Chicago Says No More | Blog Archive

February 13, 2019

Employers can change lives by adopting policies to help victims of domestic and sexual violence

[caption id="attachment_2072" align="alignleft" width="200"] Mary MacLaren, chair, Workplace EAP Task Force, Chicago Says No More[/caption] By Mary MacLaren Without context, the statistics about domestic and sexual violence are shocking, but distant. One of three women and one of seven men experience domestic violence at some point during their life. And, every 98 seconds someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. When you take time to apply those percentages to your workplace, however, they take on new meaning. Do you work with 100 employees? One thousand? Do you know any of your colleagues or co-workers who are DV survivors? How many may be...

December 26, 2017

How I Survived Sexual Assault Twice and Learned the Healing Power of Advocacy

[caption id="attachment_1999" align="alignleft" width="240"] Mae Flores on her way to TEDx Hoboken at O’Hare International Airport on November 2, 2017.[/caption] By Mae Flores It was my final year at Hinsdale Central High School. I was 18 years old. My family was on a cruise in the Caribbean during the New Year’s holiday. That was when it first happened. I always was a happy kid and grew up with privileges most kids could only dream of while living in a western suburb of Chicago. I had strong female role models in my life. Some people associate being victimized with poverty. I was the opposite....

December 13, 2017

Chicago’s Women Employed in a New Moment

[caption id="attachment_1994" align="alignleft" width="271"] Director of Strategic Partnerships at Women Employed, a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Chicago, Illinois, dedicated to improving women's economic status and remove barriers to economic equity.[/caption] By Sharmili Majmudar The recent avalanche of public outcry about sexual harassment began just as the non-profit I work for—Women Employed (WE), advocating for gender equity since the 1970s—was organizing an event, Everyday Feminism, on making the workplace better for women. The event featured a dynamic panel of Chicago leaders including Chicago Says No More founder and Mesirow Financial COO/CFO Kristie Paskvan. We know power relationships have been used to perpetuate this...