Resources for Intersectionality
What is intersectionality?
Intersectionality or Intersectional Theory is a term that was first coined by scholar and civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw. This theory seeks to examine how various social and biological categorizations like gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation religion, etc. interact on multiple levels in relation to systems of oppression and discrimination.
By listening and learning from the experiences of survivors who hold different identities, we can create an inclusive and trauma-informed environment that is aware of the unique challenges and forms of support to best help a survivor. Additionally, recognizing different identities and/or communities when discussing sexual violence can help bring awareness, conversation, and future forms of support and prevention to Stanford’s campus and beyond.
Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Communities
SAAM 2023
In 2023, SHARE centered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit folks who experience disproportionate rates of violence on and off campus & the work Indigenous activists have done to prevent and address violence.
The SHARE: Education Team acknowledges that Stanford occupies the stolen, ancestral, and unceded land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. We acknowledge that all of the Stanford community, including SHARE, has benefitted and continues to benefit from the occupation and use of this land and the history/culture of Indigenous Peoples and their varied practices. In recognizing the violence and oppression that has been perpetuated against indigenous communities, it is equally important to honor the unrelenting strength of these communities and the practices of activism, art, and community building that they have developed to fight systemic oppression. Indigenous women are murdered at a rate 10 times higher than the national average. Additionally, research centering native lesbian, bisexual, and two-spirit people found that around 85% had experienced sexual violence. There are many examples of these powerful advocates on and off Stanford’s campus who are working everyday to end the epidemic of violence against Native women. One example is Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary and one of the first Native women to serve in congress. Secretary Haaland is one of many advocates and organizations around the world who are working daily to combat the effects of colonial violence, including organizations on our very own campus like the Stanford American Indian Organization (SAIO), which works to strengthen Indigenous communities and increase the visibility of Indigenous issues on campus. Centering these Indigenous advocates and voices is crucial when discussing and combatting sexual violence. To do this, we must integrate intersectionality into our sexual violence prevention and aim to dismantle all systems of oppression
To learn more about this topic, look at the 2023 SAAM Newsletters on the SHARE Website.
Asian American Activists in the Disability Community
SAAM 2022
In 2022, SHARE highlighted notable Asian American activists who focus on disability justice and its intersection with sexual violence prevention and advocacy.
Long overdue, it is critical to center the voices of Asian Americans in the disability community in conversations about violence and sexual assault. Both members of the disability and Asian American communities have been silenced in matters relating to sexual and relationship violence, although both groups experience disproportionately high rates of violence relative to their non-disabled and white counterparts. People with disabilities, for example, are more than three times likely to experience serious crime such as sexual assault and rape, and 21 – 55% of Asian women in the U.S. report experiencing intimate physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime. Despite these statistics, the intersection between Asian American identity and disability status and its relationship to sexual violence remains critically understudied and unacknowledged. However, many disabled Asian American activists have cultivated joy, safety, liberation and strength. In order to promote a culture of care on and off Stanford’s campus, it is important that we understand, acknowledge, and honor the intersectionality between Asian American identity and disability status as well as those who have worked to seek justice within this community..
To learn more about this topic, look at the 2022 SAAM Newsletters on the SHARE Website.