Building Community

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Mission:

We honor, support, and give voice
to the brave men and women in uniform who have been raped or sexually assaulted by fellow service members. We seek to fix the military training, investigation and adjudication systems related to sexual violence, systems that often re-victimize survivors by blaming them while failing to prosecute perpetrators.

Protect Our Defenders sponsors and partners with outreach projects to educate and raise awareness about sexual assault in the U.S. military. We are proud to partner with individuals and organizations like these:

Colleen Bushnell: Long Road Home Project
http://longroadhomeproject.com
Colleen Bushnell is one of five veterans who is biking cross-country in 2012 in a journey aimed to heal wounded heroes. Colleen is a military sexual assault survivor and member of Protect Our Defender’s Advocacy and Outreach Board. She will be biking in honor of LaVena Johnson. The Long Road Home Project will raise money to help other veterans live more fulfilling and meaningful lives.

Rebecca Johnson Stone (Watch Rebecca Tell Her Story): Walk Against Rape (W.A.R.)
http://www.walkagainstrape.org
W.A.R. was founded by veteran and military sexual assault survivor Rebecca Johnson Stone. A 501(c)3 Non-Profit, W.A.R.’s mission is to unite all survivors of rape and sexual assault with an emphasis on military service members, the LGBT community and ethnic minorities, through walks in cities across the U.S. All proceeds are donated to reduce each city’s backlog of untested rape kits.

Panayiota Bertzikis (Watch Panyiota Tell Her Story): Military Rape Crisis Center (M.R.C.C.)
http://militaryrapecrisiscenter.org
Panayiota Bertzikis founded the Military Rape Crisis Center from her barrack room to offer support and assistance to fellow shipmates and survivors, and the organization has since grown into two national office with 35 representatives across the country and world. MRCC provides free immediate crisis care, support, legal assistance, and hope to all survivors of Military Sexual Trauma and their loved ones.

Brian Lewis: Male Survivors’ Forum
Volunteer Brian Lewis is founding and will be moderating the forthcoming Male Survivors’ Forum. As a military sexual assault survivor, Brian will provide a safe space for men to discuss their experiences. He will lead discussions, answer questions, and help create a sense of community.

Terri Odom: (Watch Terri Tell Her Story) Community Advocate
Military sexual assault survivor Terri Odom volunteers at local veterans’ events, listening to hundreds of fellow veterans’ stories of survival, answering questions and guiding them to physical and mental health and legal resources available to veterans. She advocates for Protect Our Defenders and initiated our petition to transform the way the military deals with unpunished sexual violence among its ranks. She also regularly writes blog posts to her peers.

In addition to the organizations and individuals listed above, Protect Our Defenders firmly believes in the strengths of peer-to-peer support. We routinely receive requests from active duty service-members and veterans on sexual assault related issues. We connect those seeking information with an ever-growing core of advocates and survivors across the country.