The Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA) released a new framework – Systemic Oppression, Reverse Victim, and Offender (SORVO). SORVO describes how oppressive groups weaponize sexual violence, and accusations thereof, to justify systemic oppression. The SORVO framework enables the recognition and prevention of systemic injustice in action.
The SORVO Report outlines how oppressive groups reverse the roles of victim and offender by manipulating narratives to make it appear as though the oppressed group commits high rates of sexual violence. Meanwhile, oppressive groups refute or hide their own acts of sexual violence. Specifically, oppressive groups reverse victim and offender by denying, omitting, erasing, and de-defining their acts of sexual violence while falsifying, sensationalizing, exaggerating, and redefining sexual violence committed by the groups they are oppressing. By reversing the victim and offender of sexual violence, oppressive groups justify their control, surveillance, imprisonment, and/or genocide.
The SORVO framework is demonstrated through four case studies: the Holocaust in Europe, the conditions under Jim Crow in the United States, the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community globally, and the Apartheid in South Africa. Data sources used for this report include academic journals, reports, first-hand accounts, and historical archives.
SORVO is an effective tool for oppressive groups because they use it to convince the general public that their oppressive acts are justified. By defining SORVO, we empower people to identify it and thus counteract it. We implore educators, activists, journalists, community leaders, and everyday people to learn the framework and call it out in real time.
Once SORVO is recognized, it loses its power.
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About the SVPA
The Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA) is a national nonprofit dedicated to preventing sexual violence systemically. Learn more about our organization on our website or in our impact report.
