Author Archives: Beyond Fear

This episode of Beyond Fear is truly groundbreaking. We welcomed four esteemed guests – Nadiah Mohajir, MPH, Dr. Maryyum Mehmood, Dr. Guila Benchimol, and the Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen –  to lead a discussion about sexual harm that occurs across different religions including Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. You may remember that we spoke toContinue reading “Episode 25 – Sexual Harm in Religious Spaces”

Welcome to Episode 10 Beyond Fear listeners! We realized that it has been a while since we caught you up on the work that we have been doing outside of the podcast. In this episode, we interview each other about the projects that have been keeping us busy.  Alissa shares her journey of co-founding AmpersandsContinue reading “Episode 24 – Catching Up with Your Co-Hosts”

Throughout this podcast, we have discussed the ways in which sexual harm impacts survivors psychologically, emotionally, and physically. A less talked about consequence stems from abuse that occurs within the context of institutional environments that are expected to be safe.  In this episode we speak to Dr. Caroline Heldman an expert on the consequences ofContinue reading “Episode 23 – Broken Trust: When Institutions Fail Survivors”

Throughout season 1, we have discussed how society, often times through the media, blames survivors of sexual violence. Frequently, media portrayals impact trial outcomes, a survivor’s willingness to report, and more. In this episode, we speak to Dr. Danielle Slakoff, a professor and prominent researcher that studies the ways in which the media inaccurately portraysContinue reading “Episode 21 – Who is the ‘Ideal Victim’?”

Child sexual abuse material (CSAM), previously known as child pornography, can be a confronting and uncomfortable topic. CSAM can refer to the possession, viewing, sharing, and creation of images or videos that involve the visual depiction of children involved in a sex act. Although CSAM was almost completely eradicated in the 1980s, the dawn ofContinue reading “Episode 20 – Child Sexual Abuse Material: One Click Away”

Episode 5 is the last part of our series of episodes dedicated to human trafficking. In this episode, you will hear Jess’s story of surviving trafficking. Our conversation exposes some of the many myths about the crime of human trafficking (which often includes sex trafficking), including who perpetrates it, who experiences it, and the contextContinue reading “Episode 19 – Surviving Trafficking”

Human trafficking is an incredibly complex issue that includes several different important topics we felt should be covered during our second season. Due to this complexity, we agreed to dedicate three episodes to cover it. Welcome to Understanding Trafficking Part 2! During this episode, we speak with Dr. Casey Branchini Risko, an expert on internationalContinue reading “Episode 18 – Understanding Trafficking: Part 2”

Human trafficking has moved into the public consciousness as a serious offense both domestically and internationally. Over the course of the next three episodes of Beyond Fear, we will cover trafficking from the perspective of researchers and a survivor.  Human trafficking, including sex trafficking, is a multi-billion-dollar industry that impacts an estimated 24.9 million peopleContinue reading “Episode 17 – Understanding Trafficking: Part 1”

The topic of sex work can illicit strong stereotypes, incorrect assumptions, and ill-advised suggestions on how this issue should or should not be addressed by the criminal legal system and society in general. Regardless of what comes to mind, people who engage in sex work frequently face dehumanizing treatment simply based on what they doContinue reading “Episode 16 – Understanding Sex Work”