I wasn’t fortunate enough to be able to attend one of these rallies because by the time I joined in with the Army of Angels I believe it was only a few weeks away. Since I was just getting a handle on The Joy Campaign I felt I’d focus on that first.
These rallies were organized after University of Nebraska-Lincoln 2005 graduate Tory Bowen’s sexual assault trial gained national attention when Judge Jeffre Cheuvront of Lancaster County District Court barred words including “rape”, “sexual assault” and “sexual assault nurse” from the trial.
Many of the Army of Angels joined in for national rallies that were held on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at noon. This happened in dozens of cities across the country and was organized by Angela Rose, executive direcor of PAVE! We know that sexual assault is the most under-reported crime in the US. However, when victims do report, such as in the Tory Bowen case, we find that they are constantly re-traumatized! So we demanded justice! It was reported that forty cities rallied that Tuesday to support Tory Bowen’s right to use the word rape in court. Some are listed below.
Albany, NY
Albemarle, NC
Anderson, IN
Asheville, NC
Athens, OH
Barrie, Ontario
Beverly Hills, CA
Blacksburg , VA
Boston, MA
Brownsville, TX
Chicago, IL
Fort Worth, TX
Harrisburg, PA
Hollidaysburg, PA
Honolulu, Hawaii
North Bay, Ontario
Okeechobee, FL
Olathe, KS
Omaha, NE
Philadelphia, PA
Radford, VA
Rolling Meadows, IL
Sarasota, FL
Spokane, WA
Virginia Beach, VA
Washington DC
Wheaton, IL
White Plains, NY
