Wagatwe Wanjuki:
College Campus Sexual Assault Activist
College Campus Sexual Assault Activist
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| Wagatwe Wanjuki Image Credit: MSNBC |
She is: An activist. A feminist. Speaker. Writer. Digital Strategist. Anti-violence advocate. Survivor.
She is Wagatwe Wanjuki.
Being that her first name - which comes from Kenya - means "leader", it is only fitting that she fulfilled her calling and became one.
Wagatwe Wanjuki was once, like many others, just a normal college student. However, that all changed when she took the courageous step to come forward about the sexual assault she faced at Tuft's University in 2009. Rather than be met with understanding and concern for her well-being, she was expelled from the university. Her desire to speak up about the school's inaction led her to a life in debt and without a college degree in the program she was studying at the time - International Relations. Thus led to her creation of the viral Twitter hashtag, #JustSaySorry. The hashtag, composed of only three words, held a powerful message for both Wanjuki herself and thousands of other sexual assault survivors.
Created by Wanjuki, #JustSaySorry is the inaugural campaign of her co-founded, non-profit, anti-rape organization called Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture. The group's other co-founder is Kamilah Willingham. On the organization's website, its mission statement reads that its purpose "is to center the experiences and needs of the most marginalized survivors to change cultural norms and stop gender-based violence before it happens". The organization's works include #JustSaySorry and #SurvivorPrivilege. The second hashtag, also created by Wanjuki, was born from raw frustration after George Will's column in the Washington Post promoted offensive thoughts and ideas about sexual assault on college campuses.
Wagatwe Wanjuki, a survivor-turned-activist, is a powerful example of a modern-day "Warrior Woman". Not only has she courageously stepped up to fight her own personal battles, but she also continues to share her story with the world and fight for those whose voices were stifled and whose stories were buried. Unfortunately, cases of sexual assault on college campuses have become a normality. Individuals continue to expect it to happen, rather than stop it from happening in the first place. Rape culture is real and women, men, and children are all exposed to it on a daily basis. Wanjuki is fighting both to end rape culture and for the voices of womankind.
Wanjuki has been published in outlets including
Feministing, Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan.com, The New York Times, and many more. She has also given a TEDx talk where she speaks about her own personal experiences with college campus sexual violence and her efforts to end such violence.
She is Wagatwe Wanjuki.
Being that her first name - which comes from Kenya - means "leader", it is only fitting that she fulfilled her calling and became one.
Wagatwe Wanjuki was once, like many others, just a normal college student. However, that all changed when she took the courageous step to come forward about the sexual assault she faced at Tuft's University in 2009. Rather than be met with understanding and concern for her well-being, she was expelled from the university. Her desire to speak up about the school's inaction led her to a life in debt and without a college degree in the program she was studying at the time - International Relations. Thus led to her creation of the viral Twitter hashtag, #JustSaySorry. The hashtag, composed of only three words, held a powerful message for both Wanjuki herself and thousands of other sexual assault survivors.
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| Wagatwe Wanjuki's original #JustSaySorry tweet. Image Credit: Twitter |
Created by Wanjuki, #JustSaySorry is the inaugural campaign of her co-founded, non-profit, anti-rape organization called Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture. The group's other co-founder is Kamilah Willingham. On the organization's website, its mission statement reads that its purpose "is to center the experiences and needs of the most marginalized survivors to change cultural norms and stop gender-based violence before it happens". The organization's works include #JustSaySorry and #SurvivorPrivilege. The second hashtag, also created by Wanjuki, was born from raw frustration after George Will's column in the Washington Post promoted offensive thoughts and ideas about sexual assault on college campuses.
Wagatwe Wanjuki, a survivor-turned-activist, is a powerful example of a modern-day "Warrior Woman". Not only has she courageously stepped up to fight her own personal battles, but she also continues to share her story with the world and fight for those whose voices were stifled and whose stories were buried. Unfortunately, cases of sexual assault on college campuses have become a normality. Individuals continue to expect it to happen, rather than stop it from happening in the first place. Rape culture is real and women, men, and children are all exposed to it on a daily basis. Wanjuki is fighting both to end rape culture and for the voices of womankind.
Wanjuki has been published in outlets including
Feministing, Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan.com, The New York Times, and many more. She has also given a TEDx talk where she speaks about her own personal experiences with college campus sexual violence and her efforts to end such violence.
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| Wagatwe Wanjuki's message to the world. Image Credit: The Establishment, Medium |
"Trust and believe survivors. Supporting us is a radical act against rape culture."
- Wagatwe Wanjuki
Works Cited:
TEDxTalks. “The (Literal) Cost of Not Believing Survivors | Wagatwe Wanjuki | TEDxMiddlebury.” YouTube, YouTube, 16 Feb. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6Gy2WsBJk4.
Todd, Bridget. “How Wagatwe Wanjuki Uses Social Media to Make College Safer.” MSNBC, NBC Universal News Group, 21 Mar. 2015, 4:37 PM, www.msnbc.com/msnbc/how-wagatwe-wanjuki-making-college-safer.
Wallace, Aubrey. “Wagatwe Wanjuki: Campus Sexual Assault Activist.” Ravishly | Media Company, 8 Aug. 2014, 4:34 AM, www.ravishly.com/ladies-we-love/wagatwe-wanjuki-campus-sexual-assault-activist.
Wanjuki, Wagatwe. “Dear Tufts Administrators Who Expelled Me After My Sexual Assaults.” Medium, The Establishment, 21 Apr. 2016, medium.com/the-establishment/dear-tufts-administrators-who-expelled-me-after-my-sexual-assaults-25d109c464f6.
Wanjuki, Wagatwe. “Home.” Wagatwe Wanjuki, wagatwe.com/.
Wanjuki, Wagatwe, and Kamilah Willingham. Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture, eradicaterape.org/.
I found this blog so interesting because I think this is a major topic that should be talked about all through out college campuses. Her hashtag that she created started an entire movement, which to me is very inspirational. She started this movement with three simple words and it continues to one of the most relevant campaigns. It's very powerful for her to take on this task of advocating for women and to end the rape culture that surrounds college campuses.
ReplyDeleteEven as a senior, I'm surprised I've never even heard of as. Seeing as her primary target is college campuses, I expected to have heard much more about her .It would be interesting to have a speaker like her visit campus to share their story and talk about steps towards actibism.
ReplyDelete