Author Archive

Circle of 6 Wins the White House Challenge!

We’re incredibly excited to announce that we won the White House Apps Against Abuse Challenge!

The White House #AppsAgainstAbuse challenge is an initiative spearheaded by Vice President Joseph Biden and his #1is2many campaign to end sexual assault and abuse on college campuses.

The idea behind this app is based on our experiences and conversations when screening The Line on college campuses. One of the very positive aspects of student living is the close proximity and the tightly-knit relationships that can spring from that. The app highlights this, and shows how important close community and relationships are in the fight to prevent violence.

Circle of 6 works by programming the contact information of five friends and creating a “Circle of 6”, an application to be taken advantage of in case of an uncomfortable situation or emergency. It is equipped with GPS coordinates, mobile messaging, and in two simple steps, anyone can quickly and efficiently contact a friend and alert them to their situation—raising awareness around and ultimately preventing sexual violence.

This app was created in collaboration with Deb Levine of ISIS-Inc, Christine Corbett Moran, and our long-time friend and design collaborator, Thomas Cabus, who has worked with us on both The Line Campaign and our latest film xoxosms.

The app will be available to download in January. In the meantime, take our pledge on Facebook, stay tuned for updates and follow us on Twitter @Circleof6app.

The Line Campaign at Media That Matters Conference

10.30.11 Nancy | No Comments »

Check out the clip from the Media That Matters Conference: Women and Girls Matter. Put on by Arts Engine, the annual conference highlights documentary films having impact. Judith Helfand of Chicken and Egg Pictures moderates the session, and highlights The Line Campaign, at 35 minutes.

Video streaming by Ustream

xoxosms screens this weekend and online!

10.13.11 Nancy | No Comments »

I am excited to announce that my new film, xoxosms will be premiering at the 22^nd annual New Orleans Film Festival on Sunday October 16^th. If you will be at the festival, it will be opening for the documentary (A)Sexual at 2:20 PM at the Theaters Canal Palace, 333 Canal Street in New Orleans.

If you can’t make the festival, the film will be streaming online all weekend, starting October 14th – 17th at www.xoxosmsfilm.org

xoxosms follows the story of Gus and Jiyun, two star crossed lovers in a digital age who meet, connect, and maintain their relationship predominantly over the Internet. It raises the questions of intimacy and love, and whether or not this is possible—or in some instances better—over a digital connection.

I’d love to hear from you! Is there such a thing as “digital intimacy”? Can online love work in real life? What is a connection? Check out our newly designed website, watch the film and let us know what you think on Twitter, @xoxosms—don’t forget to hashtag #xoxosms. Spread the word with our Facebook invite.

Thanks, and hope to see you at the theater or on twitter using #xoxosms!

To Pitch or to Pee: Say What? Re-learning how to Speak “Documentary”

10.5.11 Nancy | No Comments »

Language can be a confusing animal. Many, many words have different meanings in different contexts, and the definitions or specific uses are unique to the place you are in or the people you are speaking with. While this shows just how versatile and complex language is, it can also present a sizable barrier to communication.

Why are we talking about this here? Because it can become an issue within community organizing and activism, when we use words and shorthand within a group whose deeper meanings are not readily available to an outsider. This can alienate the very people we are trying to reach.

How these many nuances of language can play a role in documentary film-making is something that Fernanda Rossi explores in her article “Say What? Re-learning How to Speak ‘Documentary’”. Fernanda is a creative force in the documentary field, and was a big support to me while I was finishing “The Line.” Go ahead and give her wonderful article a read!

Sensitivity Training for the NYPD

9.30.11 Nancy | No Comments »

As many of us are well aware, there is a serial rapist on the loose in South Brooklyn—since this spring, he has succeeded in raping one woman and attacking five others.

The Wall Street Journal reports that police are telling women not to wear shorts or short skirts to avoid being assaulted. Not only is this victim-blaming, but it is false information—anyone can be raped no matter what they are wearing.

