Arno Press, 1969)

Wells was one of many Brown and Black justice movement makers who spoke out about state sanctioned racial and sexual terrorism committed by white people over centuries. Wells raised the horror of systematic rape of Black women by white men. Her activism brought attention to the lynchings of thousands of Black people across the U.S. These acts were witnessed by picnicking white families and justified by false claims of sexual assault against white women.

Wells is now honored at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

*Depiction of Wells from the cover of Southern Horrors, 1892*

16. 1910

According to the Supreme Court, a wife has no cause for action on an assault and battery charge against her husband because it would “open the doors of the courts to accusations of all sorts of one spouse against the other and bring into public notice complaints for assault, slander and libel.” (U.S. Supreme Court. Thompson v. Thompson, 170 U.S. 343. 1898)

*Photo of the new US Supreme Court Building, 1920*

17. 1920

By 1920, all U.S. states made "wife beating" illegal. However, only since the 1970s has the criminal justice system begun to treat domestic violence as a serious crime, rather than a private family matter (Carolyn B. Ramsey, "Domestic Violence and State Intervention in the American West and Australia, 1860-1930," Indiana Law Journal 86, no. 1 (2011): 135-175)

*1845, France. Illustration of father beating child and man beating wife. The caption reads “Qui aime bien chátie bien” or “He who loves well punishes well.”*

18. 1944

Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old Black woman, is abducted in Abbeville, Alabama by six White men while walking home from church and raped at gunpoint.

Taylor’s case is tried by an all-White, all-male jury and dismissed within five minutes of deliberation despite physical evidence and multiple witnesses to her abduction.

Taylor's experience is one of many highlighting the ways in which sexual violence against Black women is often dismissed or ignored. (Chan, Sewell. Recy Taylor, Who Fought for Justice After a 1944 Rape, Dies at 97. The New York Times. 2017)

*1944, “The Rape of Recy Taylor,” Courtesy of The People's World/Daily Worker and Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University*

19. 1950s and 60s

The civil rights, anti-war, and Black liberation movements “set precedents for women’s struggle for equality. As in the 19th century, women working against racial oppression came to question their own position—and gained political experience that would help them in building a feminist movement.” (Schecter, Susan. Women and Male Violence: The Visions and Struggles of the Battered Women’s Movement. South End Press. 1982)

20. 1967

The International Association of Chiefs of Police states that, “in dealing with family disputes the power of arrest should be exercised as a last resort. The officer should never create a police problem when there is only a family problem existing.” This quote supported the idea that domestic violence is only the issue of individuals, rather than the issue of greater society (Eisenberg, Sue E. and Micklow, Patricia L. The Assaulted Wife: ‘Catch 22’ Revisited. Women’s Rights Law Reporter, 1968).

21. 1968

A federal appellate court ruling upholds a statute under which a Native American man who committed a rape in Indigenous Country received a lower penalty if the victim was a Native woman. (9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Gray v. United States, 123 F.3d 456. 2002)

22. Late 1960s

“One of my clients pressed criminal charges against her husband. The judge asked her if this was the first time she had been beaten up.

After observing court proceedings that morning, she knew that if she answered ‘yes’ like all the other women had, her husband would be released with virtually no penalty. So wisely she answered, ‘No this is not the first time.’

The judge dismissed the case, responding, ‘Well, it sounds like you must enjoy getting beaten up if it has happened before. here’s nothing I can do.’” (Schecter, Susan. Women and Male Violence: The Visions and Struggles of the Battered Women’s Movement. South End Press, 1982).

23. 1969

On June 28th in Greenwich Village, a riot breaks out at the Stonewall Inn between its LGBTQ+ patrons and neighbors and the police following a police raid of the beloved bar. The police raid was conducted as was routine primarily to arrest transwomen for existing. However, this night, the folks at Stonewall Inn resisted police surveillance and repression by fighting back. They turned over police cars, threw beer cans and coins at the police, and started fires. The police were severely outnumbered. The next night, thousands of people, including Marsha P. Johnson, rioted again at the Stonewall Inn against the police.

On June 28, 1970, the first gay pride marches took place across major cities in the U.S. to commemorate the Stonewall riots. Pride events and marches are now held every June to honor the LGBTQ+ patrons, activists, and allies who fought for LGBTQ+ equality.

1973. Trans icons Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera at the Christopher Street Liberation Day March. Both women were considered mothers among marginalized LGTBQ youth and dedicated their lives to social justice while navigating through mental and financial instabilities of their own. Photo by Leonard Fink, Courtesy LGBT Community Center National History Archive.

24. 1960s -1970s

Take Back The Night is a global effort against sexual violence beginning with protests in Belgium and England in the 1960s. The movement grows as multiple incidents receive media coverage in the 1970s.

In 1972, women at the University of Southern Florida march through their campus demanding resources and safety for women.

In 1973, the citizens of San Francisco protest “snuff” pornography and violence against women.

