Social Policy in the Eyes of Social Workers

Introduction

Sexual Education policy is different in every state. The information students are required to learn can vary drastically from state to state, district to district, and even school to school. Two teenagers may have completely different levels of sexual education just because they live in different school districts. Several types of education might emphasis moral beliefs. Many schools are taught abstinence only sexual education, and many states have policies limiting what can be said about homosexuality. Several schools leave out information on different forms of contraception and consent. I would like to demonstrate the dangers of ambiguity in sexual education, and propose solutions to increase student’s knowledge on sexual education.

Personal Experience

I am from a very small, rural, Baptist town. I was taught abstinence only sexual education in high school. The instruction was only one class period. We were shown pictures of STDs, and shown a tape demonstration. During the tape demonstration, the teacher put tape on one of the boy’s arms. She ripped it off, and exposed the torn out hair to the class. She repeated this step with three other boys. By the fourth boy the tape did not stick. The tape was meant to demonstrate a person having sex with multiple partners. We were given no information on consent.

Why it’s important

Several high school students will graduate with out adequate safe knowledge on sexual education. Many of these students will go into the working world or to college with out knowing information on anatomy, contraception, STDs, and sexual consent. If students do not understand the basic anatomy of sex organs they do not fully understand their own bodies. Understand forms of contraception are crucial for individuals to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and STDs. Students need to understand how to use a condom. They need to understand there are several options for birth control, and where they can go to get it. They need to understand the basics on various STDs, and where they can confidentially get tested. According to The Office of Adolescent Health, “every time that individuals have sexual intercourse will reduce the risk of unwanted pregnancy. In addition to using a contraceptive method that protects against pregnancy, using condoms correctly with every sex act from start to finish will reduce the risk of HIV and other STDs for males and females.^”

It is also very important schools teach consent. At college campuses it is evident many students do not have a clear understanding of sexual consent. Clearing the ambiguity will decrease confusion when it comes to sex. Students must also be aware of the community resources if they are victims of sexual violence. It is also important students understand sexual fluidity in who they are attracted to in order to become more tolerant of the LGBTQIA community.

There are also many very dangerous demonstrations being used in schools. One example is the tape demonstration I mentioned in the personal information. The tape demonstration implies a person is less valuable based on the number of sexual partners they have had. Some more examples include comparing individuals to a chewed up piece of gum or dirty shoes. This perpetuates the gendered idea that is the woman’s job to say no and stay pure. It is also incredibly dangerous for that belief to be taught to survivors of sexual assault. Survivors need to know they are not less valuable because of what happened to them.

Facts

• 22 states mandate children receive sexual education (Answer).
• 13 states require instruction be medically accurate (Answer).
• In 8 states there are laws considerably limiting what teachers can say about homosexuality to their students.
• It is estimated that the percentage of completed or attempted rape victimization among women in higher educational institutions may be between 20% and 25% over the course of a college career (Campus Sexual Violence).
• Among college women, 9 in 10 victims of rape and sexual assault knew their offender (Campus Sexual Violence).
• Almost 12.8% of completed rapes, 35% of attempted rapes, and 22.9% of threatened rapes happened during a date (Campus Sexual Violence).

Conclusion

In conclusion, sexual education in the United States is too inconsistent to offer an equal chance of information to all students in the United States. Not all students will have the equal knowledge on contraception to know how to prevent themselves from STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Not all students have accurate information on what consent is, and not all students are taught unbiased information on homosexuality. Many even harmful demonstrations are being used to demonstrate devaluing an individual because they have had sex, which hinder the safety and mental health of students.

Recommendations

I propose that at least a basic knowledge of anatomy, contraception, STDs, and consent become mandatory for every high school nationally. I also purpose harmful demonstrations be taken out of any credited sexual education program. I also propose a basic understanding of sexual fluidity, homosexuality, and tolerance be integrated into the federal sexual education curriculum. This is asking a lot for now, but I feel our country would be able to take baby steps to integrate these proposals. I believe these proposals will help make knowledge on sexual education available and accurate to everyone in the United States.

In 2009, state leaders came together to develop a set of common standards to efficiently increase student’s college and career readiness across America.  Often mistaken as a curriculum, Common Core is actually a set of specific learning goals for grades K-12.  So far, 42 states plus the District of Columbia, have accepted these standards.  These standards will not only prepare students for their futures across the nation, but they will make us more competitive against other countries around the world.

Why is Common Core Important?