This is not the only worrying behavior from the NYPD. SafeSlope, a Brooklyn-based collective formed in response to the attacks, recently chronicled additional worrying NYPD responses, including:

Officers following women home at night without communicating with them and showing video of the attacks to residents without warning, both practices that are frightening and triggering to sexual assault survivors.

Only providing information about the assaults to women, which sends the message that men and gender queer people aren’t sexually assaulted – a dangerous myth – and that sexual assault prevention is a women’s issue rather than the responsibility of the entire community.

Only providing prevention and information materials in English, which prevents non-English speaking members (Spanish, Mandarin) of the community from receiving safety tips and information they need to protect themselves.

These missteps are the latest examples of a police department that is unprepared to responsibly and effectively prevent rape and sexual assault. In just recent history, two NYPD officers were accused of rape – and convicted of official misconduct for repeatedly entering the home of a woman without cause – and another officer was apprehended while committing a sexual assault. Videos have also been circulating of police violence at the Occupy Wall Street protests, adding to public mistrust of the NYPD and its motives, tactics, and actions.

We, The Line Campaign, Change.org, Black Women’s Blue Print, Permanent Wave, Safe Slope, SlutWalk and Hollaback call on Commissioner Ray Kelly to:

Immediately order sensitivity training—not just a one time class, but a month-long course– for all officers assigned to work on the Park Slope case, to be completed by October 15th. All officers in all 5 boroughs must be trained by Jan 1, 2012.
Trainings must include a broad range of survivors voices, showing that not just one rape victim is the “perfect victim” and all rape cases must be taken seriously and treated with accountability.
Male activists working to prevent violence must teach workshops showing other male officers how to be allies.
These trainings must include survivors’ voices, professional male violence prevention advocates, and promote a clear understanding that no victim is ever at fault for their assault, using media and materials provided or approved by organizations such as The Line Campaign and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
There must be evaluation metrics after the program that show that officers understand victim-blaming, perpetrator behavior, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and commonly held rape myths.

It is time once and for all to prove that rape is not limited to the “bad guy in the bushes”—anyone can be a rapist, and all rapists must be held accountable no matter what the situation of the rape. No victim is responsible for a rape.

SlutWalk: Why I Am Marching

9.27.11 Nancy | No Comments »

Dear Friends,

This Saturday, the International SlutWalk movement finally comes to New York City. After thousands of women marched along the streets of hundreds of cities around the globe, we will gather in New York City’s Union Square together. At The Line Campaign, we recognize that there have been many valid concerns and contentions over the name— primarily that it doesn’t speak to many women of color, or others who are offended or who aren’t in a position to parade under a “slut” banner.

“Slut Walk” as a name began as a challenge the notion that what might fall under a contemporary description of “sluttiness”—revealing clothing, flirting, drinking—does not equate consent, and never justifies rape. However, somewhere along the line it became about re-appropriating the word “slut” into an empowering term, something that many women of color have expressed feels dangerous and counter productive to combating a problematic history of racialized sexuality.

SlutWalk was never meant to be divisive—but its controversial name was both a blessing and a curse, gaining media attention, but inciting a politically theatrical debate that veered the movement off course from a universal struggle against victim blaming and started dividing women along race lines.

SlutWalk is a grassroots movement, often spearheaded by young people organizing for the first time. Every movement has its growing pains, and we hope that SlutWalk can work through these contentions and mature into an inclusive and ground-breaking movement that inspires conversations and further organizing that lead to real change.

At The Line Campaign we see the SlutWalk Movement as a tidal wave against rape culture and victim blaming, something that women of all backgrounds need one another’s support in resisting. Women have organized across the world, from Toronto to Buenos Aires to Mexico City, Kyrgizstan, and Morocco under the universal agreement that we, as women, have had enough. I hope that you will continue this movement by joining us to march from Union Square at 12 noon sharp; I will be speaking along with representatives from Radical Women, Red Umbrella, Queers for Economic Justice, Domestic Workers United, STARR, Sex Worker Outreach Project, International Socialist Organization, and other independent activists.

