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In this month’s blog, we cover a rather difficult topic – that of rape, sexual abuse and incest. Until we started working on this piece featuring Christina Ricci, the national spokesperson for RAINN (Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network) – the country’s leading anti-sexual assault organization, I wasn’t truly aware of the staggering numbers associated with these heinous crimes, their ongoing psychological effects and where public policy issues currently stand with respect to reporting, prosecuting and DNA testing. I was also sadly ignorant of the wide range of personal violence that often goes hand-in-hand with sexual assault. While disturbing on many levels, the wealth of information available on the RAINN website is an invaluable tool and I hope you’ll take the time to read through and learn from its hugely important messages.

The timing on this is especially crucial with schools letting out soon for summer and with graduation holidays just around the corner. RAINN is the go-to site for first-time freshman going away to college, anyone planning to move out on their own or those getting that first job away from home. On April 14, 2008, RAINN launched its newest outreach program, a safe, secure, anonymous place for victims to get help online. Using an instant-messaging style format, the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline allows sexual assault victims to communicate directly with trained crisis support volunteers available on www.rainn.org Together with its tele-based National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE), the organization will be able to provide a lifeline to victims trapped in situations where their only safe and secure link to the outside world may be through the Internet.

According to Scott Berkowitz, president & founder of RAINN, somewhere in America, someone is being sexually assaulted at the alarming rate of every two minutes. Almost half of these victims are under 18 and 80% are under 30. The new National Sexual Assault Online Hotline provides the services these young victims need, using the technology they embrace. In addition to providing support to victims of sexual assault, the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline provides information about recovery, medical issues, the criminal justice process, and local resources for family and friends of victims.

We hope you find this month’s feature a worthy one and that you’ll shop online to support RAINN programming now and going forward. We want to especially thank Christina Ricci for her participation in bringing this to our and your attention and before signing off, encourage you to become a RAINNMaker to support the organization’s ongoing initiatives.

We’ll have more on RAINN with our regular features in our May newsletter – coming soon.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, eco-lifestyle retailer OrganicStyle.com introduces
Freedom® – A Rose in Honor of Rosa Parks.

Universally revered as the Mother of the modern day Civil Rights Movement, this new rose pays tribute to Rosa Parks’ birthday on February 4th and features lush, vibrant red, large-headed, long-stemmed, long lasting roses with minimal thorns in one or two-dozen bouquet options.

On December 1, 1955, 42-year-old Rosa Parks boarded a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama and ultimately changed a nation. When a few stops later, a white man boarded the crowded bus and had to stand in the aisle, the driver demanded that she give up her seat for the man, but Parks remained seated. The driver called the police, who arrested Mrs. Parks, but her courageous act initiated a citywide bus boycott led by Martin Luther King, Jr. that lasted 381 days.

On February 1, 1956, the Montgomery Improvement Association filed suit in the U.S. District Court, challenging the constitutionality of segregated public transportation. In June of 1956, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the Improvement Association. When the city appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, the higher court affirmed the lower court’s ruling, declaring segregation on buses unconstitutional. The decision was implemented on December 20, 1956. With her quiet strength, Rosa Parks gave birth to the modern day civil rights movement.

We will honor her memory through February 20, 2008 with our special 10% contribution offer, matched by another 10% from Organic Style for a total of 20%. We hope you will keep her in your thoughts as well by purchasing these lush, vibrant red roses through our site now and throughout the year to support The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.

The Rosa and Raymond Institute for Self Development was founded by Rosa Parks in 1987, in honor of her husband, with the aim of motivating and directing youth to reach their highest potential through multicultural, hands-on experiences that build practical day-to-day living skills while nurturing a global and inclusive perspective. Based on Mrs. Parks’ philosophy of ‘Quiet Strength’, The Institute’s core program ‘Pathways to Freedom’ traces the Underground Railroad into the civil rights movement and beyond. Students, traveling primarily by bus, experience a unique, empowering and interactive research journey that brings the history of the civil rights movement to life, giving the participants the needed skills to model Mrs. Parks’ work for human rights in all areas.