Common Core forces all school districts in the same 42 states to abide by the same standards for each grade level.  This sets up consistent educational expectations for parents, teachers, and students nationwide.  No matter where students live, common core can help them prepare for college and a future in the workplace.

These learning goals were thoughtfully and carefully produced.  State leaders, teachers, researchers, students, and parents played a part in this process.  Evidence based research and surveys by students entering college or the workforce also helped leaders put together specific goals and benchmarks.  Common core incorporates more state testing for students.  This is used to measure and compare how students or states as a whole, are doing compared to one another.

What can you do?

• Learn more in depth about common core state standards
  • Math: http://www.corestandards.org/wp-content/uploads/Math_Standards.pdf
  • English: http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_A.pdf
• Stay up to date on the current research being down to improve current and future standards.
• Learn more about Illinois’s stance on common core and standardized testing.
  • http://www.isbe.net/common_core/default.htm
• Advocate adoption of common core for the remaining states who do not follow these standards.

Conclusion

Overall, common core is a fairly new way to standardize the education system nationwide.  It will take a few more years for teacher, parents, and school districts to fully get used to these standards and how to most effectively follow them.  If all states have the same standards for each grade, students will have a consistent education no matter where they live or how often they move.  As current students and future social workers, I think we should gain a better understanding of this new system and really encourage others citizens to do the same.  If research shows that this will help our education system overall, we will need to figure out ways to help less fortunate communities follow the common core goals.  Testing is a huge part of Common Core, and is essential to measure student’s growth from grade to grade.  However, Common Core assessments are online.  This means some schools may run into some difficulties as students are required to take numerous assessments throughout the year.  Even though Common Core is fairly new, it is worth the fight.  We need to continue to research for better ways to administer testing, better ways to implement new goals for different grades, and better ways to create a more united education system across the United States.

Introduction

According to The Sentencing Project, 5.85 million citizens of the United States of America were denied the right to vote due to felony disenfranchisement (revocation of right to vote) laws that every state had enacted with the exception of Vermont and Maine for the midterm elections in 2014.  It is time to restore a citizen’s right to vote that they earned upon their 18^th birthday by having a federal amendment to the constitution declaring that at no time shall a state deny an adult citizen of the United States of America the right and ability to vote including those currently incarcerated.

Why it’s Important?

Almost 2% of the population in the U.S. is denied the right to vote due to felony disenfranchisement laws. Consider that the state of Wisconsin has about the same number in total population at just under 5.7 million. Could you imagine that the state of Wisconsin is denied the right to vote?

Americans who are on probation/parole or released from prison face taxation without representation, meaning they pay taxes but cannot vote on legislation that affects the taxes they pay or the representatives they believe would be best for their family which then shows that felony disenfranchisement effects extend to children or dependents of the convicted person.

A third reason is that due to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made it illegal for states and municipalities to create or maintain laws that would not allow minorities the right or access to vote. The black population, in 2010, accounts for about 13% of the total population but more than 33% of whom are in prison, on parole or probation, or are ex-felons. It is estimated that one in three black men face incarceration at some point in their life. Consequently, more than 7% of the black voting population is not allowed to vote.

As mentioned earlier, nearly 6 million citizens face some sort of felony disenfranchisement due to a criminal conviction. As one can see who is prohibited from voting amongst the states in the map below, it is easy to see that there are inconsistent prohibitions across the U.S. which create mobility issues such as if someone living in Illinois who can vote upon release from prison wants to move to Florida where they would not be able to vote.

Conclusion

By ending felony disenfranchisement laws and not allowing any state to restrict voting to any person, we can assure that all citizens of the United States maintain their right to vote. We can also assure that all citizens that pay taxes will have a voice in who represents their interests. We can further assure that the black population is no longer oppressed at the voting booth.

What You Can Do

• Find your elected representatives using the link below. Call them and demand action!

http://act.commoncause.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sunlight_advocacy_list_page

• Contact the legislators who are sitting on the following committees in the Senate and the House where legislation to end some felony disenfranchisement laws currently sits:

ASK ABOUT THE DEMOCRACY RESTORATION ACT!!

• House of Representatives – Subcommittee on Constitution and Civil Justice – H.R. 1459

https://judiciary.house.gov/subcommittee/subcommittee-on-the-constitution-and-civil-justice/

• Senate – Senate Judiciary Committee – S. 772

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members

Donate, volunteer time, and research these laws with The Sentencing Project which works to end felony disenfranchisement laws.

• Find people to support your view by talking about this issue with friends any anyone else whom will listen.
• Never give up! Social justice change is slow. Only those who stay the course are more likely to see results.