In Solidarity,

Nancy Schwartzman, The Line Campaign

For more about critiques of SlutWalk, read this article.

There’s a rapist on the loose, but should I call the cops?

9.7.11 Nancy | No Comments »

I’ve lived in New York City since 1993, on 4th avenue before it was called Park Slope, Red Hook before IKEA and lobster rolls, and after 18 years of nomadic renting, I became a homeowner in Sunset Park. My partner and I moved to Sunset Park for the beautiful views, the diversity of residents, the family-friendly atmosphere and the delicious food. I didn’t move to Sunset Park because I thought it was “safe,” but I really appreciated walking home late at night without looking over my shoulder.

Right now, there’s a real and present danger going on in our neighborhoods. There is a rapist attacking women along 4th avenue in Sunset Park, on 16th street in Park Slope, and in Bay Ridge. He is on his 5th attack since March. These are incidences of rape and attempted rape where calling the police for help would be the logical thing to do.

Statistics show that 85% of women who are raped, are raped by people they know. The “stranger on a dark street” is a stereotype, and the minority of our experiences. But when strangers do attack, they rape in Williamsburg apartment vestibules, on late-night subway platforms, at a Chelsea nightclub, or by the Dunkin Donuts on 4^th avenue. I’m a rape survivor, and although I was raped by someone I know, it’s hard for me to truly feel safe anywhere. I take my experience of rape wherever I go. I’m keenly aware of my vulnerability on the dark stretches of 5th avenue by Greenwood Cemetery just after I miss the B63 bus, or the shadowy and loud walkway under the Prospect Expressway when I come home on the F train. I’m vulnerable in these instances not because I’m “a victim”, but because I am a woman, and there’s a predator who is actively looking for women like me.

Grappling with feelings of vulnerability, I turned this experience into action, and created The Line Campaign, an organization focused on violence prevention through multimedia education. We make films and use social media that teach young people to recognize and prevent sexual assault, working to stop violence before it happens. My work empowers young people to navigate their sexuality through choice and consent, while challenging myths about rape. Rarely in my work do I talk about involving the police or the criminal justice system, because we know that the criminal justice system is skewed unfairly against sexual assault victims.

Right now, we need the police, but after the events this summer, I don’t trust the NYPD. Kenneth Moreno, Franklin Mata and Michael Pena, three NYPD officers charged with rape while in uniform, have made our streets less safe for women. What they have shown us by their actions, is that we women cannot expect protection if we need it. These officers collected salaries and pensions, swore to serve the community, but they raped us instead.

NYPD – what can you do? Educate your officers about sexual assault, make the education effective, mandatory and often. Meet with survivors, activists and allies; we will help you get educated. Make sure your officers have empathy, and weed potential perpetrators out of your ranks. The majority of police officers follow the rules, identify the ones who don’t and get ride of them. Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly: protect the citizens of South Brooklyn, beef up police presence in our neighborhood, but only if you are preventing violence within your ranks.

What can we do? Neighbors, we need to be vigilant and look out for each other. Make signs alerting the neighborhood to recent attacks, make eye contact, talk to each other. Local businesses need to be allies, post our signs, talk to your patrons, make sure they have a way to get home, offer information about car services and bus schedules. If someone calls for help, come to his or her assistance. We have learned from Kitty Genovese, and we will not be passive bystanders. As a community, we can actively participate in making streets safer for women, and we can take rape seriously.

There are two events scheduled for September 14th:
NOW-NYC: She Asked For It, How Rape Myths Hurt Us All 6:30pm
Take Back Our Streets by Safe-Slope March at 17th St./4th Ave 8:30pm

Sign petition demanding increased police presence:
Increase police presence in South Brooklyn

Join the Safe Slope Community
Stay up to date with @thelinecampaign