Hi, I'm Megan one of the co-chairs for our Illinois Imagines Team. I am a sexual violence prevention educator at Rape Victim Advocates here in Chicago. I've been involved in the local Illinois Imagines collaboration since February of 2010.
Hmm, hmm...
Well what to talk about first? Illinois Imagines has been very active over the past few months. At the end of October I had the opportunity to attend the 2012 National Conference on
Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Against People with Disabilities. It was great to meet the women who have pioneered researching the intersection of disability and sexual violence. I went all the way down to Louisville to hear these speakers talk about their experiences in their own communities and how they focus on this intersection. The most enjoyable thing about this conference was the reminder that I am not doing this work alone. Not only do I have my Chicago team behind me but there are people all over the country who 'get it'. They are doing this incredibly challenging and necessary work and have been for decades. Here's a great quote from the workshop "Perspectives: Learning from the Past for a Better Future" with speakers Roberta Sick and Leslie Myers..."baby steps! Where you're at is where you start. If not you then who?" It was inspiring!
Here are a couple of photos from the time I spent there:
What else...
Well as you know one of our main goals on our team is not only professional development and education, like my trip to Louisville, but also having these conversations within the community. From October through December of 2012 myself and another educator, Stephen Adler from Rape Victim Advocates, worked with about 14 post-secondary students who have disabilities. We met with the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education students once a week for six weeks to talk about everything from dating relationships, options for survivors of violence and a whole lot about consent (one of my favorite topics). I would say it was a success!
Illinois Imagines also worked with Access Living in December. If you don't know Access Living they are amazing. Check them out here! This organization is definitely integral within our team dynamic... Anyway, we lead a two-part workshop on healthy relationships and sexual violence for the Empowered Fe Fe's, a group of women with disabilities that meet regularly at Access. We had some interesting conversations and a couple of the participants mentioned they were surely prepared to help a friend if they ever needed it following a sexual assault. Sexual violence is a tough topic but it's great to have more access to resources in the community. Talking about dating violence and sexual abuse are not fun topics but we always try to end on a positive note. Here is a picture of our "empowerment graffiti board" and a group shot. Hey that's me with the green scarf!
So that's all for now. It was a great 2012 and we have some pretty rockin' things planned for 2013. We are just getting started!
-Megan for Illinois Imagines Chicago
