OAS Events

What is power based violence? A Closer look at Domestic Violence in Washington DC 

Hosted by OAS on October 6th at 8pm EST. We will examine the terms power, violence and DC-specific barriers survivors face. Community members will gain tactical skills to support those in violent relationships and a tangible understanding of the ways systems in DC function to hinder survivors. 

What is Mutual Aid? Foundations and Collective Care

Hosted on October 20th at 6:00pm EST. We will explore mutual aid’s history and how to keep each other safe when our community experiences harm. Community members will gain information on how to build a mutual aid fund, a list of mutual aid projects in DC and community based safety planning skills.

Mutual Aid Project:

OAS alongside SASA hosted a month long community collective action fund that seeks to take care of each other’s needs. Throughout the month of October we collected monetary donations to deliver much needed resources to survivors of domestic violence in DC. People donated to our cosponsor GW SASA on venmo at GW-SASA or you dropped off items at the Marvin Center! To learn more feel free to email us at [email protected]

Here are the items we collected and donated to three local non profit organizations:

Pampers 

Burner phones 

Masks  

Uber gift cards  

Food cards  

Pregnancy tests

• One in three women and one in six men will experience sexual violence in their lifetime. 21% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) college students have been sexually assaulted. (Statistics from RAINN)
• SAAM Day of Action is the first Tuesday in April, and is a day to focus on bringing awareness to sexual violence prevention and the steps to eradicating sexual violence. You can also spread awareness and take steps to eradicate violence all year long!
• Denim Day is a day to wear jeans with a purpose. It started in 1999 and was inspired by a show of solidarity for a survivor. Now, thousands of people all over the world wear jeans on this day in April. You can find out more about Denim Day here. 
• One way to spread awareness and show your support to survivors is to speak up against sexist, racist, classist, homophobic, etc. language and behavior. All oppression is connected and by speaking up, you are showing your support for survivors and helping to change the culture.
• Many cases of sexual violence go unreported, but that does not mean that survivors are not engaged in healing in other ways. Survivors have the autonomy to choose how to engage in processes. OAS can support survivors in discussing their options and connecting with resources.

SASA, Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority Inc., and many other community members participated in The Clothesline Project for SAAM 2020. This project honors the experiences of survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, incest or child sexual abuse. By following this link, you can explore a virtual gallery to view the shirts and read some facts about sexual violence. We want to give a shout-out to Tammy Wang from Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority Inc. for her hard work on creating this virtual gallery and researching this information. Below, you can find some more facts about Sexual Assault Awareness Month from the Office of Advocacy and Support.

Please note that some of the content displayed can be difficult to view. We encourage you to engage in this project in a way that is best for you. You may want to take a break when viewing the shirts, listening to a favorite song or calming sound while going through the virtual gallery, etc. OAS isalso a resource for you. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you would like to speak with one of our confidential advocates. We also want to acknowledge that the bodies presented wearing some of these shirts appear to be white and biologically male. All bodies can and do experience violence. The bodies represented here are part of Custom Ink’s design lab and not chosen by OAS or project participants.

• One in three women and one in six men will experience sexual violence in their lifetime. 21% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) college students have been sexually assaulted. (Statistics from RAINN)
• SAAM Day of Action is the first Tuesday in April, and is a day to focus on bringing awareness to sexual violence prevention and the steps to eradicating sexual violence. You can also spread awareness and take steps to eradicate violence all year long!
• Denim Day is a day to wear jeans with a purpose. It started in 1999 and was inspired by a show of solidarity for a survivor. Now, thousands of people all over the world wear jeans on this day in April. You can find out more about Denim Day here. 
• One way to spread awareness and show your support to survivors is to speak up against sexist, racist, classist, homophobic, etc. language and behavior. All oppression is connected and by speaking up, you are showing your support for survivors and helping to change the culture.
• Many cases of sexual violence go unreported, but that does not mean that survivors are not engaged in healing in other ways. Survivors have the autonomy to choose how to engage in processes. OAS can support survivors in discussing their options and connecting with resources.