Update - Twitter Hashtag Announcement and TeamStrick Online Awareness Day

Just a quick update and small change to our #hashtag posted here. 

#RISEandShine (Mondays) are now #MusicMondays. RISEandShine will continue, but not on a specific day anymore. So the new schedule is as follows:

#MusicMondays. 
#InnerChildTuesday
#SurvivorWednesday
#TherapyThursday
#FreedomFriday
#SharingSaturday
#HealingSunday

Also April 20th was the online campaign with TeamStrick & a bunch of other groups to spread awareness. We had some really great entries. #RISEawareness

Our friends at RAINN - (Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network)

Kylie - Founder of R.I.S.E.

"I love the idea of the phoenix "rising" from the ashes. And underneath, to be true to it's Greek Mythology, is "RISE" in Greek." -Shona (Official Member) 

My graphic for a shirt. Rape affects both men and women, why not involve them both.

Check out more about R.I.S.E. at any of the following:

Website: avoiceforheather.tripod.com

Myspace: myspace.com/avoiceforheather

Blog: avoiceforheather.blogspot.com

Facebook:www.facebook.com/avoiceforheather

Twitter: www.twitter.com/VoiceforHeather

Email: VoiceforHeather@yahoo.com

Twitter Hashtag Announcement!

Please join us on Twitter @VoiceForHeather & participate in sharing the healing! If you have a Twitter, please follow us to see our regular posts as well as extra stuff only available on Twitter!

Our new Twitter Hashtags will make viewing pictures & posts on certain topics much easier. You probably know our schedule by now, & we now have hashtags for each day, so you can simply click on a hashtag & see all related posts!

Also, you are always free to suggest pictures & quotes for us to use on Facebook, but now you can also tweet us your suggestions using the hashtags, & if we like it we will retweet you, & maybe even share your suggestion on Facebook! It can be pictures, quotes, links, or just your own original thoughts.

Here is a list of the new RISE hashtags, based on our schedule:

#RISEandShine (Mondays)
#InnerChildTuesday
#SurvivorWednesday
#TherapyThursday
#FreedomFriday
#SharingSaturday
#HealingSunday

Also, we are working on a campaign with TeamStrick & a bunch of other groups to spread awareness. For anything related to TeamStrick Awareness Day (April 20th) or to awareness in general, we now have the hashtag #RISEawareness so keep that in mind!

We need you guys to help us get RISE out there, especially on Twitter. So please participate, spread the healing, & Keep Rising!

-The RISE Team

(NOTE: Since we are using so many hashtags, some of them may also have other groups using them, so keep that in mind! & remember these hashtags will also work for Instagram or any other program that uses hashtags. Thanks in advance for your participation!)

Update 12/31/12 – New Delhi Rape Protests

The woman now known as "India's daughter" as of yesterday has died. It has also now come out that she was on the bus with her fiancé when they were both brutally attacked.

"She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome," Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore said in a statement announcing her death from multiple organ failure. Media said a rod was used in the rape, causing internal injuries. The fiancé survived.

Reports of up to one thousand people gathered at two locations, demanding justice and the death the rapists. Being the charges have now upgraded to murder, they now will now inevitably will face the death penalty; For now they are just being held awaiting trial.

"For some reason, and I don't really know why, she got through to us," well-known columnist Nilanjana Roy wrote in a blog on Saturday. 

"Our words shriveled in the face of what she'd been subjected to by the six men travelling on that bus, who spent an hour torturing and raping her, savagely beating up her male friend."

Several people have stepped forward to make statements, all saying that her death will not be in vain. Protesters carried posters reading: "She is not with us but her story must awaken us."

Sonia Gandhi, the powerful leader of the ruling Congress party, directly addressed the protesters in a rare broadcast on state television, saying that as a mother and a woman she understood their grievances. 

"Your voice has been heard," Gandhi said. "It deepens our determination to battle the pervasive and the shameful social attitudes that allow men to rape and molest women with such impunity."

I pray not only for India, but for all women who have suffered from such abuse. Please remember that there are people that will stand behind you. These people are placing the first steps towards changes, justice, and help for all of you. Stay Strong.

More info about the protests:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/12/2012123015432890252.html

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/india-protests-violence-against-women-slideshow/demonstrators-shout-slogans-jump-over-police-barricade-seized-photo-103453675.html

Check out more about R.I.S.E. at any of the following:

Website: avoiceforheather.tripod.com
Myspace: myspace.com/avoiceforheather
Blog: avoiceforheather.blogspot.com
Facebook:www.facebook.com/avoiceforheather
Twitter: www.twitter.com/VoiceforHeather
Email: VoiceforHeather@yahoo.com

New Delhi Rape Protests

Something is actually being done about rape? No way! Yes my friends today in New Delhi protest are continuing to rage in wake of a 23 year old raped student. For those who don’t keep up with the news on December 16 a 23 year old student was gang-raped and beaten with an iron rod, before being thrown from a moving bus. The police immediately arrested several suspects, who are now awaiting trial. What does this have to do with protests? In the last couple of weeks protesters have been gathering, demanding a speedy trial with death penalty. The rape victim at this point in time is still in extremely critical condition and as of today has been airlifted to Singapore for a specialist hospital.

