Thirteen percent of women in college have reported being stalked with 80% of survivors stating that they knew their stalker, according to Know Your IX, a project of Advocates for Youth.

   “Sometimes at night, I would feel scared to go out to my car at my old apartment complex. But now that I moved to a house, I feel a lot safer,” said Caitlin Rendel, a junior at Valencia College and Orlando resident. “I normally try to avoid being out places late at night by myself and if I am, I’ll make sure I carry pepper spray with me when I go, which makes me feel a little bit safer. At my house, my roommates and I have bats that we keep in our rooms.” 

  According to a report published by UN Women, approximately 736 million women have been victims of intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.  Seventy six percent of women murdered by an intimate partner were initially stalked, with women aged 18-24 reporting the highest rate of stalking victimization. 

“I wouldn’t say domestic violence has gotten better or worse, but I will say that I feel people speak out against it more often now,” said Rendel. “We have a long way to go but I do think it’s a good start.” 

The body of Marcano, a Valencia College student, was found eight days after her initial disappearance from her apartment in Central Florida. 

 The Orange County Sheriff’s Department believes Armando Manuel Caballero, a maintenance worker at Arden Villas, is solely responsible for Marcano’s death. According to deputies, Caballero utilized a master key fob to access Marcano’s apartment and was waiting inside when she returned home. 

 “It’s critical to raise awareness around topics like domestic abuse and other forms of trauma, so we can support victims who reach out for our help,” said Nina Mendes, communications assistant at Valerie’s House, a nonprofit organization that provides counseling for grieving families in Naples, Florida.  “We can always work to better our understanding of grief and learn new ways to assist victims. Cases like these bring loss and bereavement into the spotlight.”

 The murder of Miya Marcano follows the death of 22-year-old Gabby Petito, whose body was found in Wyoming after her disappearance while on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé. The stories of both young women’s deaths sparked a resurgence in discussions regarding women’s safety within the country.  

  October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and universities throughout the United States continue to implement new security protocols to protect their student population. 

 “Personally, my roommates and I have agreed to let everyone in our apartment know when we put in any maintenance requests, so we have a good idea of when people who work in our building should be entering and exiting our unit,” said Cassidy Batts, a junior at the University of Central Florida. 

 Mandatory sexual assault training, campus-wide safety buttons that summon university police and an increase of accessibility to Title IX resources have become commonplace throughout the country’s colleges, all serving as methods to protect young adults. 

 “A lot of people aren’t sure what to say or do in these types of situations,” said Mendes.

“By shedding light on these sensitive issues, we can provide various avenues of support to ensure lasting recovery and healing.”

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At 4:50 pm at Young’s Asian Massage in Acworth, G.A. Delaina Ashley Yuan, Paul Andre Mitchels, Xiaojie Tan and Daoyou Feng were murdered. At 5:47 pm at  Atlanta, G.A’s Gold Massage Spa Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Kim, Suncha Kim and Yong Ae Yue were similarly massacred. Of the eight murder victims, six were of Asian decent – four were Korean. Like me.

It is impossible not to grieve. If you are a human being, any loss of life, even a stranger’s, and especially any loss caused by violence is heartbreaking. But the coverage of this particular atrocity was as predictable as ever. Reasonable questions are always asked; how could this have happened? Why did this happen?i Who did this? But then – inevitably – come the other questions. The ones that humanize the perpetrator. The questions that attempt to remind us that once (or maybe still) this young man had value, was important, was loved. Like the eight people he slaughtered weren’t. 

Eight lives were blasted off this planet, and all because they could have been affiliated with sex work – which somehow makes their murders more publicly palatable. And all while his name, his age, his potential motivations are blasted on the cover of every single noteworthy publication or broadcast – news anchors struggle to pronounce the names of the very victims he made. Erasing them further. Cloaking them in further obscurity or anonymity. 

The shooter had assumed that the Asian-affiliated massage parlors he attacked were inexplicably linked with sex work and that justified his masacre. This is a common popular culture belief. While it is true that some Asian-affiliated massage parlors or spas are also covertly used for sex work, it does not diminish the lives or experiences of those who work in these facilities and it certainly does not give agency to anybody to kill these workers simply because they were consumed with sexual “temptation”.

