International Women's Day Special Broadcast - Silent No More

One in four women experience sexual assault in the United States, and most often the assailant is someone they know. This is the story of “June,” a woman who grew up in the small seemingly safe community of Whitehall, Wisconsin. June learned at fourteen that there was no one in the town who would protect her—not even the police. Two decades later, June has transitioned from a victim to a survivor.

Hosted and Produced by Sharon Sobotta.

Click here to listen to the show. 58:34 min 

Monday, October 19, 2020: The Space Between Us Hosted by Jovelyn Richards

Jovelyn interviews the creator of Reclaim Ugly (Uplift, Glorify, and Love Yourself) and Black Healing October, Vanessa Lewis

Vanessa Lewis discusses the process of the making of 31 days of healing for Black People by Black Healers and the people including allies of Black empowerment that made this happen.

One such person, Lauren Chinn, will join to share her role in Black Healing October.

For more information about Vanessa and Black Healing October find her on Facebook.

Click here to listen to the show. 59:50 min 

Monday, July 13, 2020: Violence against Black Women and Girls

Today at 1-2 pm on KPFA Radio’s Women’s Magazine we discuss violence against black women and girls and in addition violence against black women by police with Janelle White, Executive Director of San Francisco Women Against Rape and author and police misconduct attorney Andrea J. Ritchie.  And we will also talk to Regina Y. Evans who is creating art installations on Oakland’s International Blvd in response to the enormous amount of sex trafficking that proliferates there.

Andrea J. Ritchie

Andrea J.Ritchie is a Black lesbian, immigrant/police misconduct attorney, and organizer whose writing, litigation, and advocacy has focused on policing and criminalization of women and LGBT people of color for the past two decades. She is currently Researcher in Residence on Race, Gender, Sexuality and Criminalization at the Barnard Center for Research on Women, where she recently launched the Interrupting Criminalization: Research in Action initiative. She is the author of Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color  

Janelle White

Janelle White has been the executive director for San Francisco Women Against Rape for over a decade.  SFWAR  is a community-based, anti-sexual assault, social justice, women of color-led organization. Located in San Francisco’s Mission District, SFWAR has been serving the residents of San Francisco City & County for over 46 years. SFWAR provides support to sexual assault survivors, their families, and communities, and uses education and community mobilization as tools of rape prevention. And at SFWAR, they believe that ending all forms of oppression is integral to ending sexual assault.

Regina Y Evans

Regina Y Evans who is  a native of Oakland, California, is a Poet, Playwright, Actor, Entrepreneur, Modern Day Abolitionist and a Survivor Leader in the fight against sex trafficking. She is the Owner of Regina's Door, a vintage boutique located in Oakland, Ca. Regina's Door is an artistic safe haven and healing sanctuary for at-risk youth, homeless youth, young Oakland Creatives and survivors of human trafficking. As a Modern Day Abolitionist, Ms. Evans volunteers with Love Never Fails, a Bay Area Anti-Trafficking organization founded by Vanessa Marie Johnson Russell.  She is also a member of the S.H.A.D.E. Movement (Survivors Healing, Advising and Dedicated to Empowerment), a survivor run consulting/advocacy organization. For more info and to be involved contact Regina at Evans.Regina@gmail.com.


Click here to listen to the show. 59:50 min

Monday, February 5, 2018: Creating Cultures of Consent and Safety in the U.S.

Shifting the US culture of violence - Affirmative consent

We look at the culture of gendered violence in the US and Bolivia, and hear from feminists working to shift the perceptions about survivors. The recent reports of a woman's harrowing night with Aziz Ansari has sparked debates around consent and agency. Feminist activists and scholars are pointing out the gaps in understanding of the relationship between sexual repression and sexual violence.

In this segment, we listen to an interview with Amita Swadhin, an activist, educator and Just Beginnings Collaborative Fellow dedicated to fighting interpersonal and sexual violence against youth. They spoke with KPFA's Preeti Mangala Shekar of KPFA's APEX Express about a vision for society in which everyone is capable of articulating their own desires and having them respected.

From Just Beginnings Collaborative:

About Child Sexual Abuse
Child sexual abuse occurs at shockingly high rates in our society, affecting 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys. However, due to social taboos, very few survivors share their stories publicly. The majority of survivors never report their abuse to authorities, and many never tell anyone at all. Yet the numbers suggest that each of us knows at least one survivor, even though we may not realize it.

