Making sexual violence history | Agnes Török | TEDxGöteborg
The speaker, a survivor of sexual violence, asserts that ending sexual violence requires public engagement, viewing the audience as part of a "jury" whose collective actions—support, belief, or silence—determine accountability. She posits that changing laws from "rape laws" to clear "consent laws" and challenging societal gaslighting are critical steps toward achieving a future free from fear. This urgency is underlined by the statistic that only six in every 1,000 rapists are jailed, demonstrating systemic failure that inaction perpetuates. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker is a survivor of years of sexual violence and domestic abuse, an artist, an activist, and an ambassador for a movement to change laws and societies regarding sexual consent. - The talk's central theme is that ending sexual violence requires public participation in conversation and action. - The speaker grounds her authority by disclosing her personal history: *"I am a survivor of years of sexual violence and domestic abuse."* ## Theses & Positions - Sexual violence can be ended, but this requires a difficult, ongoing conversation that addresses societal shame and guilt. - The audience is intrinsically involved in the outcome because they constitute the "jury." - The jury's function is the difference between a victim's survival/justice and the perpetration of further violence. - The core belief is that "rape is not a natural phenomenon," but a "man-made problem and it can be ended by us." - The goal is to change laws from "rape laws" to "consent laws," defining consent as anything less than "a yes" being "a no." - Choosing to act—believing a victim or holding a perpetrator accountable—is necessary; silence is dangerous, allowing perpetrators to believe they can escape consequences. - The ultimate goal is realizing a future where all genders feel safe walking home alone at 3:00 a.m. and feel at ease in their own homes, free from the constant "calculation of risk and danger." ## Concepts & Definitions - **The Jury:** Defined as the families, friends, co-workers, classmates, and acquaintances whose reactions determine the outcome of accountability. - **Sexual Violence:** Defined not as an accident or natural phenomenon, but as a "crime a choice committed by a perpetrator in a particular context against a particular victim." - **Consent:** Defined by the legal/social shift toward making clear that *"anything less than a yes is a no."* ## Mechanisms & Processes - **The "Jury" Function:** The public's collective response (support, disbelief, accountability) determines if abuse is addressed or if the victim is blamed, guilted, or coerced into silence. - **Ending Violence:** Requires public confrontation of "shame and guilt," building on specific actions like active listening and challenging ingrained myths (e.g., false reporting). - **Systemic Change:** Requires lobbying for institutional and legal changes to move away from rape statutes toward clear consent statutes. - **Information Flow:** The speaker uses the continuous statistic that *"ten people have been raped in the time it's gonna take you to go to the bathroom and grab a cup of coffee"* to illustrate the relentless, ongoing nature of the problem. ## Named Entities - **TED team:** Mentioned as receiving a request to provide a recurring reminder during the talk to establish the sense of urgency. ## Numbers & Data - **1 in 98 seconds:** A person is raped somewhere globally. - **6 in every 1,000 rapists:** Are convicted in jail. - **Four years:** Time frame during which victims may keep secrets due to fear of not being believed. - **Three o'clock a.m. and three o'clock p.m.:** Specific times used in the imagining exercise to symbolize vulnerability and safety. ## Examples & Cases - **The Imagined Safe Future:** A place where people of all genders feel safe walking home alone at 3:00 a.m., looking up at stars, and feeling at ease in their own kitchens. - **Lack of Safety Indicators:** Examples of the energy spent on fear, such as "pepper spray and police apps on our phone and keys hidden between our knuckles." - **The Perpetrator Profile:** A rapist is not defined by a character trait marker but by the specific *choice* made in a *context*. - **The Abuse of Doubt:** The "jury" can perpetuate violence through disbelief, victim blaming, or "gossip mongering... gaslighting." ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The historical legal structure's reliance on the *"idea that it's likely that victims would falsely report"* is a fallacy that contributes to under-reporting and failure to prosecute. - The speaker acknowledges that changing laws is a "big fight and a long fight." ## Conclusions & Recommendations - Everyone has a unique power: the choice to support, believe, lobby, listen, speak, or act. - Direct action required: Start talking to break the "bubble of shame and guilt and silent complicity," and educate police and legal personnel. - The ultimate recommendation is collective work: *"to make sexual violence history,"* requiring continuous, coordinated effort from all levels of society. ## Implications & Consequences - Failure to act allows rapists to continue their crimes because they are insulated by the collective willingness to doubt victims and excuse perpetrators. - The continuation of inaction means the constant flow of violence will continue until society actively ends it. ## Verbatim Moments - *"what if I told you that you are all part of the jury that could end one of the most widespread forms of violence existing in the world today"* - *"I am a survivor of years of sexual violence and domestic abuse"* - *"a world where we don't spend so much time and energy on things like pepper spray and police apps on our phone and keys hidden between our knuckles"* - *"the jury is the difference between life and death for a while"* - *"the jury can be abusers to the psychological abuse of disbelief and doubt of victim blaming of gossip mongering our gaslighting all over again are doing the abusers work for them"* - *"rape is a crime a choice committed by a perpetrator in a particular context against a particular victim"* - *"I want to make this perfectly clear rape is not a natural phenomenon it's not an accident it's not incidental it's not unavoidable"* - *"we need to start lobbying for institutional and legal changes to create consent laws rather than rape laws making clear than anything less than a yes is a no"* - *"your choice can be the difference between life and death for someone you love"* - *"it is possible in our lifetime"*