Mount Mary College presents this series on how creativity fuels social change for survivors of sexual violence and human trafficking.

On January 10, 2012 President Barack Obama declared January the "National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month."

--Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater Milwaukee, recognizing National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month on January 31, 2013. Find out more.

Part III - Creating Change: How survivor stories are changing the movement to end violence against women.

Anne Ream

March 21, 2013 -- Mount Mary College welcomed back Anne Ream, Chicago-based writer and the founder of The Voices and Faces Project™, as keynote speaker for this event. Anne is nationally known for her innovative efforts to improve the lives of women and girls and her passion for changing the status quo through a series of creative, media driven initiatives.

Facilitated by Professor Rachel Monaco-Wilcox of the Mount Mary College Justice Department, the program included an opportunity for audience members and survivors to speak with Anne Ream about Milwaukee initiatives and issues. Monaco-Wilcox is active in coordinating support services to survivors of human trafficking in the greater Milwaukee area and works with the Human Trafficking Task Force to raise awareness.

Testimonial Writing Workshop

Anne Ream is a Chicago-based writer and founder of The Voices and Faces Project™.

"These stories are so powerful, and the hunger these women have to share them is so profound, and the potential implications are so great."

-- Anne Ream, Chicago Tribune, December 4, 2011.

Part II - The Stories We Tell, Testimonial Writing Workshop
October 2012 -- Guided by award-winning author, R. Clifton Spargo, and Anne Ream, founder of The Voices and Faces Project™, this intensive testimonial writing workshop gave fifteen pre‐selected survivors of sexual or domestic violence or human trafficking a creative and safe environment to develop their own work of poetry, short fiction, or prose.

Anne Ream and R. Clifton Spargo

R. Clifton Spargo is an award‐winning writer, author of the forthcoming novel Beautiful Fools: The Last Affair of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, and Arts Fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Participants showcased their work through a format provided by The Voices and Faces Project™ and Mount Mary College in order to impact the community through individual testimony.

"No matter where it happens it impacts us all."

-- 2012 participant.

"…The only way we can challenge and change the way the world responds to sexual violence is to bring these stories to the attention of the public."

--Anne Ream, Chicago Tribune, December 4, 2011.

 

Read Today's TMJ4 coverage of the effort.

Scheherazade Tillet, A Long Walk Home™

Part I - Sexual Assault in the 21st Century: The Digital and Media Arts Discussion
March 2012 -- A discussion on how state‐of‐the‐art technology and new methods in art therapy and the digital arts – including photography, projection, video, Twitter, Facebook, and live feed – can empower communities and individuals to prevent and heal from sexual violence.

The discussion was presented by Scheherazade Tillet of A Long Walk Home™, a nonprofit organization focused on sharing testimonies, poetry, music, dance, photography and video by survivors of sexual abuse and their allies in order to provide safe and entertaining forums through which the public can learn about healing from and the prevention of sexual violence.

"Untold Stories" is funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the state of Wisconsin. Any views, fundings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Wisconsin Humanities Council supports and creates programs that use history, culture, and discussion to strengthen community life for everyone in Wisconsin.