Asian women in particular have historically been sexualized. The assumption that Asian women have been sexual commodities stems from the fetisization of them and their race. Because Asian women can be seen as simultaneously hyper-sexual and also hyper-docile and submissive, we face unique and overt violences and violations simply because of inaccurate and degrading racist assumptions based on pop culture depictions.

The mass shooting addresses many of the fears in this country that Asian and Asian American individuals face today, particularly those who identify as women and those who are sex workers. According to a study by Stop AAPI Hate, since the COVID-19 pandemic began nearly 3,800 instances of discrimination, violence and harrasment have been reported in this country. “Probably more,” said Jeehae Fischer, the executive director at the Korean American Family Service Center in Queens, N.Y. “People are afraid to come forward to even say ‘hey something happened to me and I’m scared’’.

When I lived in Tübingen, in southern Germany for a year, I was the victim of numerous verbal and physical hate crimes. The area is more conservative than neighboring states, but I still experienced hatred and othering in nearly every town I visited throughout the country. Ranging from a hollered slur out the back of a car window speeding by, to beer bottles being thrown at my legs (resulting in scarring), to waking up one day to plastered graphic images of Holocaust victims covering the common area in my dormitory. I had many bad days there. But never once did I use those experiences, those bad days to harm a German individual physically or verbally. Not even those who were repeatedly perpetrating crimes against myself and my peers. I didn’t report every instance, but the ones I did were met with less than lukewarm responses. I could have done more to advocate for myself, but I was scared.

Today, and every day, I think about the beautiful people whose lives have been taken away from us through violence. Through selfish acts of cowardice, ignorance and falsely-perceived superiority. I’m thinking about Hyun Jung Kim and her life as a single mother, wondering if we both liked jjajangmyeon or if it was too salty for her. I’m thinking about Xiaojie Tan, who was only two days away from her birthday. I’m thinking about all of them. Wondering if they had anything they were looking forward to that day. Wondering if they were tired of this pandemic just like me. Wondering if they were scared.

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But as old habits die hard, it seems that at least for now it’s going to take much more to discourage some women from shopping at the lingerie store.

“I think that the body image that it gives to women, men, whoever, their customers is, is very skewed, not all encompassing,” Moura Ehmer, 31, said, while walking out of the brand’s 5th Avenue  store. “That being said, it’s a block from my house and it’s a one stop shop, I know my size, and they have good discounts every now and again.”

Ehmer said that when looking for a place to buy underwear, the level of proximity and practicality top any other considerations. Having “grown up with the brand”, the New Yorker is mostly drawn in by the ease of shopping in familiar territory.

“A consumer, I should really do this, but I don’t really think twice yet when I go to buy bras,” Ehmer said. “I can go to TJ Maxx if I find something and I think that’s great. It’s not like I’m like Victoria’s Secret only.”

In recent months, reports have indicated Victoria’s Secret has been losing business. In a surprising move last year, the brand canceled their famous annual show, an extravagant event where their “angels” would walk down the runway in underwear and elaborate wings. But even the broadcasting numbers had gone down to 3.3 million television viewers in 2018, from 9.7 million in 2013.

A report in the New York Times last Saturday described how in the past Victoria’s Secret top male executives fostered a culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment, for example making advances on models and punishing them for refusing. One shopper walking out of the store in Manhattan was aware of the story.

“I saw the piece. I was very disappointed that they didn’t do anything to change the culture and there was such an accepted level of harassment towards women,” Sarah Henry said. “I’ve sort of become numb to it with the whole Harvey Weinstein thing, which is just a terrible situation to me.”

Still, something draws the New York local back to the store. Having been a customer since high school, Henry described her relationship with the brand as a habit.

“It’s still a functioning company, with people working in marketing and sales that also have families that are innocent in this, but I’m still patronizing the store,” Henry said. “I think there’s always been some conflict because they’ve been perpetuating this body type, this ideal that I will never reach, for as long as I can remember. And now it’s just coming out that they’re perpetuating this culture [of harassment] that was not healthy.”

