COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Centering, connecting, and listening to survivors

We provide a platform for survivor healing and aim to create a roadmap for changing how people and systems respond to sexual harm. We commit time, space, energy, and financial resources to listen to survivors so that their experiences and expertise can raise public awareness, shift how our society addresses sexual harm, and guide our mission to end it. Our efforts center and connect those most impacted by sexual harm: Black communities, other communities of color, low-income communities, LGBTQ communities, people with disabilities, those navigating being undocumented, and those navigating incarceration. 

For example, we:

• Produce trauma-informed public programming and arts opportunities featuring survivors
• Provide lectures and presentations on sexual harm to the public
• Collaborate and connect with allies and partners in the movement to end sexual harm
• Invite and pay survivors to engage in and guide our work as an organization
• Provide rapid response services for victims/survivors and their families who haven’t received support or information regarding a reported case of sexual violence

Support For Survivors

Public Programs

Our recurring community engagement events are listed below. You can view all our events on our calendar.

Surviving the Mic: Virtually Together

This online gathering space is for survivors of sexual harm and those who support them, either personally or professionally or both. 

When: 1st and 3rd Thursdays every month from 3-5pm CT

 Let’s Chat Over Lunch

Join CAASE for our monthly virtual community forum, Let’s Chat Over Lunch. At each gathering, we’ll discuss current cultural events, media, and news headlines related to sexual harm and/or social injustice. 

When:  4th Wednesday of the month from 1-2pm CT

Survivors Supporting Survivors in the Movement

Gatherings that give support to people working or volunteering within the movement to end sexual harm. It’s a space to talk about their lived experiences of surviving sexual harm while supporting other survivors.

When: Quarterly – check our calendar for the latest event listings.

Seeking Justice: An Introduction to Victims’ Rights

This general info session is open to the public. It provides information on the rights and remedies available to victims of sexual harm, information on the specific ways that CAASE can support victims, and where to find trauma-informed care and support services. 

When: As posted – check our calendar for the latest event listings.

For more information on CAASE’s public programs, please contact Anika Sterling-Florez at asflorez@caase.org.

Resources

Our guide and map of resources help survivors find and access trauma-informed services and supports.

Other Community Resources During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The YWCA has compiled a list of community resources during the pandemic. The City of Chicago is also keeping an updated site of resources. The City Bureau has a resource finder tool that lets you filter based on your needs.

Survivor Advisory Alliance

The Survivor Advisory Alliance is a group of survivors who provide feedback and insight on CAASE’s work, internal policies, data analysis, and reports. Participants are compensated financially for their time. To join the Survivor Advisory Alliance, please contact Anika Sterling-Florez at asflorez@caase.org.

Notable Performances + Presentations

An Evening in Dialogue With Cyntoia Brown-Long

On January 30, 2020, CAASE, in partnership with the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force, the University of Chicago, A Long Walk Home, the University of Illinois-Chicago, Guild Literary Complex, Selah Freedom and Contexture Media, presented a powerful evening of dialogue between author Cyntoia Brown-Long and Literary Dr. Tara Betts. They discussed Cyntoia’s book, Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System. Dr. Betts and Brown-Long also reflected on the impact of trafficking in Black communities in recognition of January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Chicago-based survivor-leader and advocate, Brenda Stewart, opened the evening with her testimony of surviving “the life” on the streets of Chicago and the work she does to advocate for and support other survivors of exploitation and sexual violence.

History of Sexual Violence and its Impact on Black Women + Girls – Two-Part Series

This special two-part webinar presented the history of sexual violence experienced by Black women + girls in the United States and the impact of that violence, from 1619 through the present. Participants gained insight into the intersections of race, gender, and capitalism, as well as the various ways in which this sexual violence was resisted and the powerful movements that have emerged to address it specifically. Each part is approximately 120 minutes long.

To get a link to this webinar, please contact asflorez@caase.org.