 

Introduction   

The problem is that America has the highest incarceration rate in the world and a high recidivism rate. According to the National Institute of Justice (2014) a research study tracked the progress of 405,000 former prisoners after being released. The study results showed that after one year 57 percent were rearrested. After three years of being released, about 67.8 percent were rearrested. After five years, about 76.6 percent were rearrested. This proves that prisoners are returning to prison at alarmingly high rates. It also implies that American prisons are failing. There needs to be a more effective prison system, so that prisoners learn from their mistakes and do not return to prison.

Facts

Due to high incarceration rates, American prisons are overcrowded. Sometimes prisoners are placed in solitary confinement because there is not space for them in general population. This is unethical because solitary confinement is used as a form of punishment and prisoners with poor mental health. This is also unethical because solitary confinement has been proven to worsen inmates’ psychological and emotional health. The journal titled, The Movement Away from Solitary Confinement, “The medical and psychological consequences of solitary confinement are vast, leaving inmates with a variety of negative psychological reactions including: severe and chronic depression, self mutilation, hallucination, and revenge fantasies.” The article suggest that solitary confinement contributes to high recidivism rates because inmates who are in solitary confinement forget how to function in society, loose social interaction skills, and have “revenge fantasies.” When they return to society, they cannot function normally and are more likely to commit a crime and return to prison. Solitary confinement is contributing to America’s high incarceration rates. Prisons need to reconsider the use of solitary confinement, and Americans need to pressure prisons to reassess the use of solitary confinement. Prisoners will be released back into our communities and will either make a productive contribution to the community or act out because of their experience in prison.

What Has Been Done

America has implemented solutions to decrease prison overcrowding; however, the solutions are ineffective. According to the journal titled, “Contemporary Prison Overcrowding,” prisons are being placed under federal court orders to reduce their prison population. Prisons have to move inmates to less crowded prisons. However, this solution is ineffective. There needs to be a more effective solution that will stop the issue at the “root” of the problem. This federal court order will not solve the issue of increasing recidivism and incarceration. It is a short-term solution. This solution has failed in the past and will continue to fail. American prisons need a viable solution that will solve high incarceration rates and recidivism once and for all.

The Solution

America can learn from the successes of German prisons. According to the article titled, “What We Learned from German Prisons,” German prisons are vastly different from American prisons. German prisoners are allowed to leave prison and go to work like average people; each prisoner has their own room, own bathroom, and private phone that is not shared with any other inmate. German prisoners are “rarely to never” put in solitary confinement. If a prisoner is put in solitary confinement, it is for a few days, compared to months in the United States. Also, the German prison system has a significantly lower inmate population and recidivism rate compared to the U.S. According to the New York Times “What We Learned from German Prisons,” America’s incarceration rate is ten times higher than Germany’s incarceration rate. This proves that the German prison system is working. Prisoners are learning from their mistakes and returning to prison less often. America needs to learn from and adopt Germany’s prison system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have introduced the issue of America’s high incarceration and recidivism rate. Then I discussed ineffective solutions such as federal courts ordering prisons to reduce the inmate population. Finally, I proposed that American prisons learn from and implement ideals from Germany’s effective prison system. It’s important that Americans advocate for this solution because the prison system affects everyone, whether directly or indirectly. Prisoners will return to our community and hurt or harm society based on our willingness to change the culture within prisons.

Introduction

There is fiery debate regarding whether or not college athletes, particularly football players, should be paid during their college career. Some people think that the athletes are being exploited for not getting paid and others believe that athletes should not be getting paid because of the many other benefits that athletes receive. This topic is important because there have been many strikes, arguments, and much confusion. Not only have some athletes been getting upset but many coaches, students, and faculties have been affected by the argument. The goals of my findings were to figure out what benefits the athletes were receiving and how it relates to the topic of them getting paid.

Benefits Given to College Athletes

I do not believe that college athletes should be paid. I worked for the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and have witnessed many benefits that athletes receive that other scholars do not. First and foremost, as a previous worker for DIA and close friend with many athletes, I know that there are 85 scholarship football players and 10 walk-on players. The 85 players have a full scholarship to attend the school, which means their tuition is free and save around $30,000 per year compared to other scholars. The 10 walk-on players do not play. On top of free tuition, athletes also have 3 free meals a day. Many have concerns about basic needs for athletes not knowing that they receive a $1,200 monthly stipend. The athletes also have other benefits including early registration, free tutors, free gear, free training, and free travel.