In 1975, thousands of women participate in one of the first “Take Back the Night” marches in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania following the murder of microbiologist Susan Alexander Speeth as she walked home from work. (Take Back the Night Foundation)

*1979, Photo of a Take Back the Night march in Massachusetts*

25. 1970s

“A study of a county in Michigan, in the 1970s, found that police followed a ‘stitch rule.’ They arrested a husband only if he injured his wife badly enough to require a certain number of stitches. More commonly, the officer would come, give somebody a lecture or a walk around the block, suggest that he (and she) calm down and try to patch things up, and leave without further action.” (Pleck, Elizabeth. 1987. Domestic Tyranny: The Making of Social Policy Against Family Violence From Colonial Times to the Present. University of Illinois Press).

*Cover of Pleck’s* Domestic Tyranny, *featuring a well-known illustration of the abuse of a Mrs. Latimer*

26. 1971

New York Radical Feminists (NYRF) hold the first speak-out on rape. Some 300 women attend, and forty give rape testimonies.

The first rape crisis centers open in Washington D.C. and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Soon after, survivors and activists open rape crisis centers all across the country, including Women Against Rape (later WRCC) in Burlington, Vermont in 1973. By 1973, there is at least one rape crisis center in every state.

(Rutherford, Alexandra. Sexual Violence Against Women: Putting Rape Research in Context. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35(2), 342–347. 2011)

*Circa 1967, Photograph by Bev Grant of some of the members of NYRF*

27. 1971

Erin Pizzey founds the first battered women’s* shelter, the Chiswick Women’s Aid (now Refuge) in London in 1971. The shelter becomes a meeting place for functions of the women’s movement.

In the 1970s, battered women’s shelters open across the U.S., often by formerly battered women and women who had seen violence in their families.

Still, the common assumption is that few women are battered. Even the founders of battered women’s programs are unaware of the magnitude of the problem.

*“Battered woman” is no longer preferred terminology when describing survivors of domestic violence. The phrase refers to female victims of physical abuse, which represents just a fraction of survivors.

*Circa 1970s, Photo taken outside of a newly-formed women’s shelter*

28. 1974

Lawmakers create the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). CAPTA funds programs that make it easier to find and identify child abuse. It also offers protective services and safe shelters to children who are victims. (Child Welfare Information Gateway. About CAPTA: A legislative history. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau. 2019)

*Senator Walter Mondale convenes hearings to gather expert testimony on child abuse and neglect in America*

29. 1974

Women’s House of Refuge (now Steps to End Domestic Violence), Vermont’s first battered women’s program, sets up a hotline in Burlington and offers shelter to women in members’ homes.

“[We] were in a constant dilemma whether to fix the leaky toilets, whether to go to court with someone, or… All three of us were over at the house most of the time…after our own jobs. I was working full time…,”(Alverta Perkins, who helped found Women Helping Battered Women, currently Steps to End Domestic Violence).

Another early leader in a domestic and sexual violence advocacy organization in a rural Vermont community recalled, “We were so isolated. We were doing the work at a time when people didn’t even recognize that these things were happening. When I went to the sheriff’s department, I couldn’t even say the words domestic violence. We would call each other to help a woman get into shelter, and we would talk non-stop. We were so thirsty for that connection.”

30. 1974

Psychiatrist M. Faulk studies a group of men who were in custody for assaulting their wives and writes:

“In this type of relationship the husband characteristically gave a good deal of concern and time to trying to please and pacify his wife, who often tended to be querulous and demanding. The offense was an explosion which occurred after a period of trying behavior by the victim. There was often a precipitating act by the victim.” (Faulk, Michael. “Men Who Assault Their Wives.” National Library of Medicine. doi: 10.1177/002580247401400307. PMID: 4475341. 1974)

*Excerpt from M. Faulk’s article “Men Who Assault Their Wives*

31. 1977

“The California Penal Code states that wives charging husbands with criminal assault and battery must suffer more injuries than commonly needed to sustain a charge of battery against a stranger.” (Javier, Rafael Art and Herron, William G. Understanding Domestic Violence: Theories, Challenges, and Remedies. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. 2018)

32. Late 1970s

The development of SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) programs begins in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1976; in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1977; and in Amarillo, Texas, in 1979.

(Speck, Patricia M. and Aiken, Margaret M. 1995. “20 Years of Community nursing Service: Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center.” National Library of Medicine, Ledray, Linda E. and Chaignot, Mary Jane. 1980. “Services to Sexual Assault Victims in Hennepin County.” Evaluation and Change, and Antognoli-Toland, Paula. 1985. “Comprehensive Program for Examination of Sexual Assault Victims by Nurses: A Hospital-Based Project in Texas.” Journal of Emergency Nursing).

33. 1979

Researchers find that women whose medical complaints persist when their x-rays and lab tests are normal are often “labeled ‘neurotic,’ ‘hysteric,’ ‘hypochondriac,’ or ‘a well-known patient with multiple vague complaints.’ One non-battered woman in 50 leaves with one of these labels; one battered woman in four does, and is given tranquilizers, sleeping medication, or further psychiatric care.” (Stark, Evan, Anne Flitcraft, and William Frazier. Medicine and Patriarchal Violence: The Social Construction of a ‘Private’ Event. International Journal of Health Services 9, no. 3 (1979): 461–93. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45132090).

