2020 is an extremely high-stakes election, and not only because it’s a presidential election year. Nevadans are voting on multiple state and local seats, including a large number of judges. Every race on the ballot this year represents an opportunity to stand up for survivors. Survivors Are Affected By Government At Every Level It can be easy to see the ways in which the federal government impacts survivors of sexual violence. Programs like PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) and VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) happen at the federal level. But…
Over the years, Signs of Hope has made it a priority to expand our counseling services. In less than a decade the Signs of Hope Counseling Center has grown from 2 counselors to 10. Appointments for individual counseling are available 6 days a week and we have 6 active support groups, with more in the works. One of the most important parts of this expansion has been ensuring that access to services is being increased for everyone. The varied experience and expertise of our counseling staff means that support is…
On August 7th, the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents met to discuss, among other things, significant changes to Title IX policy recommendations from the Department of Education. It was during this meeting that Regent Lisa Levine spoke out to protect victims rights, and was summarily silenced by Dean Gould, Chief of Staff and Special Counsel to the Board of Regents. But this fight to defend the rights of victims didn’t start at this meeting; instead it started the day before, on the morning of August 6th, when…
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed in 2003 to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.” (Prison Rape Elimination Act, 2003) In short, PREA is intended to conduct research to better understand the issue of prison sexual abuse and then take steps to protect people from abuse. Those steps included the creation of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, tasked with setting national…
Here at the Signs of Hope, we talk a lot about consent and boundaries. We talk about the importance of practicing these things outside of the context of sex as part of the process of undoing rape culture and cultivating healthy and respectful relationships. The skills for setting boundaries and asking for consent can, and should, be applied to personal health and safety around covid. Having support for holding those boundaries is especially important because of the large-scale denial and gaslighting we are seeing around the danger of covid. Multiple…
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Framing Our Work Using the Sexual Violence Continuum Signs of Hope is committed to challenging all forms of oppression in our community – including racism. We join all who are grieving George Floyd and countless others, whose lives matter and were cut tragically short. We raise our voices with all those advocating for justice and change in our country. We know that our systems often fail to serve victims of sexual violence in the same ways they often fail to serve Black communities – focusing on victim blaming instead of…
The change was subtle, so you may not have noticed that our mission statement was recently revised. Although the change was not dramatic, it is reflective of the ways the Signs of Hope has evolved and expanded over the years. Our Board of Directors, with feedback from staff and input from our clients, has been considering a possible change in the name of our organization. This conversation led us to evaluate our mission, and consider vision and values statements. Our board and staff have been thinking deeply about who we…