New Organization Gives Victims a Voice
By Sopo
(Europeia - February 2, 2018) - Citizens Against Misconduct (CAM) new organization in Europeia seeks to give victims of harassment and abuse a voice. "The role of CAM in the region is to provide valuable resources on defining, identifying, and providing support to victims of misconduct. We also provide an open place where victims can tell their stories. Our goal is to help people break the silence and come forward to the report it," Cat explains.
The need for a resource like CAM is apparent because of her own experiences. She elaborates, "In my time in Europeia and abroad I have dealt with various players that were either abusers, harassers, or predators. Some of which I have been victim to, as highlighted in my 'Take a Stand' speech. When I took my month-long leave of absence I came back as a much stronger person, I felt that I no longer wanted to be 'a victim' I wanted to be 'a survivor'. I refused to allow those people who I had fallen victim to control my emotions even when they weren't here anymore. So I wanted to stand against them, and stand against anyone else who tried the same to myself or the community. So I founded Citizens Against Misconduct to achieve that goal."
CAM quickly became relevant upon its founding as, less than 24 hours after the first posts in its subforum, Chief Administrator HEM announced the banning of Sam111 for harassment. As a part of CAM's efforts to share the stories of victims to empower them and educate others, Pyntuma released "My Story," a detailed account of her personal experience with Sam111. The reaction from Europeians was overwhelmingly positive. Le Libertie praised Pyn, saying, "Pyn, I had always known of you as a person of great compassion and kindness. Now I know you are equally a person of great strength and courage. Thank you for sharing this."
While CAM has yet to see a large growth in membership applications, its current members stand strong behind the concept. "It's an important organization, both in Euro and in RL. Where possible, people need to show solidarity against emotional abuse and manipulation and provide a safe space for those in need. And to note that I expect others to hold me to high standards of care and empathy," said new citizen PrimoryeOblast to the EBC.
While the Administration team has to focus on protecting the community from harassers, abusers, and predators, CAM has the opportunity to educate Europeians on how to protect themselves. Chief Administrator HEM welcomes the positive role that CAM might play in Europeia, saying, "The problem we've traditionally seen in investigating abuse is that people are too intimidated to come forward. To the extent that CAM provides a safe place for people to disclose and a support network of people to encourage reporting, I believe the organization is capable of much good. There are definitely things to be conscious of, like making sure the organization doesn't slide into judging which cases are actionable or not--that being the purview of the administrators--but overall I hope the organization helps educate and empower people in our community."
Europeia has experienced two back-to-back administrative bans in the past month, XIV/Ninja Kittens and Sam111, after a tough year featuring a handful of administrative bans in response to harassment. If properly executed, Citizens Against Misconduct will be a bright spot for a region all too familiar with these issues.
