Rise with UsRise with us
Rise’s mission is to help people pen their own civil rights into existence.
Rise was founded in 2014 when founder, CEO and 2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Amanda Nguyen, tried to navigate a broken criminal justice system following her own sexual assault. Finding a gap in legal protections for survivors, Amanda decided to rewrite the law: authoring and unanimously passing the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act through Congress. This bill, signed into law by President Obama in 2016, served as a model for 54 similar bills, using a unique and scalable organizing curriculum: Hopeanomics. Rise’s movement is a resolutely optimistic vision for America: we believe that everyday citizens can pen their own rights into existence, just as we have done at Rise, 65 times, for 1.4 billion people.
What do you want to do?
Pass my own law with Rise Justice Labs
Rise Justice Labs is an accelerator for civil rights campaigns. Entrepreneurs have their barrier to enter the market lowered by joining accelerators that cover their opportunity cost of living and mentorship. That doesn’t exist for civil rights until now. The leaders of Stop Asian Hate, Women’s March, March for Our Lives and Me Too movements have teamed up to share their expertise and help everyday people write their first law through an intensive 12-week training program that includes seed funding, skills workshops, 1:1 coaching, guest lectures, access to professional services, and a network of Congressional and State legislators.
Make the world better for survivors through global initiatives
Sexual violence is a universal issue that demands international recognition. According to the World Health Organization, 35% of people worldwide – 1.3 billion people – are sexual violence survivors. The UN had never passed a standalone resolution focused solely on sexual violence survivors’ rights, until Rise came along and made history on September 2, 2022. After securing victory at the United Nations, Rise continues to fight for global initiatives to ensure that survivors are seen, believed, and granted access to justice.
Secure rights for survivors in my state with Team America
Justice should not depend on geography. In the US, survivors’ rights still vary from state to state. Some states destroy rape kits before the statute of limitations. Some states deny survivors access to their patient medical records. Some states do not inform survivors about their rights and resources. Rise’ Survivor Bill of Rights codifies these basic, common-sense civil rights for sexual assault survivors. This is Rise’s founding program after Amanda Nguyen passed the federal law unanimously through Congress. Rise is passing the Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights in every state to ensure equality under the law for survivors.
Create a safe place for survivors by creating Survivor Safe Havens
Everyday life has changed dramatically since the start of COVID , and sexual and domestic violence rates have spiked throughout the world. Rise works to ensure those at increased risk of sexual and domestic violence have access to resources, information, and an opportunity to seek help safely. We partner with local businesses throughout the country to post flyers in storefronts with information about rights and resources available to survivors. Additionally, these establishments may designate themselves a Survivor Safe Haven by posting a second flyer with the code “Rise Up 19.” Those in need of help can say this code to a staff member, and that staff member is trained to call the local hotline and provide the person in need with a safe place to talk to a trained professional. Survivor Safe Haven is currently implemented in at least 24 regions throughout the US, providing up to 50.7 million Americans with access to information and resources.
Celebrate survivor resilience at New York Fashion Week
The survivor fashion show was born from a thought: what if survivors reclaimed the words “what were you wearing?” and walked proudly wearing whatever they wanted? The original theme of ‘What Were You Wearing?’ highlights the duality of this question in relation to its context; the same question asked of influencers and celebrities during NYFW means something very different when asked of sexual violence survivors after a disclosure. We want our audiences to deeply share in this knowledge as we extend this empowering sentiment to survivors to create a joyful acknowledgment of survivors’ bravery and resilience.
Submit my outfit or host the What Were You Wearing exhibit
In fashion, “What were you wearing?” is a question that celebrates identity, creativity, and influence. But for survivors of sexual violence, it’s used to blame them for the violence that happened to them. In one context this question is empowering; in the other, it takes away survivors’ agency. In this exhibit, outfits represent survivors of sexual violence across the country and all over the world. Some outfits were worn by a survivor at the time of their assault, while others are a recreation of the outfits worn that day. Viewers can see the diversity of the outfits–in terms of age, gender, culture, and occasion–and read their stories. The exhibit is intended to demonstrate the pervasiveness of the crime of sexual assault, and the many different faces of the survivors among us.
Stop Asian Hate
In February 2021, millions of people rallied to Amanda Nguyen’s call to action for mainstream media outlets to uplift Asian visibility. Tiktok changed their home page after Amanda’s video sparked the response of 11.4 million people. Instagram pushed out her message to their 387 million followers. The White House Press Corps asked if President Biden had seen her video. Then the Atlanta Spa Massacre happened. In response, Rise created the AAPI Visibility Pledge; an immediate action that calls on elected leaders, corporations, and individuals to take a public stand on this issue by committing to denounce hate crimes and uplift the AAPI community.
Rise is uniquely positioned to address this issue between our world-leading track record on sexual violence survivors rights, and our history of grassroots organizing for marginalized communities. 78% of Asian Women have reported harassment over the past 2 years. 60% of Asian women are survivors of sexual and domestic violence. Rise’s work in both civil rights and AAPI visibility directly addresses this through policy solutions, national awareness campaigns, and intercommunity dialogue.
Here's how you can fight for survivors' rights:
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