34. 1979

The term “marital rape” first appears in books by Diana Russell and Lenore Walker.

The same year, while addressing a group of women lobbyists, California State Senator Bob Wilson asks, "But if you can’t rape your wife, who can you rape?” (Bazhaw, Melissa A. For Better or For Worse?: Media Coverage of Marital Rape in the 1978 Rideout Trial. Georgia State University. doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1061301. 2008).

Photos of Diana Russel (right) and Lenore Walker (left)

35. 1979

109 battered women describe being assaulted 32,000 times by their battering partners. They reported to the police less than 2% of the time. (Dobash, Emerson R. and Dobash, Russell. Violence Against Wives: A Case Against the Patriarchy. Free Press. 1983)

*Hailey Furkalo, CBC. Animation illustrating that when trying to report sexual assault, survivors are often thwarted at every turn by a system that doesn’t believe them.*

36. 1980

The first domestic violence shelter is established on a Native American reservation- The White Buffalo Calf Women’s Shelter. (Violence Against Women & Criminalization of Women Historical Timeline, 2014)

*Painting of The White Buffalo Calf Woman, a sacred prophet of supernatural origin central to Lakota culture*

37. 1980

Vermont’s Abuse Prevention Act achieves its final passage. Eligibility for Relief from Abuse is limited to “spouses or former spouses.”

38. 1980

10% of married or previously married women in a survey sample report that their husbands had “used physical force or threat to try to have sex with them.”

The same survey found that sexual assaults by husbands were among the most common kinds of sexual assault; only 3% of the women reported being sexually assaulted by a stranger. (Finkelhor, David and Yllo, Kersti. License to Rape: Sexual Abuse of Wives. Henry Holt & Co. First Edition. 1985)

39. 1980

In September, the Addison County Community Action Group is founded by a dedicated group of community members who came together to make a difference for families in Addison County who were victims of domestic and sexual violence. Two years later, the Addison County Battered Women's Project was incorporated as its own entity. It was organized for the purpose of "promoting the social welfare of Addison County by reducing the incidence of domestic violence, and primarily, the incidence of abuse against women."

Six years later, they adopt the name Addison County Women In Crisis, and 14 years after that, they change their name to WomenSafe.

40. 1981

“The battered woman is not a new problem. Rather, it is society’s awareness of this problem that is new. Society’s recent interest in, and sensitivity to, the issue of violence… has made it possible for the many victims to come forward and seek help.” (Roberts Albert R., Beverly J. Roberts, and Nancy A. Humphreys. Sheltering Battered Women : A National Study and Service Guide. New York: Springer Pub. 1981)

*An August 1976 cover from Ms. Magazine*

41. 1982

The term “Date Rape” is introduced in a Ms. Magazine article titled “Date Rape: A Campus Epidemic?” about Koss’ studies of sexual violence on college campuses.

Koss’ studies show that 15% of college women have been raped.

Three years later, Ms. Magazine published another article with updated information, featuring Koss’ new study showing that one in four women faced rape or attempted rape during their time on campus (Barrett, Karen. Date Rape: A Campus Epidemic? Ms. Magazine. 1982)

42. 1984

The federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) authorizes yearly grants to states to assist and compensate crime victims.

43. 1985

The definition of the crime of sexual assault is amended in Vermont, removing the provision requiring that rapist and victim be unmarried. State law recognizes that a man can rape his wife. This change in legislation was an essential step toward acknowledging and addressing the issue of spousal sexual assault and promoting gender equality in the eyes of the law.

44. 1986

The Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault is founded. The Vermont Network still exists today and is comprised of 15 independent, non-profit organizations which provide domestic and sexual violence advocacy to survivors of violence in Vermont.

45. 1989

Critical Race theorist and legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term “intersectionality” to describe the unique social placement of Black women who live at the intersection of oppression, experiencing both racism and sexism.

Intersectionality becomes an important concept within feminist movements, many of which historically focused only on the experiences of White women (Crenshaw, Kimberlé. (1989) “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics,” University of Chicago Legal Forum. Vol. 1989, Article 8).

46. 1989

The Supreme Court upholds the press’ right to print public information—including rape victims’ names (Florida Star v. B.J.F., United States Supreme Court). The publication of rape victims’ names is a highly debated topic. Many argue the ruling strips victims of any final privacy or protection they have and exposes them to cruel treatment from the media, while others argue that “punishing the press for the truthful publication of information that is publicly available will lead to censorship on a broad range of issues of great importance to the public” (Greenhouse, Linda. Supreme Court Roundup; First Amendment Protects Paper That Named Rape Victim, Justices Rule. The New York Times. 1989)

47. 1990

Violating a Relief from Abuse Order (RFA) becomes a crime in Vermont.