Conclusion and Recommendation

After all is said and done, I think the best thing to do would be to use the money earned from sports games to improve the academic life for all students. By this I mean funding scholarships for students who prove to have academic excellence and students who prove to have financial need. There are many students who have to stop attending college because they cannot afford an extra $5,000 for tuition and cannot take out loans because of bad credit scores.

Summary

 Following in Asia’s footsteps, the English company Coexist is now allowing their female employees to take time off of work during their menstrual cycle each month in hopes that this will increase productivity rather than have women suffering in pain while at work.

Why it’s important 

It has been a policy for some east Asian countries that women are allowed to take a certain amount of time off due to pain they feel from their menstrual cycle. It is dependent upon the country if it is a paid leave or how long one is allowed off but regardless, women can take time off without the fear of being fired. On March 15^th, Coexist will hold a seminar to discuss the new policy of allowing women to take a period leave. However, this is a controversial topic due to people stating that if one is already entitled to a certain amount of sick days then women should not receive more time off, it is not fair to men. Also, an increase in harassment is a possibility if people find out a woman has taken a day off due to her cycle. Lastly, as some women in Asian countries have reported, they do not like taking time off because then it announces to their fellow employees that they are on their period and they do not wish to seem weak. On the other end, women who experience intense period pain are unable to effectively work and it is important to take care of one’s reproductive health. In the past, Russia and Canada have both tried to adopt this policy but it ended in failure.

 Facts

•  It is written law in Asia that women can take time off during their menstrual cycle.
• In Japan, a 1947 piece of legislation gives women time off who suffer from period pain.
• In Taiwan, women can take up to three days off of work each year due to menstrual pain.
• In Indonesia, women are able to take up to two days a month for possible pain.
• Up to 90% of women experience pain and discomfort during their period according to NHS data with 2% stating it is intense pain.
• Nike, a global company, does allow menstrual leave in its code of conduct.

Conclusion 

Although controversial, Coexist will be offering a menstrual leave to their female employees to ensure that they are able to take care of their reproductive health and will not be forced to work while in pain. East Asian countries have already adopted this policy and although not all women take advantage of the time off, it is offered and other countries may now follow suit.

Recommendations           

• Stay up to date following the seminar on March 15^th to see what Coexist decides as the specifics of their policy through their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/coexistcic
• Continue to educate yourself on this controversy by reading blog posts and related news on http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk , a company ready for equality.
• Question your own employer about this possible leave or read your employers code of conduct to see if it is addressed.

Summary

One of the most unfortunate truths about this world is that we are all going to die someday…and when it comes to death, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are debatable in regards to ethics and have thus been determined illegal in 45 states. However, as social workers, I believe it is our job to understand how and why someone may want to be in control of their own life and death, and to advocate for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.

Why is this important?

End of life care is a field that will never go away and dying is inescapable, but the way in which one chooses to die is changing. The topic of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is important because we must all face death, whether that be of a loved one or oneself, and the right to die is something social workers need to understand and advocate for. Surveys and data have been collected to document opinions of the legalization of physician-assisted suicide with statistics, as well as find out just how many requests are being made of physicians to aid in the death of patients. The biggest issue surrounding this topic is that it has not been legalized in 45 states, and the ability to pass this sort of legislation typically lies with state governments, not the federal. So can current research justify the discussion of legalizing physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia?

Definitions, Facts, and Statistics

Physician-assisted suicide: when a physician provides either equipment or medication, or informs the patient of the most efficacious use of already available means, for the purpose of assisting the patient to end his or her own life

Euthanasia: refers to actions or omissions that result in the death of a person who is already gravely ill. Techniques of active euthanasia range from gunfire to lethal injection, while passive euthanasia can be achieved by failing to treat a pneumonia or by withholding or withdrawing ventilator support

• 45 States and DC consider assisted suicide illegal.
• Last year, in a survey of 828 physicians in Washington State alone, 156 received one or more requests for physician-assisted suicide, and an additional 58 received one or more requests for euthanasia.
• In a national survey of 1902 physicians belonging to the American Medical Association, 415 received request for aid in dying.
• 45% of the hospice nurses and social workers surveyed in Oregon (397), where physician-assisted suicide is legal, cared for at least one patient who had explicitly requested a prescription for lethal medication from a physician, and 30 percent had cared for a patient who had received a prescription.