Henry went into the store with a friend, who pointed out how today a wider range of underwear brands cater to different preferences and shapes, such as Third Love and Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty.

“There’s been, I think, a shift of body image over the past few years that I know Victoria’s Secret maybe doesn’t abide by,” Ilana Galang said, pink Victoria Secret bag in hand. “I guess they play off the fantasy.  As a branding tool I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, especially because now there are other brands out there that have different directions. Some are body positive, some are inclusive, and some are plain and boring.”

For other shoppers,  the brand secret remains a favorite. 

Saya Lee, originally from South Korea and a New York resident for the past 10 years, said that the sales the brand holds draw her in, even though some of her friends have stopped shopping at Victoria’s Secret.

Queen Brown, on the other hand, is unfazed by the negative reports on how the brand portrays women.

“This is a lingerie line and you have Lane Bryant, you have a Victoria’s Secret, Ashley Stewart,” Brown said. “To each his own.”

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Women from across religions, socioeconomic statuses and political parties gathered in Washington Square Park yesterday to protest Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.

The rally was organized by Erin Lynn, who wanted to find a way to protest when the logistics of getting on a bus to D.C. weren’t coming together. So she made a Facebook event page, and invited two friends. By the end of the day, thousands marked that they would be attending. The National Women’s March reached out to Lynn to coordinate.

The southwest corner of Washington Square Park soon became crowded with hundreds of protesters. They took turns speaking and offering different solutions to the issues plaguing the United States, sometimes directly disagreeing with the person who spoke before. Some women were so determined to be a part of the protest, they arrived hours early, just so they didn’t miss anything.

“About 35 of us just marched around the park,” said one early protestor, Lindsay Borden, who is the Interim Pastor at New York City’s Second Presbyterian Church. “We weren’t sure if anyone else was going to show.”

Rally crowd listening at the Stop Kavanaugh Rally yesterday. Photo by Opheli Garcia Lawler

The time coincided with protests in Washington D.C., where hundreds of women flooded the Senate galleries, and at least 164 were arrested by U.S. Capitol Police, according to law enforcement. Women in D.C. and New York were united by fury and they rallied against a man accused of sexual assault and misconduct, who would be sworn in just hours later.

“We knew we were going to be under attack,” said Julianne Hoffenberg, director of The Gathering for Justice, run by Women’s March organizer Carmen Perez. “It was just a matter of how they were going to do it. Personally, I have been blown away by how fast fascism has sort of toppled the revolution that was coming before.”

Hoffenberg said that a year ago, she never would have guessed that she’d be on the ground organizing against a Supreme Court nominee like Kavanaugh. She was at the event on behalf of Linda Sarsour, another Women’s March organizer, to assist Erin Lynn with the logistics of putting together a rally at the last minute, and to make sure the protest stayed safe and nonviolent.

Lynn said she didn’t want to just sit at home. She couldn’t. She brought a box of coffee and several boxes of donuts. She wasn’t sure what to expect. But she went on to lead the crowds in speaking out, beginning by sharing her own story as a survivor.

“I have been sexually assault three times,” she told the crowd later in the afternoon. “And it took me a long time just to admit that.”

Erin Lynn, rally organizer, setting up a new microphone at the Stop Kavanaugh Rally yesterday in Washington Square Park. Photo by Opheli Garcia Lawler

She then invited other people to take the megaphone and share their stories. Some took the opportunity to share their own stories of surviving sexual assault. Others just screamed. Some broke down in despair as they begged the crowd to get registered to vote. Some called for the downfall of capitalism, of the republic, of President Donald Trump.

“I thought I couldn’t feel more heartbroken than the day I learned how they were ripping babies from their mothers’ arms at the border,” said Vicky Barrios Newsom, a member of Movimiento Cosecha. She spoke through deep, shaky breaths. Her face was red and wet with tears. She had been crying since she arrived. “I feel betrayed. I feel betrayed by white women. Please. Please. Please. Talk to your family.”

