Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies

A Partnership Commitment During a Global Pandemic

Margaret R. Frimoth

Clatsop Community College

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/ijps.v8i1.3737

Keywords: partnership, domination, child sexual abuse, transformation, intentional safety

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Abstract

Riane Eisler challenges us to identify and embrace partnership relationships in every aspect of our lives — personal, social, cultural, environmental, and economic. Her trove of written work and public appearances shape a vision of our greater selves working together to achieve more than the sum of our separate lives. Now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the reality of overwhelming separation, grief, loss, and social distancing begs the question: Is it truly possible to achieve partnership values? Sometimes, we need to step away from news reports and social media to seek comfort in the stories that make positive differences in our lives. In this article, the author shares a story, more than three decades in the making, of a small group of committed volunteers who tackle a most difficult and disturbing form of oppression — child sexual abuse. An annual camp program, first requested by child survivors themselves, is deeply linked to partnership system ideologies. The Victory Over Child Abuse (VOCA) Camp story actualizes partnership values by firmly wrapping them around a tenacious vision of intentionally safe community. When communities commit to partnership systems, healing and non-violence become the norm, social transformation is possible, and children are safe.