48. 1990

“...We do recognize that there was a certain amount of misbehavior; that there may be these temper tantrums and items of misbehavior, but the strangling with the hands and violence and threats that were described by Karen have been blown way out of proportion as evidenced by the fact that she stayed throughout the four years of marriage.” (Vermont Supreme Court. Blair v. Blair, 456 Vt. 789, 792. 1990)

49. 1991

Anita Hill testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that Clarence Thomas, a recently appointed U.S. Supreme Court judge, sexually harassed her multiple times while he was her supervisor in two different positions. Thomas denies the claims and was confirmed to the Supreme Court by the Senate by 52-58 vote.

Shortly after the Thomas confirmation hearings, Congress passes a law giving those who experienced harassment the right to seek federal damage awards, back pay, and reinstatement. One year later, harassment complaints filed with the EEOC, the agency Hill worked at under the supervision of Thomas, were up 50 percent (Jacobs, Julia. Anita Hill’s Testimony and Other Key Moments from the Clarence Thomas Hearings. The New York Times. 2018).

*Anita Hill testifying for the Senate Judiciary Committe*

50. 1992

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issues a statement that recognizes that victims of abuse may ask, “How do these violent acts relate to my promise to take my spouse for better or for worse?” The statement continues, “The person being assaulted needs to know that acting to end the abuse does not violate the marriage promises.”

In 1992, they speak out against domestic violence and make it a priority issue within the Christian community.

Clergy members and laypeople pose outside the headquarters of the National Catholic Welfare Conference in Washington. The conference was the precursors to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (CNS file photo)

51. 1994

“A report from the American Bar Association titled The Impact of Domestic Violence on the Children urges lawyers and judges to protect children more actively from the devastating impact (both physical and psychological) of domestic violence. The report provides the following reveal statistics...63% of males between the ages 11 and 20 who are incarcerated for homicide killed their mother’s batterer.” (Albert R. Roberts and Fields, Majory D (2002). Handbook of Domestic Violence Intervention Strategies: Policies, Programs and Legal Remedies. Oxford University Press)

52. 1994

Congress passes the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), legislation that seeks to improve the criminal justice and community-based responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the U.S. VAWA created federal protections for survivors and allocated funding for advocacy organizations across the country.VAWA protects:

A) victims of actual or threatened domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or an “affiliated individual” of the victim.

B) anyone who is living in, or seeking admission to, a federally assisted housing unit.

“There was a lot of conflict. They were warning us that Barbara Boxer was letting us write the bill, but when it went forward, anything could happen. There were lengthy conversations about the risks of being coopted. And that did happen. We were looking more for the social services women and children wanted and needed – not the criminal justice focus that came out of it.” - Vermont’s Judy Rex, recalling her work with other domestic and sexual violence advocates to help craft the first Violence Against Women Act.

The original VAWA was, at its core, a criminal justice bill focused largely on improving how law enforcement and the court system respond to domestic violence. Women of color in the anti-violence movement argued against what has come to be called “carceral feminism,” noting that feminists who see police and prisons as their natural allies are entrenching the sexism and racism they claim to oppose. 25 years after VAWA’s passage, the anti-violence movement is reckoning with its role in the mass incarceration of people of color and the harm many survivors experience from the legal system.

*Joe Biden speaking about the Violence Against Women Act, 1994*

53. 1997

The Department of Justice finds that girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.

54. 1998

A review of 166 studies conducted between 1985 and 1997 finds that as many as 1 in 5 boys are sexually abused. (Journal of the American Medical Association, 1998)

In the same year, the CDC finds that 1 out of 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. This means that men in the U.S. are 230x more likely to be sexually assaulted themselves than be falsely accused of sexually assaulting someone else.

55. 1999

Six states define domestic violence as only violence between members of the opposite sex (AL, AZ, DE, MI, MT, NC) and three states (GA, IL, SC) define domestic violence as violence only occurring through spouses, former spouses, or blood relatives. Both definitions specifically exclude same-sex domestic violence. (Leventhal, Beth and Lundy, Sandra E. Same Sex Domestic Violence. SAGE Publications, Inc; 1st edition. 1999).

56. 2000

Research suggests that about 20% to 35% of gay men and lesbians experience domestic violence. (National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, 2000)

57. 2002

Approximately 22% of women have experienced domestic violence in their adult lives, however this figure doubles when applied to women on welfare. (The National Center for Children in Poverty, Domestic Violence and Welfare Policy. 2002)

58. 2002

The DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act is approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee to address the growing backlog nationwide of DNA evidence for sexual assault cases but is never passed by the House.

59. 2004

“Exposure of a child to [domestic] violence is not presumptively ground for removal, and in many instances, removal may do more harm to the child than good.” (Nicholson v. Scoppetta, New York Court of Appeals)

*Photo of proceedings in the New York Court of Appeals*

60. 2004

The TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) reauthorization bill includes funding to promote marriage among poor people as a solution to reducing poverty, an option with the possibility of encouraging people struggling with poverty to form or stay in unhealthy relationships.