Many protesters echoed similar feelings of betrayal from white women – even white women themselves. This was especially true when it came to Republican Senator Susan Collins’ decision to vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Many held out hope that she would vote against party lines and block Trump’s nominee from the lifetime appointment. Walking through the cramped crowd, it was impossible to go a few feet without hearing someone mutter her name in disgust.

For others, the betrayal was less shocking. Zakiyah Anarsi, an education advocate in the city of New York at the Alliance for Quality Education has long steeled herself against the disappointment politicians can cause. While the nomination of Kavanaugh was particularly painful for Ansari, who is the mother of a sexual assault survivor, she is hoping others who are outraged will see the intersectionality of the issue.

“The work that I do, I’ve been active for almost 20 years,” she said. “But all this stuff merges into one. Like you can’t talk about one without the other. What this has done is it has left us with an opportunity of folks who aren’t normally engaged with stuff to now be engaged, specifically white women.”

Zakiyah Ansari speaking to the crowd at the Stop Kavanaugh Rally yesterday. Photo by Opheli Garcia Lawler.

Despite the differences between protesters, whether they were new organizers like Lynn, or career activists like Ansari, Barrios Newsom and Hoffenberg, or faith leaders like Borden, each gladly deferred the mic to the other, listened intently to each other’s stories, and offered support when a personal testimony became overwhelming. Midway through the rally, all their voices joined in chorus: “I believe you,” they shouted.

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Nearly 30 years ago, a teenager was sexually assaulted and had her life changed forever as she left her high school’s halls with traumatic humiliation and guilt. While this is the story that remains only an allegation of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, countless women share an eerily similar tale that they are forced to relive as they watch her alleged perpetrator seek a spot on the Supreme Court.

Ford accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals, of sexually assaulting her while they were in high school. With an experience that mirrors Ford’s alleged assault all too well, Christine McCoy has dedicated the past week to voice her opposition against Kavanaugh’s nomination. Like many women, the details of her assault will never leave her mind or body’s memory.

“My experience was pretty much the same,” she said, surrounded by some of her closest friends and neighbors while relaxing in a Pret A Manger after protesting in Washington, D.C. “You put stuff behind you but when things like this come into the public, I burst into tears the other day just thinking that I was never able to get any closure.”

The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) reports that every year, nearly 400,000 children and adults are victims of sexual assault. As rampant as the issue is, only a handful – about six in 1,000 – perpetrators are sentenced to prison.

“(Ford) represents so many survivors like Christine (McCoy) who never got the opportunity to share their story, to be believed, to not be ashamed,” said McCoy’s friend Anne Seymour, a national crime victim advocate. “There are so many indignities that women have suffered and in my work it’s on a minute-by-minute basis.”

“I’m enraged and I can’t believe this is happening in 2018 and that we’re survivor-splaining,” she added. “We should not have to do this.”

Page Croyder, 62, knows the systematic oppression these women have faced all too well. Before taking to the streets of Washington, D.C., with a sign reading only ‘hunger strike’ to protest Kavanaugh’s nomination and to stand in solidarity with Ford, Croyder was a Baltimore prosecutor who dealt with sex and child abuse cases. The cases she worked on and the work environments she witnessed as a woman in in a man’s world of law, have made her an outspoken advocate for women’s and victim’s rights.

“I can’t speak for young women now, but in my day, we very much eternalized the expectations of women,” she said, standing on the corner of Constitution Avenue and First Street. “When you’re victimized, that situation already puts you in a loss of power. So whether the person is about to sit on the Supreme Court or whether it’s your uncle or your father or whoever it was, seeing them go about their normal life while you are sitting there damaged is constant revictimization.”

Page Crowder went on a hunger strike in Washington, D.C., to stand in solidarity with Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school. Photo by Li Cohen

Kavanaugh’s potential confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice has enraged thousands of other women like Seymour, who have taken to social media to express their own opinions. Many have shared their own survival stories using #WhyIDidntReport, #CancelKavanaugh and #MeToo. Many who haven’t shared their stories have loved ones taking a stand on their behalf.

“I know people that have (been assaulted) and I know ladies that still to this day wouldn’t come forward,” said D.C. resident Val Silva-Horva, who was speaking with protesters outside the White House. “This persecutes them all over again. It reminds them of what happened to them and the fact that there is no voice that stands up for them.”

