Photo by Brent Fuchs.
#YesAllDaughters
In November 2014, the hashtag #Yesalldaughters became a worldwide trending topic on social media. What started out as a small group of high school students giving victims support has inspired a new state law and an international political conversation.
Danielle Brown was deeply bothered by the treatment of several alleged victims of sexual assault at her school. The Norman High School student turned to her aunt, Stacey Wright, looking for advice on how to organize a protest and seeking ways to help fellow classmates in need.
“My niece came to me,” remembers Wright. “She was upset that [a fellow classmate] had been bullied out of school. She felt my knitting circle could help.”
Wright invited the classmate and her mom to share their story with the club.
“A few of us were compelled to act,” shares Wright. “I was still recovering myself from a sexual assault, so I knew firsthand what a soul-shattering experience these girls were going through.”
In just a few short days, they had a plan and a name.
“We chose the name Yes All Daughters because we knew it could have been anyone. It could have been our daughter this happened to,” says Wright.
They set up a Facebook page, a list of demands for the school administration and began making the necessary arrangements for a safe protest.
“We wanted a peaceful, quiet walkout,” says Wright. “It was a very important moment for the girls to see all those people caring about them.”
Students, parents and other concerned community members lined the street outside Norman High School. Wright says that 1,500 people participated in the initial protest on Nov. 24. The success of the student protest helped propel the movement.[pullquote]We hope what we are doing in the Norman high schools will be an example for others to follow,”[/pullquote]
“After the protest, we thought we could rest for a bit,” confesses Wright.
But, the work had really just begun. Norman Public Schools established a Gender-based Violence and Bullying Prevention task force to address the demands. Wright became a member of that task force.
“By the end of the school year, each of the high schools will have a full time victims’ advocate whose sole job is to respond to allegations of assault and bullying and get those students the resources they need,” says Wright. “We are also building a curriculum for sexual assault and bullying prevention training.
“We hope what we are doing in the Norman high schools will be an example for others to follow,” she adds.
Yes All Daughters has impacted more than just the Norman community. Rep. Claudia Griffith (D-Norman) wrote House Bill 1362 hoping to amend the Safe School Committee provisions authorizing the development of an optional rape or sexual assault response program for students and school staff.
Yes All Daughters’ reach has extended beyond the state level. This past March, Wright spent a week in New York City as a delegate of the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women, a global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
“This is an important year for the Commission,” says Wright. “It’s the 20th anniversary of the United Nation’s Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and we worked to write the goals for the next 20 years.
“We had no idea Yes All Daughters would have a voice this loud and for this long,” she adds. “This is and will be the most important work of my life.”
