Reunion Online

Patti Giggans from Peace Over Violence speaks to the issues surrounding rape and sexual assault here in the USA.

The rape-murder of a 23 year-old physiotherapy student in India has captured the consciousness of the world. The image that keeps coming into my mind is the photo that has gone around the world of Indian men lying down in the streets of New Delhi in protest, anger and grief.

Unveiling The Taboo, the title of four recent days of dialogue in Los Angeles, was designed to do just that -- give people from the diverse communities of LA an opportunity to come together and discuss openly the issues surrounding the taboo topic of child sexual abuse with an eye of mobilizing the community toward prevention.

The Sandusky sexual abuse trial is about to begin and the saga will unfold on the Internet, mainstream news and in the tabloids. Many stories will be told, exposed and exploited even with the restrictions on photography, texting, video and more imposed by the court. The witnesses will be put to credibility and reliability tests, memories will be challenged and the accused will sit in the courtroom confronted by his victim/accusers.

 Last week, our partners at Peace Over Violence (POV) celebrated their many accomplishments and honored those of their community at the 40th Anniversary Humanitarian Awards.

Today we’re featuring a guest post from Patti Giggans, the Executive Director of Joyful Heart’s Los Angeles partner organization Peace Over Violence. Patti was the pioneer behind Denim Day in LA & USA. Today, she gives us a history of the movement and this year’s call to action.