The Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA) presented our SORVO framework at the Hampton Roads Social Justice Conference. Our talk focused on sexual violence and propaganda, specifically how accustions of sexual violence are weaponized to justify the oppression of immigrants, trans+ people, Black people, and Palestinians.
Christopher Newport University’s Center for Crime, Equity, and Justice Research and Policy and the Hampton Roads CCD Local Network co-hosted the fifth annual Hampton Roads Social Justice Conference on April 14th and 15th at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. Attendees included activists, researchers, students, lived-experience experts, non-profit personnel, and policy makers.
The SVPA’s session, titled “Systemic Oppression, Reverse Victim, and Offender: Weaponizing Sexual Violence,” was led by Omny Miranda Martone, our Founder and CEO, and Katie Knick, our Research Director. By teaching the SORVO framework, attendees learned to identify how sexual violence and propaganda are used by oppressive governments to justify their segregation, discrimination, genocide, and other harmful policies.
The SVPA led discussion about how the US government, especially the current administration, frequently accuses immigrants and trans people of being rapists and pedophiles. These false and sensationalized claims are used to justify detaining immigrants, increasing ICE’s violence, revoking trans medical care, banning trans people from bathrooms and sports, and other oppressive policies.
The reality is, immigrants and trans people are no more likely to commit sexual violence than the general population. In fact, immigrants are twice as likely to be victims of sexual violence than their non-immigrant peers and trans people are 4 times more likely to be victims of violence than cis people.
This is SORVO- Systemic Oppression Reverse Victim and Offender. The Trump administration has reversed the victims and offenders of sex violence in order to justice systemically oppressing them.
The SVPA led discussion about how SORVO was historically used by white supremacists and the US government to justify oppressive policies during Jim Crow and how SORVO is used today by the US and Israeli governments to justify genocide against Palestinians.
The SVPA is grateful to Christopher Newport University, the Center for Crime, Equity, and Justice Research and Policy, and the Hampton Roads CCD Local Network for hosting this important event!
You can learn more about the SORVO framework here.
