“By speaking out, I hope to chip away at the stigma rape survivors face, and to let survivors know that they are not alone and it’s not their fault.”
– Annie E. Clark
Andrea Pino (l) & Annie E. Clark (r)
Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino are civil rights activists, and co-founders of the survivor advocacy group, End Rape on Campus, where they give voice and counsel to survivors of campus sexual assault all around the country.
After encountering an environment at their own university that deprived sexual assault survivors of their rights under Title IX, Andrea and Annie, together with three other women, filed two federal complaints against The University of North Carolina.
Initially dissuaded from speaking publicly both by their university and the media, the two decided to speak out about their own experiences and connected with students across the country to propel a national conversation about campus sexual violence and Title IX enforcement. And that’s precisely what they’ve done.
In the months after filing, they were contacted by hundreds of other survivors, also hoping to learn how to hold their schools accountable. Clark and Pino then began helping others learn their civil rights and consulted them in filing their own federal complaints.
They also visited Senator Gillibrand at her office in Washington, DC, and inspired her to lend her voice in the U.S. Senate to the movement they helped start. Now, along with a bipartisan group of Senators, Senator Gillibrand is pursuing legislation to hold universities accountable for how they handle sexual assaults under their jurisdiction.
By making their voices heard, Andrea and Annie have inspired action both at the university level and in Congress. Their story demonstrates the power of raising your voice to make change on the issues you care about.
“Every student has the civil right to an education: rape should not stand in our way, and we will continue the fight for every other student.”
– Andrea Pino
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