Category: BF NEWS

My name is Amy Rubenstein, and I have just graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Journalism and a specialization in Political Science. In my time at OU, I took several rights-based classes. Whether it was International Human Rights or Politics of Rights, each semester a large content focus was on gender rights and gender violence. Internationally, the focus was on the ways gender laws and norms in countries across the world can encage the female experience. In classes focused within the United States, part of the content centered on domestic violence and sexual assault. My interest in these issues and in the complexities of the gender power paradigm led to me Becky’s Fund.

As a fresh graduate, my goal in moving forward with my professional life is to find an area that will allow me to contribute to a meaningful mission. Working with Becky’s Fund will give me the opportunity to contribute to a cause that shaped much of my educational career. Becky’s Fund provides so many chances to give back, whether through education or through fundraising and it is very important to me to know that my work each day will mean something.

During my time at Becky’s Fund, my biggest professional goal is to learn more about how non-profit organizations run. Through volunteering and working on projects for a homeless shelter and food bank in Athens, I have discovered my passion for non-profit work. I have a chance this summer to learn how non-profits work from the inside out. As I look forward professionally, I know that this knowledge and experience will be indispensable.

In all, my interest in Becky’s Fund is both personal and professional. I am excited to be working for such an amazing organization, helping to raise awareness for domestic violence. I am looking forward to this summer and seeing where these opportunities will take me.

Hello, my name is Elizabeth Kennedy. I am a fourth year student at American University studying health promotion and history. Originally, I focused in sports health, community health, and nutrition. As athlete I thought those were suppose to be my interests; however, after three years at American University and living in D.C. I began to develop and realize what my real passions were: women’s health and women’s rights. Washington, D.C. has been a great platform to get involved with women’s health and women’s rights through activism, volunteering, and internships such as Becky’s Fund.

I am interested in working at Becky’s Fund this summer because of the important work this organization does. I am a feminist, a college student, and a citizen of this society, which makes me very aware of the issue of domestic violence. I was introduced to the organization and Becky through my Issues in Women’s Health class at American University. I was very impressed with the presentation taught to my class by the interns who were my age. This showed me that interning for Becky’s Fund pushes you to learn academically and professionally. I have little experience with domestic violence issues; however, this internship is an overlap of teaching, fundraising, event planning, etc. that I am very excited to start. It is the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about the issue because domestic abuse violates women’s health and women’s rights. Also, I am excited to be involved with the programs and events of Becky’s Fund like the College Tour that came and visited my university. I hope to gain a better understanding what change and progress looks like when discussing and acting on prevention against domestic violence.

The past few months at Becky’s Fund have been enlightening for me. I was able to see the large amount of work that goes into running a non-profit. From planning a large fundraiser to working on small programs throughout the semester, we were always working on a project.

My favorite part of the experience was helping with Gold Cup. I never realized how much went into hosting a fundraising event for hundreds of people. It was rewarding to see the whole process play out from creating the Eventbrite page, ordering the materials such as balloons and decorations to preparing the check in lists for the hundreds of people who bought tickets in support of our cause. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the actual event which would have been the ultimate reward for all the hard work we put in to it during the semester, but I could tell from the pictures that our hard work paid off.

Moving forward with my career in graduate school I will take with me the positive attitude I observed constantly in the office with Becky. I have never met a more energetic or motivating person. Even at times when things were a little bit crazy, Becky had a positive attitude and was able to calm everyone else down and help figure out what the next step was. Seeing her attack different problems all with a smile on her face motivated me to incorporate that positivity into my own life. I’ll also take with me the knowledge I gained about Domestic Abuse Prevention programs. Men of Code is a wonderful program that helps local male youth learn about not only healthy relationships but also financial and personal responsibility, leaving them as better men as they transition out of high school.

Overall, I am thankful for my time at Becky’s Fund. I learned a lot about myself and the non-profit field. I will be able to take my experiences with me and use them as I move forward with my graduate degree in Social Work.