Conclusion

According to recent research, the request for physicians to aid in the death of patients is not uncommon, especially with patients who are terminally ill. Furthermore, as time has passed, the U.S. population has begun to agree more that doctors should be allowed by law to assist in the death of a patient who has requested it. With the occurrence of death requests being significant, and the favor of physician-assisted suicide being legalized growing, this issue can no longer go unnoticed. The time of inaction should end by having each state pass legislation that legalizes euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Legalization could lead to a large increase in the willingness of physicians to participate in the hastening of death, and therefore provide equality for the right of those to choose how their life will end in the U.S.

What Can You Do?

• Contact your state representative and voice your concern and support of the Illinois Patient Choices at End of Life Act.
• Visit the website, join, and contribute to Final Options Illinois, to help advocate for passing legislation in Illinois to make physician-assisted suicide legal: http://www.finaloptionsillinois.org/
• Follow and join the Death with Dignity nonprofit organization that promotes Death with Dignity laws nationally. https://www.deathwithdignity.org/take-action/

 

What is the difference between equality and equity? Equality is giving all people the same amount of something, and equity is giving people something depending on how much they need it.  That is supposed to be biggest difference between No Child Left Behind act and Every Student Succeeds Act. After comparing both acts, ESSA is a significantly improved version of NCLB. Both acts were meant to enhance the public education system and increase students’ success, unfortunately for NCLB many schools were negatively affected by it. NCLB started with the idea to help all students, regardless of their background, to succeed in school by assessing their progress every year. If the school does not meet the state-created level, their funding will be decreasing every year until they start showing sufficient progress. However, if they do not show enough progress required by NCLB the school will be shut down until a private owned company or charity takes over the school and bring it back to life. The reason why NCLB was basically a failure; their support for low performing schools was almost non-existent because they took away resources from schools that were already in need of resources to “encourage” them to do better, instead it made it more difficult for them to achieve more. ESSA, on the other hand, is trying to fix NCLB and make it even better by focusing on the schools and giving them resources and funding depending on their need.

According to the Nation’s Report Card, the average math scores within the fourth grade between 2003 and 2013 was stabilizing after the NCLB was in effect instead of increasing, which means that NCLB was not as effective as the government wanted it to be. As I said before, ESSA has the goal to become a more revised and efficient version of NCLB. Since ESSA was just signed and became active a few months ago, there is limited information regarding its effectiveness. However, I looked at the ESSA initiatives and goals and came up with a conclusion: ESSA is an improvement of the NLCB. The two biggest improvements set by ESSA is the “student performance targets and school ratings” and “accountability, interventions, and supports for struggling schools”. According to ESSA, NCLB had student performance targets and school ratings as a priority but it was “unrealistic” because it was set by the government and based solely on the test scores. ESSA took that issue and instead of basing student performance targets on test scores, they take other measures (depending on the schools) into account to set a performance target for schools and students. ESSA other important priority is to fix the NCLB’s “accountability, interventions, and supports for struggling schools”. The NCLB had the mentality that all schools receive the same amount of money and support at first (also known as “one size fits all”). Instead, ESSA requires the state to provide more interventions, and identifications to the bottom 5% of schools and dedicated funding for the lowest performing schools.  Other priorities set in place by ESSA that were not aimed by NCLB are inclusivity of Pre-Kindergarten, programs for innovation and evidence-building, programs to replicate high-quality charter schools, and programs to encourage “wrap-around” support systems for vulnerable communities. These other priorities set in motion are very important to all schools, especially to low performance schools, because they help improve students’ success starting at the very beginning of their school career and encourage community involvement to better the schools.

These two priorities, when put together, show that ESSA is a much more improved version of NCLB. Based on the priorities listed by both acts ESSA had more priorities and added more components to their decision-making processes, they based them on equity not equality. NCLB wanted to help all schools equally which did not help the low performance schools and helped the high performance schools. Based on what I know, I would not change ESSA as of yet. It is important to know that low performing schools are a big problem for the country because these students have lower success rates and are more likely to contribute to poverty. As future social workers, it is important to know the root cause of an issue in order to know how to create a positive change within our future communities and clients. For those who are interested in making a positive impact in low-income schools, one could always volunteer or even apply to work for these schools to provide better resources. An important way to provide resources is to provide for money, and a fun way for students to be involved and raise money for resources is fundraising. As someone who does not have a teaching certification, one could also volunteer or even donate money to schools. It takes dedication and passion to improve schools to make an impact for the students.

Executive Summary

Illegal immigration myths have made themselves readily available, and I disprove a few, while advocating for overall comprehensive immigration reform.

Why is this Important?