*Pie chart depicting use of TANF money in the year 2004*

61. 2004

A multi-disciplinary group including law enforcement, domestic and sexual violence advocates, and child protection advocates created a ground-breaking document entitled: Vermont's Model Protocol: Law Enforcement Response to Children at the Scene of a Domestic Violence Incident.

This model protocol marks the first of its kind in the nation.

*llustration from the front of Vermont's Model Protocol: Law Enforcement Response to Children at the Scene of a Domestic Violence Incident*

62. 2004

Mimi Kim, along with other BIPOC survivors of domestic and sexual violence, establishes Creative Interventions. Creative Interventions aims to help communities find ways to address violence outside of the criminal justice system.

“Creative Interventions sought to make support and safety more accessible, stop violence at early stages of abuse, and create possibilities for once abusive individuals and communities to evolve towards healthy change and transformation.”

In 2012, Creative Interventions released the first edition of their Creative Interventions Toolkit, which offers tools and strategies for stopping interpersonal violence to the people directly affected by it.

63. 2006

Vermont legislature creates protection orders against stalking or sexual assault, for the first-time extending protections to victims of perpetrators who are not family or household members.

64. 2006

Tarana Burke, a Black activist, starts the "Me Too" movement on MySpace, to support victims of sexual harassment and abuse. Ten years later, white actress Alyssa Milano, tweets #MeToo in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations. #MeToo has since become an international movement. (Garcia, Sandra E. The Woman Who Created #MeToo Long Before Hashtags. The New York Times. 2017)

65. 2007

A study by the United States Conference of Mayors states that among mothers with children experiencing homelessness, more than 80% had previously experienced domestic violence.

*Cover page of a book by Columbia University Press sharing the struggles and children and families residing in transitional situations*

66. 2008

After a debate on amending the Tennessee constitution to say that it does not guarantee the right to abortion, Democratic Senator Douglas Henry said, “Rape, ladies and gentlemen, is not today what rape was. Rape, when I was learning about these things, was the violation of a chaste woman, against her will, by some party not her spouse. Today it’s simply, ‘Let’s not go forward with this act” (Moser, Whet. Kate Harding Knows How to Fix Rape Culture. Chicago Magazine. 2015)

67. 2008

On June 25th, in Randolph, VT, 12-year-old Brooke Bennett is raped and murdered by her uncle. Her uncle had a history of sexual violence, both towards other young family members and strangers.

Bennett’s death sparks public outrage in the Vermont community, as advocates for survivors urge local officials to do more to prevent sexual violence in the state. In March of the following year, Governor Jim Douglass signs into law Brooke’s law. Part of Brooke’s law is Act 1, which mandates that every student in Vermont from kindergarten through 12th grade receives sexual violence prevention education every single year. This education focuses on both victim prevention and perpetration prevention.

Brooke’s uncle is currently serving a life sentence in prison without parole (Hemmingway, Sam. Uncle Who Killed Niece in Vermont Evades Death Penalty. USA Today. 2013)

68. 2010s

Researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a survey with 13,310 women between the ages of 18 to 44. The survey shows, among women who responded:

- 6.5% say their first time having sex was forced upon them (This equates to 3.3 million women nationwide)

- 18% said they chose to have sex their first time

- 30% of respondents also reported unwanted first-time pregnancies

- 7% said they were younger than 10 at the time of assault

- 29% said they were between the ages of 11 and 14

- 39% said they were between the ages of 15 and 17

69. 2010

Native women experience rape, domestic abuse, and, stalking at far greater rates than any other population of women in the United States:

- 34% of Native women will be raped in their lifetimes

- 39% will be a victim of domestic violence.

(Congressional findings in the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-211, §202(a)(5))

*President Obama signing the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010*

70. 2011

On April 3, 2011, the first ever SlutWalk was held in Toronto, Canada in response to a Toronto police officer, earlier that January, made a the following public statement at a conference on crime prevention,

“I've been told I'm not supposed to say this – however, women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized."

Over three thousand people gathered, dressed primarily in “slutty” clothes, to speak and march to the Toronto Police Headquarters.

One of the organizers, Sonya Barnett, explained the reasoning behind the protest, "We want Police Services to truly get behind the idea that victim-blaming, slut-shaming, and sexual profiling are never acceptable.[...] The idea that a slut is a lesser person and deserving of sexual assault isn't exclusive to the police. Media also has to get behind this idea."

SlutWalks are now held annually across the globe, with most of them occurring at college campuses.

