Omny Miranda Martone, Founder and CEO of the Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA), spoke at the DC Dyke March on June 6th. The first Dyke March was held in Washington, DC in 1993 to address lesbian invisibility within the broader LGBTQ+ movement. This year’s theme, “Dykes Against Facism”, was chosen due to growing threats and targeted oppression against LGBTQ+ rights, immigrants, Palestinians, and other marginalized communities. In the past few months, protests have erupted across the country against fascist practices of abduction and deportation.
“Queer people face significantly higher rates of sexual violence than cis straight people,” said Martone. “Yet homophobic politicians accuse queer people of being pedophiles in order to pass their oppressive legislation.”
Martone spoke about SORVO (Systemic Oppression, Reverse Victim, and Offender), the weaponization of sexual violence, and accusations thereof, by fascist and oppressive powers.
“We’ve seen this before. During the Holocaust, Nazis painted Jewish men as sexual threats to ‘Aryan’ women. Under Jim Crow, white mobs lynched Black men with false claims of rape. In South Africa, white rulers called Black activists ‘rapists’ to justify Apartheid,” said Martone. “And today, we see it again—Israel paints all Palestinians as rapists to excuse mass slaughter. Politicians say trans people are pedophiles to ban our existence. Immigrants are smeared as sexual predators to build cages.”
You can read Martone’s entire speech below.
These photos were taken by Malka Svei (malwithcam) at DC Dyke March 2025. They are shared with permission from the photographer and the march organizers.
Hello! My name is Omny Miranda Martone, and I’m the Founder and CEO of the Sexual Violence Prevention Association. I’m also the creator of SORVO, a framework we all must know to resist fascism.
SORVO stands for Systemic Oppression, Reverse Victim, and Offender. It describes how oppressive regimes weaponize sexual violence—not just by committing it, but by accusing us of it. Once again, they use sexual violence (rape, sexual assault, harassment) as a form of oppression but they also use accusations of sexual violence as a form of oppression.
Queer people are common targets. Queer people face significantly higher rates of sexual violence than cis straight people. Yet homophobic politicians accuse queer people of being pedophiles in order to pass their oppressive legislation.
SORVO explains that fascists reverse the roles of victim and offender: they deny, omit, and erase their own sexual violence. They deny it ever happened. They omit it by refusing to collect data. They erase it by silencing the press and preventing survivors from speaking out. Meanwhile they falsify, sensationalize, and exaggerate ours. They make up false sexual violence stories, like Carolyn Bryant did to Emmit Till. Or they exaggerate and sensationalize the few true cases that actually took place like Laken Riley.
They use SORVO to make it seem like the oppressed are dangerous. Then they use that lie to justify oppression- control, incarceration, genocide.
We’ve seen this before.
During the Holocaust, Nazis painted Jewish men as sexual threats to “Aryan” women.
Under Jim Crow, white mobs lynched Black men with false claims of rape.
In South Africa, white rulers called Black activists “rapists” to justify Apartheid.
And today, we see it again—
Israel paints all Palestinians as rapists to excuse mass slaughter.
Politicians say trans people are pedophiles to ban our existence.
Immigrants are smeared as sexual predators to build cages.
And yes—dykes, we are no strangers to this.
We’ve been called deviants. Perverts. Predators. For decades.
SORVO has been used to criminalize our love, take our kids, deny us jobs, and shut us out of safety.
Fascists know SORVO works. It makes oppression look like protection. It makes state violence look like virtue.
But here’s the truth: once SORVO is recognized, it loses its power.
To fight it, we need to know it.
Know its eight tactics:
The denial, omission, erasure, and redefinition of their violence—
The falsification, sensationalization, exaggeration, and redefinition of ours.
So when you hear some shocking, outrageous story about sexual violence that is meant to incite fear about immigrants, queers, or any oppressed group—ask yourself: What violence is being hidden? Whose voices are being erased? That question alone can expose their whole strategy.
Our resistance begins with recognition.
Let us name SORVO. Let us teach it. Let us call it out loudly and together
Please follow us on socials or check out our website. Search S.V.P.A and we should come up.
Let us never forget: being a dyke has always meant resisting fascism—with our bodies, our stories, our rage, and our love.
Thank you. Stay loud. Stay dangerous. Stay free.
– Omny Miranda Martone, SVPA Founder