Press Room: Speaking Poetry to Power

In honor and recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, CAASE and the Guild Literary Complex presented Surviving the Mic: Speaking Poetry to Power. This night of poetry and dialogue happened on April 8th, 2021, and centered the voices and lived experiences of survivors of sexual harm. It featured Anjana Kirti, Cherlnell Lane, Nikki Patin, Jackson Santy, Mojdeh Stoakley, Saunte Harden-Tate, and Ona Wang.

Watch “Press Room: Speaking Poetry to Power” on YouTube

Louder Together

This collaborative poem and performance is an example of a recent special project facilitated by The Voices and Faces Project “Louder Together” initiative.

Our Community Engagement Values

Our vision and values for Community Engagement flow directly from CAASE’s organizational mission, vision, and values.

We Connect

We talk to people. We listen to people. We follow the lead of victims and survivors of sexual harm. By sexual harm, we mean everything from rape to street sexual harassment to child sexual abuse to sex trafficking. We do not always set or want to set the agenda. We develop relationships with colleagues, organizations, institutions, and allies over time. We prefer to go deep with our connections rather than wide, meaning that we want to get to know and keep getting to know people. 

The following categories contain a few of many examples of our current coalitions, collaborations, and connections: 

• Coalitions

  • We define coalition work as collaborative partnerships with agencies, organizations, institutions, or groups committed to achieving specific shared goals. We’re currently in coalition with:
    • #ProtectBlackGirls Coalition
    • Mayor’s Gender-Based Violence Council Enhanced Coordination Subcommittee
    • South Suburban Sexual Assault Response Team 

• Collaborations

  • We define collaborations as work with organizations that include public programs, including performances, workshops, and public conversations. We currently collaborate with:
    • Surviving the Mic
    • Voices + Faces Project 
    • Poetry Foundation
    • Young Chicago Authors
    • MenHealing
    • Chicago-area rape crisis and intervention organizations

• Connections

  • We define connections as relationships with organizations that share similar goals. We regularly connect with: 
    • Tamar’s Wings 
    • UIC Women’s Leadership and Resource Center

We Resource 

We believe that victims/survivors should be paid for the labor/work that they provide, including emotional labor. We believe in paying for the work/labor of survivors of sexual harm who have been historically and currently de-centered, including:

• Communities disproportionately impacted by sexual harm, including girls and women, people of color, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, people living in poverty, and immigrants and undocumented people
• Those in the sex trade 
• Those currently or formerly navigating incarceration
• Grassroots and community-based organizations with limited budgets

We financially compensate victims/survivors of sexual harm to:

• Perform their lived experiences via spoken word and storytelling
• Facilitate writing workshops 
• Participate in listening sessions that contribute to our research and reports.
• Give us insight on programs and policies via our Survivor Advisory Alliance

We Educate 

We give the public information and education about the negative historical and current impact of sexual harm on multiple communities via webinars, presentations, and conversations. We offer insight into the rights that victims/survivors are entitled under various state and federal laws. We also hold writing and performance workshops for victims/survivors to publicly share techniques and expertise on talking about lived experiences of sexual violence. This work includes: 

• Free, accessible education on the historical and current impact of sexual harm within the U.S.
• Free, monthly, virtual workshops on victims’ rights in Illinois
• Free, biweekly, virtual workshops on how to write and perform lived experiences of sexual harm
• Working with school educators, staff, and administrators on understanding laws regarding students who are survivors, such as Title IX and the Ensuring Success in School Law, and what supports students in Illinois are entitled to receive.

We Respond

We respond to the impact of sexual harm in multiple ways. We are committed to connecting victims/survivors and their families to the services they request, as well as step in when the processes of reporting, investigating, or support services have failed. We provide non-judgemental support for ALL victims/survivors. We are committed to being in conversation with victims/survivors of sexual harm about global, national, and local events and news to discuss the impact of those events on victims/survivors. This work includes: 

• Holding brave space conversations amongst survivors of sexual violence to global, national, and local events and news
• Supporting our colleagues in holding systems and institutions accountable that further harm survivors of sexual violence

*“Trauma-informed” means recognizing that trauma produces stress which may impact a person’s behavior and being in community with people in a way that causes no further harm