71. Healing From Sexual Assault and How to Have Conversations About It with Tim Mousseau

Sexual violence in society has gone down 60% in the last several years but there's still more work to be done. Whether that's from more male allyship, discussing it on a wider scale, stopping it when you see it happen or just changing your own behavior, the fact that this reprehensible act is still so prevalent is awful. On this episode, Tim Mousseau and I discuss everything sexual assault. Key themes of the episode include: Finding his identity as a human and man after his sexual assault Why the way we talk about sexual assault in society is wrong Why sexual violence as a crime can be hard for people to understand How changing the way we talk about sexual violence will change our reaction to it Why statistics about sexual assault only get us so far in the conversation Understanding who should be handling sexual assault cases and how the system needs to do better by victims Looking at sensitivity training and why it’s important What laws are emerging that can help direct us to a better understanding of how sexual violence permeates different areas of society What we can do to start engaging in conversations both as bystanders and within our communities Why we need to look at the data and methodology of the research being done on these topics Tying in the #notallmen conversation based on the current situation with Sarah Everard Acknowledging the progress that we’ve made as a society on sexual assault when appropriate Looking at high profile cases and whether they hinder or help the discussion Innocent until proven guilty and the believe all women narratives Best practices to stop sexual violence or harm in real time without putting yourself or them in danger About Tim: Tim Mousseau is a survivor of sexual violence turned educator and advocate on this important topic. At the age of 22, Tim was faced with an incident of sexual assault. On top of this, Tim had to manage the stresses of workplace sexual harassment from his boss who used knowledge of Tim’s trauma to exert toxic control. Coming to terms with his experience, Tim recognized how it left him feeling powerless. He vowed no one else should ever feel the same way. For the last nine years, Tim has spoken with over 400 organizations including members of the United States Congress, top universities, and Fortune 500 companies across the world on the topics of sexual violence and harassment prevention. Tim’s research currently centers on how individuals set and maintain safety boundaries, along with a study on how to better engage men in sexual violence prevention work. Professionally, Tim received a Master’s in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga and a Bachelor’s in Communication from the University of New Mexico. You can find out more about Tim and his resources on https://www.timmousseau.com/ (his website). As always, feel free to follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theimperfectpod/ (@theimperfectpod) or shoot me an email at luke@theimperfectpod.com