Illegal immigration has been a talking point for the past 30 years in the political sector. It’s been cited that undocumented immigrants have “taken all the jobs from hard working Americans,” that they’re “sucking up all the welfare,” ideas that have become common talk amongst the average person. These pervasive ideas have contributed to discriminatory laws, such as a case in Arizona, where people were required to carry their “papers,” as police were able to question the legal status of anyone suspicious. As a result, there were significant drops in the amount of immigrants in Arizona, and there were economic effects. The goal of this research is to dispel some beliefs about illegal immigration and promote the path to citizenship, especially for the younger generation.

Myths and Truths

The idea that immigrants abuse social welfare resources is false, purely based on the fact that use of social services are restricted to people with Social Security Numbers. In fact, if working a job under a fake Social Security Number, undocumented workers are contributing significantly more than they could ever use. They also still pay income and state taxes.

In regards to immigrants “taking jobs from hard-working Americans,” this is rhetoric to appeal to the nationalist, xenophobic part of our cultural identity. Looking at Arizona, which had a 40% drop in undocumented workers between 2007-2012, they’ve had trouble finding field hands, requiring farmers to reduce their output, and invest money in technology that once owned, will no longer require workers. With the sudden drop, “less than 10% of the jobs once held by undocumented immigrants” were filled by legal immigrants or U.S. natives. Furthermore, the jobs taken by immigrants pay so little that the per capita median income of immigrants is $13,961, while it’s $20,795 for natives. This low income would allow them to use welfare programs, however they’re not able to take advantage of them because of their legal status.

Another “fact” that I’ve heard mentioned is that specifically Mexican illegal immigrants only come to this country to have kids to get their legal status. I’ve heard extreme views saying that they should be banned from having kids, and that future possible presidents will take away the citizenship status of many of these “illegally born” kids. This is absolutely ludicrous. First, impeding someone from having children is a violation of human rights that the government has no business controlling. Second, while obtaining legal status in the United States is easier with a citizen child, they cannot do anything until they’re adults AND they still have to pass the citizenship test, which requires passing background checks, paying taxis, knowing U.S. History, and being able to “understand, speak, and write English.”

Conclusion

There are many misguided myths regarding illegal immigration that demonizes the undocumented immigrant and appeals at our intrinsic xenophobic nature. These “facts” about immigration are stated just to sway the population against comprehensive reform and to give America an “enemy.” The reform is what’s needed in this country currently though. In the past 10 years, Congress has tried to pass the DREAM Act, which would allow children brought here illegally under the age of 15 to become conditional residents on the path to full citizenship. This appeals to the idea that these children were displaced without them knowing the implications of leaving their home. Another executive action was an executive order by President Barack Obama that is currently being decided in the Supreme Court.

I urge you to call you representatives and let them know how you feel about this issue. I ask that when looking at this issue, you think about those affected, and you look at concrete facts, instead of baseless rhetoric.

On February 19^th, 2016, Kesha’s judge denied her injunction to record outside of Sony industries. For the past 10 years, Kesha has been physically, emotionally, sexually, and verbally abused by her producer, Dr. Luke Gottwald. Kesha reported that Sony executives were aware of Gottwald’s abusive behavior, but chose not to address the situation. Due to the unsafe working environment, Kesha has been unable to produce new music. Unfortunately, Kesha is not the first female to experience sexual harassment and/or sexual assault in the workplace.

Introduction

Sexual harassment in the work place is an issue many people overlook.

• 8% of rapes occur while the survivor is at work
• Rape and sexual assault were reported 24% of the time to police officers

Why is this important?

Like Kesha, survivors of sexual assault have a hard time recovering from the incident in the workplace.

• 36% of rape/sexual assault victims lost more than 10 days of work after victimization
• 50% of rape victims lost or were forced to quit their jobs within a year of the incident because of the severity of their reactions

Title VII

Title VII is in place to protect anyone who files a complaint of harassment against an organization. However, survivors may fear what supervisors may do to undermine them in ways that may be harder to investigate or prove. In Kesha’s position, the label could purposefully under promote her albums as punishment for her speaking out about her sexual assault incident.

How can we address this issue?

• Address Title VII—Create an amendment that allows workers the option of working under a different supervisor until the investigation has been completed.
• Support the Fair Employment Act—it keeps employers accountable for supervisors who harass workers.
• Talk about it—we need to encourage people to keep reporting incidents of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. Society needs to understand how prominent this issue is.
• Support the survivor—we need to support survivors of sexual harassment and assault. Survivors may have to continue working with aggressors, and this can be emotionally demanding.