Empowering Young Men In Ending Sexual Exploitation

In January alone, our education team has worked within four schools and alongside hundreds of students. We’ve barely occupied the four walls of our office, but I’d venture to say we prefer it this way.

No two days in the classroom are the same. It is incredible to witness the rich contributions and high volumes of questions from our students when we talk with them about gender violence and sexual exploitation. These topics often feel enormous to tackle in 45-minute segments, especially because we directly challenge aspects of culture that are ubiquitous. The curriculum stretches our students and demands much critical thinking of them. Needless to say, class is not always easy! Yet, we know that the journey we invite our students to embark on in those four short weeks is transformative. We see evidence of this in students’ post-survey responses, written reflections throughout the week, and of course, in the ways they engage in discussion with their peers.

By no means can we take credit for the people they are when the curriculum has been completed and we are saying goodbye, nor can we lay claim to the adults they will become as they build upon the ideas we have sparked in them. Our students (and really, all students) are smart and curious, vocal and questioning, and more often than not empathic. Yet our lessons provide the critical space and structure for young people to learn about, debate, question, and challenge key societal norms that cause pain and perpetuate inequity. We are filling a gap in the education of these young people in a way that they not only benefit from but desire.

Last week, as one of my students slung her backpack on her shoulder and proceeded to leave our final session, she said to me, “Thank you for what you are doing. What you’re doing is important.” Her words brought me an immediate sense of joy and accomplishment as feedback of this kind always brings. Yet beyond a personal sense of gratification, I knew that her words were speaking to how relevant the curriculum is to her world. Our sessions touch upon what young people are experiencing, questioning, and feeling, facets of everyday life that they want to engage with but simply never had the opportunity to explore. Too, we pose an option for these young people to reject aspects of our culture that bring harm to themselves and others, and lay the foundation for this difficult work to begin.

I am proud of the work we do, and grateful for your continued support that makes these collaborations with students possible. On behalf of the team, thank you. We can’t wait to share more stories with you as the school year progresses.

November, 2017

Now that another school has started, we’d like to share that we have our prevention education program running strong at schools in Chicago, and making an impact in the lives of many young people.

 CAASE views conversations with students as key indicators of success because commercial sexual exploitation is able to flourish when society tolerates the objectification of certain people, especially those experiencing certain vulnerabilities.  Facilitating discussions about how calling some women sluts and watching others degraded through pornography are ways of participating in the objectification of some women.  Finding ways to speak up and speak out is not only a way of respecting ourselves and others, but breaking the silence is also a way to bring an end to this social problem.

Students are getting the message, and committing to taking a stand.  One story that illustrates the impact of this department in the classroom, is the story of “Vince.” One of our educators recently facilitated a workshop about consent at one of our partner high schools in the city. Directly after the 55-minute class, the eleventh-grader approached our educator and shared and shared a personal story of his relationship with his girlfriend.  Vince wanted to share that, “this class got me thinking,” and he went on to elaborate that he had a new understanding and appreciation for the importance of having conversations about consent.  Vince told our educator that the workshop taught him that “it’s important that everyone is comfortable” and that he plans to wait to go further with his girlfriend out of respect for her – and for himself.

We are looking forward to hearing many more stories like this as the school year continues.  The school is just getting started, and we have many more workshops scheduled throughout Chicago, and many more opportunities to share this information with young people.  We have no doubt that the effort to end sexual exploitation and objectification of people will continue with this generation of young people.  Thanks for your continued support of our work through your donations to GlobalGiving.