It’s hard to believe that my semester with Becky and the rest of the interns at Becky’s Fund has come to a close. It has been an informative and affirming experience to take ownership over my projects and see the products of my hard work—whether it be the lessons planned for an upcoming Becoming Your Own Heroine workshop, a presentation on IPV for a group of college students or the success of this year’s Gold Cup.

One of my favorite projects to work on was the development of curriculum for an upcoming Becoming Your Own Heroine workshop. I loved the opportunity to reflect on what I, as a middle or high schooler, would have benefitted from learning about in such a setting. I believe that the inclusion of lessons on identity, gender norms and media literacy will only improve the BYOH curriculum and make the workshop an empowering experience for all involved. There is such a lack of positive, supportive spaces for young girls to exist in these days—so much of media and popular culture teaches young girls that they must always be in competition with each other for the attention of others. I love that the BYOH workshops allow young girls to escape these expectations and carve out a positive space for themselves and their peers.

Additionally, I appreciate the opportunity to work with a new client of Becky’s Fund. My time with this client was short and not much came of our time together but I found it incredibly affirming that Becky was confident in me to allow to perform the client intake and follow-up. My time speaking with this client was also affirming in my belief in the importance of the direct client services that Becky’s Fund provides. This client was so appreciative of my willingness to follow-up and just talk with her on the phone. Even though I didn’t provider her with any “tangible” help, I do believe that even lending an ear to listen is important.

Becky believes in the abilities of each of her interns and this shows in her expectations. From the very beginning, I had a lot of independence and was expected to produce results without a lot of instruction. This allowed me to develop confidence in myself and my abilities. I was (and still am) in awe of Becky’s energy and determination. It is truly incredible that she has built this organization by herself and continues to be the heart and soul of Becky’s Fund. I know I echo all those involved when I saw how inspiring she is. Thank you to Becky—and the rest of the interns—for a wonderful semester!

Helen Conway, Programs and Communications Intern

With the recent media attention on sexual assault on colleges campuses, Title IX has been in in the spotlight. However, how many us really know what Title IX is, when it was enacted or how it became so instrumental to addressing sexual assault on college campuses? Current media attention would lead you to believe that Title IX is a recent law, which solely protects college students by ensures that sexual assault cases are properly investigated.

Title IX was actually passed in 1972, requiring gender equity for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding (www.justice.gov). The logic behind Title IX is that government funds should not be used to support organizations practicing gender-based discrimination. And that individuals experiencing such discrimination should have a way of holding the responsible program or institution accountable.

Title IX covers a total of ten areas, including: access to higher education, career education, education for pregnant and parenting students, employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassment, and standardized testing and technology (www.titleix.info). From this we see that Title IX protections are not limited to cases of sexual assault, are for both men and women and are not limited to college students.

Many of the first Title IX cases were actually related to the discrimination against women in colleges sports. In fact, the very first Title IX complaint was filed against the University of Michigan Athletics Department in 1974. College students, particularly women, suing universities under Title IX for failure to investigate claims of sexual assault is a relatively new phenomenon. The documentary The Hunting Ground shows one of the first cases of a Title IX complaint regarding sexual assault – it happened at UNC Chapel Hill.

The students used the section of Title IX which guarantees equal treatment in cases of sexual harassment to sue their university. To properly sue for sexual violence under Title IX two conditions must be met. The first is that “the alleged conduct is sufficiently serious to limit or deny a student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the school’s educational program, i.e. creates a hostile environment”. The second is that the school, “upon notice, fails to take prompt and effective steps reasonably calculated to end the sexual violence, eliminate the hostile environment, prevent its recurrence, and, as appropriate, remedy its effects” (United States Department of Education).

With both these condition being met the students were able to successfully sue UNC Chapel Hill under Title IX. This was the beginning of students sueing universities under Title IX for such reasons. Since then, more than 100 colleges nationwide have been under Title IX investigation. Many of those cases still pending. Of the resolved cases, many colleges end up settling the claims with large cash payouts. One such case is a 2009 suit involving Arizona State in which the university payed $850,000 to female student who was raped by a male football player (http://sports.espn.go.com).