Erasure: Banning These Words Will Devastate Survivors & Those Who Serve Them

You may have recently heard about some of the executive orders signed by President Trump. One of those orders has resulted in the National Science Foundation (NSF) having to create a list of words that may be used to trigger a review of funding for grants and research grants.

A few of those words are: women, victims, advocacy, trauma…which are all imperative to the work that we do at Callisto.

So what does this mean?

This executive order is going to have monumental effects on the work that we do...not just right now, but for years to come.

So often, our work in #SexualViolence is questioned...just like survivors are not believed... just like survivors often have to fight and advocate for their rights...so do the organizations that support them.

We are often questioned about the reliability of these studies as the basis of our work. Some of those statistics and some of those studies come from the NSF and the CDC, where #SexualAssault data was also recently removed.

And that's a problem.

They're erasing women.

They're erasing survivors.

They're erasing victims...ALL victims (regardless of gender) with this sweeping executive order.

If we don't have research now, and we don't have research for 4 years that studies this important information, it means there will be a 4 year gap in information that is going to significantly impact the work that we do. It's not only going to impact government funding, but also organizations like Callisto that rely on that data to justify our work.

If you’re feeling helpless, enraged, or anything in between, share this so others will understand that these executive orders have significant consequences. And please support Callisto, so we can continue to empower survivors…and not only fight their erasure, but provide the protection and support they deserve. Especially now.

Thank you for joining us in this fight.

With Unwavering Determination,

Callisto CEO