*SlutWalkers at Union Square in NYC, October 2011*

71. 2012

Many trans people fear (re)victimization by helping professionals:

- 22-38% of trans people have been harassed by police, including sexual assault

- 26% have experienced physical assault and 10% have experienced sexual assault at the hand of healthcare professionals

- 31% of gender non-conforming youth report "significant abuse at school" from their teachers

72. 2012

Researchers find that girls in the juvenile justice system are disproportionately victims of sexual violence. Moreover, girls of color are particularly affected by the sexual abuse to prison pipeline. Although Black girls are 1% of the general youth population, they make up 3.5% of detained and committed girls. (Epstein, Rebecca, Rosenthal, Lindsay, Saar, Malika S., and Vafa, Yasmin. The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: The Girls’ Story. Georgetown University Law Center, Center for Poverty and Inequality. 2015)

"The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: Telling the Girls’ Story" is a report compiled by the Human Rights Project for Girls, Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality and the Ms. Foundation for Women and released to the public July 9

73. 2012

33% of genderqueer youth report experiencing significant abuse from their teachers at school. (Human Rights Campaign. Growing Up in LBGT in America. 2012)

74. 2013

The amended version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) extends the act’s protections to same-sex couples and transgender individuals.

Additionally, previous VAWA legislation did not include protections for Native American women who were victims of violence committed by non-Native Americans.

The new amendments contain provisions that allow for prosecution in tribal courts of domestic violence or dating violence committed against Native Americans by non-Native Americans. (National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence)

*President Obama signing the amended version of the Violence Against Women Act, 2013*

75. 2013

Students at Vergennes Union High School wear leggings to school to protest the school’s new sexist dress code policy that bans leggings. In support of the ban, a resident said to NBC 5, "You know, spandex under a skirt, under a long sweater, to stay warm in the winter. It's Vermont. But certainly not exposed, skin tight lower half. It's probably inappropriate. I mean, it’s probably distracting to teenage boys” (Victory, Lauren. (2013). “VT. School Bans Leggings.” NBC 5).

76. 2015

Black women face a particularly high risk of being killed at the hands of a man. A 2015 Violence Policy Center study finds that Black women are 2.5 times more likely to be murdered by men than their white counterparts. More than 9 in 10 Black female victims knew their killers. (Institute for Women’s Policy Research)

The #SayHerName movement starts as a way to raise awareness about the high rates of Black women killed by police and in general.

"Black women have been killed in many of the same circumstances as their brothers, fathers and sons. They've been killed driving while Black, being in their homes while Black, having mental crises while Black and their losses just haven't registered in the same way. So Say Her Name is trying to raise awareness by insisting that we say their names because if we can say their names we can know more about their stories." - Kimberle Crenshaw, co-founder of the African American Policy Forum which helped create the Say Her Name campaign to include women in the national conversation about women and policing.

*Photo from #SayHerName vigil in Union Square, 2015*

77. 2015

A senior at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH is tried after being charged with rape for participating in the “Senior Salute,” a tradition where senior boys see who can have sex with the most freshman girls. (Hauser, Christine. Victim in New Hampshire Prep School ‘Senior Salute’ Case Speaks Out. The New York Times. 2016)

*Owen Labrie standing trial for his participation in the “Senior Salute”*

78. 2016

A 2005 video recording transcript of Presidential candidate Donald Trump is made public. He is recorded talking about the benefits of fame and states that he can “grab ‘em [women] by the pussy. You can do anything.” (Puglise, Nicole. Pussy Grabs Back’ Becomes Rallying Cry for Female Rage Against Trump. The Guardian. 2016)

*Screenshot including transcript of the 2005 recording of Trump*

79. 2016

“Only us janitors know exactly where these attacks can happen and who these attacks can come from. We’re the only ones who know what working alone at night is like…” -activist Carmen Sanchez

In 2016, 18 women janitor-worker leaders fasted on the steps of the California State Capitol to press Governor Brown to sign the Property Service Workers Protection Act (AB 1978). The new law increases protections against sexual violence in the janitorial industry. Women janitors trained each other to be promotoras, who provide training on stopping workplace sexual harassment and assault.

*Picture of protest at California State Capital, 2016*

80. 2016

Brock Turner, a former Stanford swimmer who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman was only sentenced to six months in jail because a longer sentence would have "a severe impact on him," according to a judge. Turner served only three months in jail (Fantz, Ashley. Outrage Over 6-Month Sentence for Brock Turner in Stanford Rape Case. CNN. 2016).

At the sentencing, Chanel Miller, then known as Jane Doe, read a victims' impact statement directly to her attacker: "You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today."

In 2019, Chanel Miller reveals her identity when she publishes her award-winning book about her experience, Know My Name.

*Chanel Miller, Alternative cover of Know My name, Penguin Books*

81. 2016

Vermont bans conversion therapy for minors (Human Rights Campaign).

*Photo of people celebrating the new ban, WPTZ, 2016*

82. 2018

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says that women fleeing domestic violence in their home country will no longer qualify for asylum:

“Saying a few simple words — claiming a fear of return — is now transforming a straightforward arrest for illegal entry and immediate return into a prolonged legal process,” Mr. Sessions said in his speech. (Benner, Katie and Dickerson, Caitlin. Sessions Says Domestic and Gang Violence Are Not Grounds for Asylum. The New York Times. 2018)

*Photo of Attorney General Jeff Sessions*

83. 2017

A first-year student at the University of Vermont, Syd Ovitt, launches a national campaign called “Explain the Asterisk,” after reporting her sexual assault to the school’s Title IX office. “Explain the Asterisk” pushes for there to be clarity around why a student is transferring schools on their transcript, as someone who transfers because of plagiarism and someone who transfers because they perpetrated sexual assault are both denoted with a *.

