Dear friends,
We’re just a day away from next impeachment trial. Among the people targeted by the insurrectionists were Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Nancy Pelosi. The former president had spent years painting targets on their backs. There were death threats long before the siege at the capitol.
It seems like a very long time ago now, but in 2015, a ninth grader approached me about starting a Feminist Club in our high school. The issues that the students wanted to discuss included the sexist enforcement of the school dress code, the policies concerning PE class and menstruation, the failure of the school to address sexual harassment of students by other students, and the challenges of walking the world in the face of gender violence, cat-calling, sexual double-standards, and a language that continues to devalue girls and women and oppress men with bizarre expectations of emotionlessness. I have been thinking a lot about their shock and dismay at the results of the 2016 election and the affronts to human dignity that followed it.
Over the weekend, I read about a woman who ejected a man from a parish council meeting, and the sensation she caused by quietly wielding her power in order to get things done. The article linked to an older story that I’d missed, about a Montreal city councillor who knit in different colors when male and female members of the city council spoke. Her color choices were red for men and green for women.
And then, yesterday, I read this disturbing story about Victor Rivera, the head of a housing non-profit called the Bronx Parent Housing Network. Rivera has a long history of harassing his employees and sexually abusing women who are dependent on him for housing. In 2017, Marta Del Valle, a woman who had escaped domestic violence with her young children only to have to fend off Rivera’s advances,
immediately filed a complaint with the city’s 311 hotline, which alerted the Department of Social Services, according to a copy of her complaint reviewed by The Times. The department handed it off to the Bronx Parent Housing Network — where it was ultimately reported to Mr. Rivera, records show. Ms. Del Valle said staff members at the nonprofit interviewed her but seemed uninterested in pushing too hard. According to records, the internal investigation concluded that her complaint was unfounded because of a lack of evidence.
A spokesman for the Department of Social Services said the complaint “was not appropriately escalated to agency leadership” and should have been independently investigated.
In another instance, a woman called the police, willing to press charges, but it isn’t clear that the NYPD even conducted an investigation.
The police department declined to answer questions about the allegation, but said the “N.Y.P.D. takes sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously.”
It is still so difficult to for women — especially women of color — to get heard.
Contact Joslyn Carter, Administrator of the Department of Homeless Services, to demand that clients are protected from predatory behavior and that Rivera be held accountable for abuses.
Support Her Justice, a group that pairs well-trained pro bono attorneys with women to break down systemic barriers that reinforce and exacerbate gender, racial, and economic imbalances.
Tomorrow, plan a one-hour break from the national drama and to stand up for caregivers in NYS seeking fair wages. This is an important way to redress gender, racial, and economic injustice.
Sign up for Tuesday’s 11 AM #FairPay4HomeCare Campaign Launch.
Have a good day!
with love,
L