According to Dr. Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of the Singapore hospital had this to say,

"Prior to her arrival, she has already undergone three abdominal surgeries, and experienced a cardiac arrest in India. A multi-disciplinary team of specialists is taking care of her and doing everything possible to stabilize her condition."

To understand the point of the protest you need to know a little background.  Satarupa Bhattacharjya reports that.

 “New Delhi has the highest number of sex attacks among India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to the National Crimes Records Bureau.
Most rapes and other sex crimes go unreported and offenders are rarely punished, but the brutality of the assault on the medical student in New Delhi triggered public outrage, demands for both better policing and harsher punishment for rapists.”

 Though I agree those statistics sound pretty harsh, I’m not sure the death penalty is the way to go. I am, however, astonished at the amount of support, hope and healing these protestors are offering for this victim, unfortunately though some of protests have gotten to out of hand. Subhash Chand Tomar, a 47-year-old Delhi police constable, died from injuries received during the protest.

“The outcry and spasm of violent protests over the case caught Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government off guard and set off a blame game between politicians and the police.Singh digressed in a speech on economic planning on Thursday to stress that the safety and security of women was a priority issue for his government, and said there would be a review of the laws and levels of punishment for aggravated sexual assault. 

But within an hour of that meeting, his Congress party was plunged into embarrassment over comments made by one of its lawmakers, Abhijit Mukherjee, son of the country's president.
Mukherjee described the anti-rape demonstrations as a "pink revolution" by women wearing heavy make-up who think it is fashionable to protest.” Reported Bhattacharjya.

Though there will always be people who view rape as “not a big deal” I am extremely encouraged by both the police efforts and response from the people. It gives me hope that rape will no longer be swept under the rug, but face and dealt with openly. I wonder how the victim will feel once she recovers and finds out a whole city supporting her and demanding justice for her? Let us hope that such healing can spread to others parts of the world that continue to suffer from the ignorance of rape.

More info about the protests:

http://www.ibtimes.com/policeman-injured-new-delhi-gang-rape-protest-dies-967560

http://news.yahoo.com/india-rape-protests-fizzle-victim-airlifted-singapore-124855031.html

http://world.time.com/2012/12/26/india-after-new-delhi-gangrape-should-the-culprits-be-executed/

Check out more about R.I.S.E. at any of the following:

Website: avoiceforheather.tripod.com
Myspace: myspace.com/avoiceforheather
Blog: avoiceforheather.blogspot.com
Facebook:www.facebook.com/avoiceforheather
Twitter: www.twitter.com/VoiceforHeather
Email: VoiceforHeather@yahoo.com

Bailey's Story: Part 2

For the first part of this story click here: http://avoiceforheather.blogspot.com/2012/02/baileys-story.html

This is just an update on Bailey's situation.

"I learned today that the man who took four years of my life and turned those years into a time where the worst experiences of my life occurred joined the United States Armed Forces as a member of the United States Air Force. The mere fact that he wears a uniform that is a sibling to the one I wear sickens me and that there is nothing I can do about it. He doesn't deserve the honor nor the right to... serve our country, not after all he did to me. But any statute of limitations there existed on rape has passed, or will pass, and I refuse to put my family and friends through the pain of a trial to attempt to bring him to Justice now. 

I've heard and read stories here countless times of victims -- no, Survivors, for such is what we are -- who have moved on, have learned to cope and heal, to start anew encounter their rapists, their abusers, in some form or fashion. I've been lucky to not have had that happen but given that he apparently graduates boot camp soon... the idea that I might be walking down the street on base or the aisles of the Commissary or the NEX and encounter him scares the shit out of me. 

But I'm not alone, I'm not weak, and he cannot hurt me, or even make the attempt to anymore. I wanted to pass along to those here, the Survivors, the ones who help us, the members of RISE, Kylie the founder, and those who are simply silent supports from the sidelines, that no matter what happens, no matter how far you come or the obstacles that attempt valiantly (and yet fail) to derail you, you are strong, you are brave, and most of all you survived when others like you have not. 


And I pray that everyone here learns the love I have found in my beloved, Justin, a male who deserves some kind of prize, a medal, anything, for the amazing help he has been to me; a foundation I sorely needed when everything else in my life was wracked with chaos. Keep pushing forward, my fellows, keep fighting and striving to achieve the level of healing you deserve and need. And know that you are NEVER alone in that fight. Ever. 


Blessed be,AGAA Stewart, Bailey United States Navy"

You can also find R.I.S.E. at the sites below:

Website: avoiceforheather.tripod.com

Myspace: myspace.com/avoiceforheather

Blog: avoiceforheather.blogspot.com

Facebook:www.facebook.com/avoiceforheather

Twitter: www.twitter.com/VoiceforHeather

Email: VoiceforHeather@yahoo.com