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At its annual conference held in Houston earlier this year,
End Violence
Against Women (EVAW) International honored Anne Ream with its annual
Visionary award. Every year EVAW International presents this award to an
individual who has raised awareness of violence against women and proposed
innovative ideas to end it. Past award recipients include Delaware Senator
Joseph R. Biden Jr., California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Dr. David
Lisak, director of the Boston-based Sexual Trauma Research Center.
Anne, a Chicago-based communications professional, activist, and survivor,
brings her private sector experience and passion for social justice together
in her work with The Voices and Faces Project,
the national non-profit she founded in 2003. She also delivered
the keynote address at the opening session of the conference.
Anne explained that The Voices and Faces Project started as a
book and has grown into a national movement. "I went in search
of the stories I needed to hear in the wake of my own rape -
stories of women and men who have survived great trauma, and
gone on to live rich and meaningful lives. Our communities, our
policymakers and our health care providers need to hear the
voices and see these faces of rape and abuse, responding with
not only compassion, but also action. If more of us stand up and
speak out about this human rights issue, I believe that we can
change things."
"This is an award that recognizes Anne’s vision, innovation, and
willingness to challenge conventional wisdom in creating The
Voices and Faces Project," notes Joanne Archambault, Executive
Director and Founder of EVAW International. "We honor those who
see gaps in existing services, and design programs that address
those gaps. This sort of vision can have its detractors, so this
award also recognizes Anne's willingness to assume personal and
professional risk in building this unique documentary project.”
A former Senior Vice President and Group Creative Director at
Leo Burnett USA, a leading global ad agency, Anne believes that
creative communications vehicles can and must be used to raise
awareness of how sexual violence impacts victims, families and
communities. Anne also serves on the advisory board of
RAINN (the
country's largest anti-violence organization), is Co-Chair of
the Leadership Committee for Rape Victim Advocates in Chicago,
and has consulted for the Congressional Commission investigating
sexual violence at the Air Force Academy.
She was recently named one of People Magazine's "Heroes Among
Us," and in 2006 was chosen to receive the Susan Estrich Courage
Award. Anne was also named one of "Chicago's Top 40" by the
Chicago Tribune. A finalist for the Dorothea Lange-Paul
Taylor Prize for documentary excellence, Anne’s written
articulation of sexual assault survivor stories is shaped by her
own experience as a rape survivor and her partnership with
award-winning documentary photographer Patricia Evans. |
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