What does it mean to provide anti-violence services within a feminist, anti-oppression framework?
Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. The SASC provides services within a feminist framework because it informs our understanding of the nature of the patterns of violence that exist, how those patterns come to exist, how those patterns are maintained, and how to approach working with survivors (female, male, and transgender people) in a supportive, empowering way. An anti-oppression framework helps us further understand that these patterns are observed and exist on the basis of a variety of social factors and identities (including, but not limited to, one’s class, race, ethnic identity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or (dis)ability) that shape not only a survivor’s experiences and their reaction to them but also the larger social context in which these experiences take place. While there are many different ways in which a feminist/anti-oppression perspective informs our approach, some of these include: • The belief that sexual assa
