Commitment to Justice with Aarefah Mosavi Initiated Survivor

Aarefah Mosavi is a proud Muslim-American woman who holds a BA in Peace and Conflict Studies with a minor in Human Rights from University of California, Berkeley. She has been a staunch advocate for human rights in all forms, with a particular interest in regional conflict, political science, and human rights law. She has also fought for over a decade to get justice for herself after being raped by Chester Brown on her college campus. Targeted due to her gender and religion, Aarefah walks us through how we can support her and all survivors going forward. In this episode, we gather as a community to hold space for Aarefah as she shares a very vulnerable recount of what happened to her.

Please sign Aarefah's Change.org petition to stop the cover-up of rape and sexual assault by Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, CA and all School Administrations.

Topics/Triggers:


Islamophobia, Sexism, and Racism
Human rights laws
Being sexual assaulted/raped at a college campus
The failings of the legal system
How seeking justice led to retraumatization + compounding trauma
Invalidation and denial at the federal level
Why she decided not to go to the Supreme Court
Refusing to let the legal system define what happened
Where she is with her healing + grieving her youth
Toxic masculinity
Gender-based discrimination
Equal Rights Amendment
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, or the Treaty for the Rights of Women)
The legal consent loophole
Implicit, prejudicial expectations for proof
PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, and a lack of joy
Holding space for hope

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If you or anyone you know is suffering through trauma contact the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online for 24/7 support. (This podcast is not a replacement for psychotherapy or mental health care. You can obtain a referral for mental health care provider from your primary care physician, or search on Psychology Today’s Find a Therapist directory)

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