Anisha Singh, senior organizing director for Generation Progress, has helped with several sexual assault court cases. She explained in a phone call that Senate Judiciary Committee members and many other government officials are not formally trained in dealing with sexual assault victims, as evident in the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill case in 1991.

“What ends up happening in these situations – and we saw it happen with the Clarence Thomas case – is that Anita Hill was attacked,” she said.“The people sitting on the Senate Judiciary Committee didn’t let her talk, they didn’t really listen to her and weren’t respectful toward her. That process was so bad toward the survivor, and yet this one feels like it’s going to be so much worse.”

Although Silva-Hora, Seymour, McCoy and Ford have all come forward in some way over the past week, Silva-Hora acknowledged that the work they are putting in will not change how society sees victims of sexual assault if Kavanaugh is still confirmed for the Supreme Court.

“The only thing that’s going to change is that more women are going to say ‘I don’t matter;’ more girls are going to say ‘I don’t matter,’” she said. “And you know what – more young men are going to say ‘Hell yeah, I can do whatever I want to you. The president says I can. That Supreme Court dude, he says I can. Congress says I can.’”

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Homeless women walked the runway last night in a glittering fashion show that aimed to not only fight the stigma these women face, but give them a voice to define who they are.

“We’re labeled as being drug users, or whatever negative,” said Renee Brooks, a model in the show. “Sitting home all day with soap operas, no education. That’s not true for all of us.”

Brooks and all the models who participated in the show live at Susan’s Place, a 200-bed transitional residence for women who are medically frail or mentally in the Bronx.

They walked the runway at the 6th Annual Health Empowered Beauty Fashion Show and Benefit hosted by Care for the Homeless at the Prince George Ballroom in Kips Bay, Manhattan. The funds raised at the event helps Care for the Homeless support the women of Susan’s Place.

Brooks walked in a candy red evening gown with a black vintage shawl and a felt hat. She added a runway twirl for flourish. Brooks has been a resident of Susan’s Place for just over a year.  A heart condition required her to need a defibrillator, and she was forced to seek out long-term medical treatment from the shelter. She believes the fashion show was an opportunity for people to understand that not everyone’s situation is the same.

“They get to see us in another light,” said Brooks. “They lump us all into one group, one category and that’s not true.”

Brooks hopes to leave the center soon and get a place of her own.

Sylvia Garcia, also a model in the show, is a former resident of the shelter. After nine months of medical treatment and counseling, she was released and now has custody of her four grandchildren, ranging in ages 5 to 14. She also teaches her own crochet class once a week at Susan’s Place.

“I’m proud of myself,” said Garcia. “I’ve done a lot.”

The rhinestones on Zuleyka Cordera’s black, full length evening gown glittered as she crossed the stage with her head held high. Cordero, a native of the Dominican Republic and a resident of Susan’s Place for just under two years, was nervous for the show. She was also excited for the opportunity to thank the shelter for helping her overcome her anger and learn how to use patience to solve her problems.

“Things that are big for me are small for them,” she said. I feel like these people have been my support system.”

Special guest Emmy Award winning and Academy Award nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger told the attendees that his first experiences with “the issues of homelessness” came more than 20 years ago, while he was making a documentary about the lives of people on the street.

“At the time, Giuliani was cleaning up the streets and getting rid of the squeegee men,” said Berlinger. “There was all sorts of policy and debates about what should be done with the homeless, but nobody was dealing with the human issue of what it’s like to be homeless.”

Cheryl Law of the Bronx came to show her support, but she was not always a supporter. When she learned a homeless shelter was to be opened near her home, she joined many of her neighbors in protest. She quickly realized that she had jumped to conclusions about the people who would be there.

“I just assumed it was people who made the choice to live that way,” said Law.

She now volunteers at the center and attends events like the fashion show to support those who are affected by homelessness. She also wants to help others who, like her, have been blinded by the misconception that all homeless people are the same.

“I was wrong,” she said. “It’s not that easy to judge who they are.”

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