Shrouded in Silence
Police Sexual Violence: What We Know & What Can We Do About It
By Interrupting Criminalization. April 2021.
In the midst of a national reckoning around the violence of policing, and a national conversation about sexual assault prompted by #MeToo and the ‘me, too.’ movement launched by Tarana Burke, sexual violence by law enforcement officers - including local and state police, ICE agents and Border Patrol, school “resource” officers, federal law enforcement agents, probation and parole officers - remains shrouded in silence. Survivors of police sexual violence are rarely heard from or discussed in either conversation, and their experiences generally do not drive organizing and advocacy in either context.
This report, in conjunction with an accompanying curriculum for sexual assault service providers, is intended to contribute to breaking this silence, to summarize what we know about sexual violence by law enforcement officers, and to offer concrete steps toward prevention of police sexual violence and increased safety, support, and opportunities for healing for survivors. For more information and a more detailed analysis of police sexual violence, see Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color (excerpts available at invisiblenomorebook.com).
Watch
The Missing Story of #MeToo
Sexual Violence by Law Enforcement Agents, a virtual teach-in presented by Andrea J. Ritchie
See also:
Breaking the Silence
Supporting Survivors of Police Sexual Violence
Amidst a growing national conversation about sexual violence sparked by #MeToo and the ‘me, too.’ movement originated by Tarana Burke, and an ongoing national reckoning around the violence of policing, one form of sexual and police violence remains shrouded in silence: police sexual violence.
This is a curriculum for sexual assault service providers intended to accompany Interrupting Criminalization’s report Shrouded in Silence: Police Sexual Violence - What We Know and What We Can Do About It. Facilitators and participants are strongly encouraged to review the report before using any of the exercises in this curriculum.
