Spokane Area NOW is dedicated to a safe and compassionate response for sexual assault survivors.

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Thursday, May 10, 2018 Spokane Area NOW and the Women+s March posted the following joint statement on Facebook: 

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"Statement of Support for Councilwoman Kate Burke from Spokane NOW and Women+s March on Washington - Washington State

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#MeToo, #TimesUp, whatever the movement is called yesterday, today, or tomorrow, there are some of us who don’t feel empowered to speak for ourselves. Until we’ve created a society where we change the narrative from blaming victims and survivors to that of abusive men, we need people to speak for us.

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Recently, Councilwoman Kate Burke was called to task by a local media outlet for holding an organization and a member of our community accountable. She worked with the organization on the best way to move forward and declared she would look into whether the city can use its power to truly hold organizations accountable by pulling funding. Kate didn’t bring these allegations to light in a vacuum. She spoke with women effected by the individual on a personal and/or professional level. She didn’t bring unfounded allegations. She believed women - because for so long, our society has not. And here we sit having to support a woman for helping women while the newspaper has printed a biased article akin to the days when a woman who spoke up for herself was considered hysterical and committed to an asylum.

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We need to believe women. Full stop. This is why so many women and victims are afraid to come forward – because of the vilification of the press, the judgment of people who know nothing of a situation, the looming threat of physical violence, of not being able to take care of her children because she depends on someone for a job, and so many other personal reasons that no woman ever has to explain to anyone. Once we stop blaming women for the way that men act, we can have justice.

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Councilwoman Kate Burke is the leader we need to speak and lead for us from the dais at 808 W. Falls Blvd. She has our full and unwavering support in her endeavors to fight for and protect the rights of underrepresented communities. We believe her, we stand with her, and we continue to support her." 

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NEXT STEPS

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Spokane Area NOW encourages all victims of sexual harassment and gender based violence to seek support and to report their experiences if and when they feel safe enough to do so. 

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If you would like to share your story with us, we want to hear from you! There are several ways to send an anonymous message. You may wish to create a secure and private email account with a service like Hushmail. Please send messages to Autumn Reed at areed@spokanenow.org. 

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We are working to find a path forward for survivors of workplace sexual harassment to come forward. This will involve resources and trained professionals for legal counsel, emotional support, and safety planning. 

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If you would like to support Spokane Area NOW and our work to change the culture of sexual harassment and violence against women in our community, please consider making a donation today.

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