Syd has lobbied congress members to support “Explain the Asterisk’s” mission and introduce legislation that requires schools to indicate on a student’s transcript why they are transferring. The campaign has received national media coverage and has sparked activism on UVM’s campus regarding sexual violence (Sweet, Camille. What does it mean to Explain the Asterisk? The Vermont Cynic. 2022).

*Photo of Syd Ovitt from the Vermont Cynic*

84. 2018

The Bureau of Prisons changes the Transgender Offender Manual, making it nearly impossible for transgender people to be incarcerated based on gender identity.

Transgender people who are incarcerated are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault and abuse by other inmates and are more likely to be abused (physically, verbally, and sexually) by prison staff. (Sosin, Kate. (2020). “Trans, Imprisoned––and Trapped.” NBC News)

*Michelle Kailani Calvin, a transgender woman, is incarcerated at a California men's prison (Brock Stoneham/NBC News). Transgender prisoners are almost never housed according to their identity.*

85. 2018

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford gives testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee stating that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her.

Dr. Ford explains, “I believed he was going to rape me… It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was going to accidentally kill me.”

Kavanaugh is approved to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment. (Chouliaraki, L. Victimhood: The Affective Politics of Vulnerability. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 24(1), 10-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549420979316. 2021)

*Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testifying for the Senate Judiciary Committee*

86. 2018

Nadia Murad, an Iraqi Yazidi who was captured by the Islamic State and held as a sex slave, wins the Nobel Peace Prize because of her efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflicts. She is the first Iraqi and Yazidi to be awarded a Nobel Prize (Zeidan, Adam. “Nadia Murad.” Encyclopedia Britannica).

87. 2019

A report by the Department of Justice is released, stating that the federal government has received more than 4,500 complaints in the past four years about the sexual abuse of immigrant children who were being held at government-funded detention facilities. (Haag, Matthew. Thousands of Immigrant Children Said They Were Sexually Abused in U.S. Detention Centers, Report Says. The New York Times. 2019)

88. 2019

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is reauthorized. During the process of reauthorization, some attempted to amend the bill to exclude protections for transgender people.

Republican Representative Debbie Lesko, a survivor of domestic abuse, introduced an amendment that would prohibit trans women from staying in women’s shelters. This amendment was blocked (Davis, Susan. House Passes Bill Protecting Domestic Abuse Victims; GOP Split Over Gun Restrictions. National Public Radio. 2019).

*Nancy Pelosi advocates for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act*

89. 2019

In 2019, at least 26 transgender or gender non-conforming people were fatally shot or killed by other violent means in the United States. 91% of them were Black women. (Alphonso, David. A National Epidemic: Fatal Anti-Transgender Violence in the United States in 2019. Human Rights Campaign. 2019)

*Portraits of the individuals fatally shot or killed by other violent means*

90. 2019

16-year-old Cyntoia Brown, a victim of sexual trafficking, fatally shot a man she was sold to in self-defense. Prosecutors argued that Brown shot the man in order to rob him and she was sentenced to life imprisonment. After a mass campaign demanding justice for Brown, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam commuted her sentence to 15 years in 2017. Brown was released on August 7, 2019, at 31 years old.

Brown was among the over 180 Tennessee inmates serving life sentences for crimes they committed as teenagers (Osborne, Mark and Keneally, Meghan. Cyntoia Brown, Alleged Sex Trafficking Victim Who Was Convicted of Murder, Released From Prison. ABC News. 2019).

*Photo of Cyntoia Brown and her current partner*

91. 2019

Photo of Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel at the Boston Marathon, 2019

Athlete Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel, a competitive runner from the Kul Wicasa Oyate (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe) in South Dakota, participates in the Boston Marathon with a red handprint on their face to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women. They write in a blog post about their experience,

“…Being a survivor of violence and knowing that all the women in my life that I am close to, are survivors as well, I recognized that there is danger across our communities. Before the MMIW hashtags and what we see today that represents this movement of awareness and advocacy about the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Peoples, this is what we knew was happening in our own communities. …In 2016, is where I started see red, representing the movement - the color our relatives see when they transition in their journey, the hashtags, and the red and black handprints. It was with Savanna LaFontaine Greywind’s tragic story of what happened to her and her baby girl (who survived), that I had to do more than just learn. I had to organize and bring community together, and help in whatever way possible to bring visibility to the efforts that the families and advocates were doing.”

A year later, Indigenous women in Montana march after the body of a 16-year-old Indigenous teenager named Selena Not Afraid is discovered. In Montana in 2017, Indigenous people made up 6.7 percent of the state’s population, yet between 2016 and 2018, they made up 26 percent of the state’s missing persons cases. Indigenous women continue to protest today for the U.S. government to take serious action to find and bring home missing and murdered Indigenous women. Indigenous women in the U.S. experience the highest rates of sexual and domestic violence of any other race.