The silence around this violence has devastating effects for the individuals directly harmed, for the people perpetrating this harm (who are rarely held accountable or given tools to help them change their behavior), for families, and for society in general.

Child sexual abuse is inherently an abuse of power. It is a cornerstone of oppression and cyclical violence. Survivors can experience long-term adverse health effects such as addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicide, eating disorders, and subsequent sexual and domestic violence. Research also suggests that child sexual abuse can be a significant barrier to one’s economic security.

Toward a Movement to End Child Sexual Abuse
There is a growing consensus that ending child sexual abuse will require more than individual healing for survivors and punitive measures for abusers. To end child sexual abuse we need a broad-based movement and it begins with a core group of strategically aligned individuals, organizations and funders working together. The Just Beginnings Collaborative is that core—the seed from which this movement is taking root and growing.

We believe that ending child sexual abuse is possible. Moreover, our work is grounded in the belief that ending child sexual abuse is one of the most strategic things we can do to end violence and create safe, thriving communities.


Hosted by Kate Raphael and Corinne Smith


Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min



Also on today's show:
Bolivia - Creating Cultures of Consent and Safety

March 24th: Vidya Sri and Darakshan Raja speak about forced marriage in the US

Kate Raphael begins this weeks Women's Magazine by introducing us to our new producer Alicia Sierra. Alicia grew up in New York and moved to the Bay Area 8 months ago. It has been her dream to have her own radio show focusing on women's health and spirituality. She wants to focus on issues that are "dear to women and that aren't really talked about." Women's Magazine is always looking for volunteers and welcomes Alicia to the show.

Next week the supreme court will be deciding whether or not large employers can exclude certain preventive healthcare services because these employers don't think women should be having sex. Even if Hobby Lobby wins, the ruling will not require women to have to ask their employers for money to buy birth control. For more info: http://www.npr.org/2014/03/25/293956170/hobby-lobby-contraceptive-case-goes-before-supreme-court

And for those of you who love Apps, there is a cool one from Public Radio Exchange (PRX) called Public Radio that includes podcasts of past Women's Magazine shows under the heading Lifestyles.

Forced Marriage in the USA 

Forced marriage, falsely termed "arranged marriage," is a rich and complex discussion.   Researchers and activists Vidya Sri and Darakshan Raja explain that the practice is more common than we think, cutting across all classes, geographies, ethnicities and religions. They discuss their report Voices From the Front Line: Addressing Forced Marriages in the United States.

A Forced Marriage is a marriage with an absence of consent from one or both parties. A Forced Marriage is one in which coercion, violence, and/or fraud is used to cause the marriage. There is no ability to choose one’s partner and the right of refusal may be denied by the family for one or both individuals. The family and community play a complicit role in perpetrating the violence, coercion, and/or fraud. Significant shaming and intimidation is used to cause a forced marriage. Go to gangashakti.org for more information on forced marriage.

Gangashakti's mission is to "Engage a Wide Range of Service Providers, Student Groups, Community Members and Scholars on this poorly understood issue in the United States."

Click here to listen to the show. 59:35 min.

Today's show included music by Anoushka Shankur, Azam Ali, and Christina Aguilera.

January 13, 2014: Helping Ourselves, Helping Each Other, Dear Sister

Dear Sister: Anthology by and for Survivors of Sexual Violence 

Click here to get this book.

Tara Dorabji talks about Dear Sister: Letters from Survivors of Sexual Violence with editor Lisa Factora-Borchers and contributors Michelle Ovalle and brownfemipower.  Dear Sister, a multiethnic anthology by and for survivors, comes out from AK press this week.

Dear Sister shares the lessons, memories, and vision of over fifty artists, activists, mothers, writers, and students who share their stories of survival or what it means to be an advocate and ally to survivors. Written in an epistolary format, this multi-generational, multi-ethnic collection of letters and essays is a moving journey into the hearts and minds of the survivors of rape, incest, and other forms of sexual violence, written directly to and for other survivors.


Listen. 33:34 min.

Listen to the entire Women's Magazine show from KPFA. Today's show also includes an interview with Mickey Eliason discussing Doing It For Ourselves. 59:50 min.