*Indigenous women protest in Montana, 2020*

92. 2020

After a push from activists fighting for equal employment opportunities for LGBTQ+ people, the Supreme Court rules that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay and transgender employees against workplace discrimination. Prior to the ruling, several states had no statewide protections for LGBTQ+ employees (Liptak, Adam. (2020). “Civil Rights Law Protects Gay and Transgender Workers, Supreme Court Rules,” The New York Times).

*Protests outside of the United States Supreme Court, before the ruling on the 1964 Act*

93. 2020

Black transgender people are disproportionately victims of police violence. On June 15th, thousands gathered around the Brooklyn Museum to bring awareness to this issue and emphasize the importance of Black trans lives. Organizers of the “Brooklyn Liberation” march estimate that 15,000 people took part. (Patil, Anushka. How a March for Black Trans Lives Became a Huge Event. The New York Times. 2020)

*Photo of the “Brooklyn Liberation” march*

94. 2020

On the four-year anniversary of the Orlando nightclub shooting, the deadliest attack against LGBTQ+ people in American history, the Trump administration finalizes a regulation that erases protections against discrimination for transgender healthcare patients (Sanger-Katz, Margot and Weiland, Noah, (2020). “Trump Administration Erases Transgender Civil Rights Protections in Health Care” The New York Times).

*Photo taken in the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub shooting, 2016*

95. 2020

Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau, a 19-year-old Black Lives Matter activist went missing hours after tweeting about being sexually assaulted by a man who had offered her a ride and a place to stay. Toyin had also called the police to report the assault.

Several days later, Aaron Glee Jr., admitted to kidnapping and murdering Toyin and Victoria Sims, another longtime Black Lives Matter activist.

Although Toyin publicly spoke out about her assaults and contacted the police, she did not receive justice (Cineas, Fabiola. The Disappearance and Death of Activist Oluwatoyin Salau, Explained. Vox. 2020)

96. 2021

Activist and blogger Dr. Amy Kavanagh started a Twitter campaign under the #JustAskDontGrab sharing how men often target her as a blind woman under the guise of assistance. Kavanagh explains, “A typical experience is that someone offers to help me cross a road and…they will use this opportunity to touch my breasts or make inappropriate comments about my sexuality or physical appearance.”

The problem is reinforced by the ableist narrative that disabled women are not attractive – and therefore won’t be on the receiving end of sexual harassment or violence. Kavanagh says this means that, when she talks about harassment, “the first reaction I always get is disbelief. People simply can’t believe that a blind woman gets groped. Disabled women are desexualized and infantilized, so people don’t think we experience anything sexual, including unwanted negative sexual experiences.” (Webster, L. The everyday assault of disabled women: ‘it’s inappropriate sexual touching at least once a month.’ The Guardian. 2021)

*Photo of Amy Kavanagh by Kaye Ford Photography*

97. July 2021

The Vermont State Legislature passes Act 68, which updates the definition of sexual consent for the first time in 40 years. The new law specifies that those who are “substantially impaired” by substance use are unable to consent to sexual activity. The passage of the bill was aided by a student demonstration at the University of Vermont in May of 2021, which protested the university’s response to sexual assault. Act 68 also established the Intercollegiate Sexual Harm Prevention Council.

98. 2022

Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case protecting the Constitutional right to an abortion which was originally ruled on by the Supreme Court in 1973, is overturned. Without guaranteed abortions in many states, abortions then become inaccessible or dangerous for many people. This can particularly impact survivors of sexual violence, who may elect to have abortions in the wake of their assault (Totenberg, Nina and McCammon, Sarah. Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Ending Right to Abortion Upheld for Decades. National Public Radio. 2022).

*Protests outside of the Supreme Court in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned*

99. May 2022

President Biden's executive order created the groundbreaking White House Gender Policy Council, responsible for formulating the inaugural U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action. This comprehensive plan outlines seven strategic pillars to offer support and combat gender-based violence.

1. Support, Healing, Safety, and Well-Being

2. Economic Security and Housing Stability

3. Online Safety

4. Legal and Justice Systems

5. Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Response

6. Research and Data

Biden explains, “As long as there are women in this country and around the world who live in fear of violence, there’s more we have to do to fulfill this sacred commitment. No one — no one, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, should experience abuse. Period. And if they do, they should have the services and support they need to get through it. And we’re not going to rest” (The White House. U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action. May 2023).

100. 2023

On June 20th, over 500 Vermonters gather at Vergennes Union High School (VUHS) to celebrate queer joy and protest an anti-trans event being held at the high school. The protest was youth-created and youth-led by several young people from the Building Consent Culture Youth Adult Partnership Program. The community sends the message that trans youth belong in Vermont, and hate will not be tolerated here.

Domestic & Sexual Violence Timeline: A History of Attitudes