Organized by Sruthi Shivaprakash, an incoming senior at Frisco High School, VoicesUnheard is an upcoming non-profit event dedicated to sexual and domestic violence and child abduction. Shivaprakash cites her inspiration for this event as the namesake of Amber Alerts, Amber Rene Hagerman — a nine-year-old girl who was abducted and murdered in 1996 in Arlington, Texas. VoicesUnheard aims to bring stories like those of Hagerman and many other victims of violence to light, inciting change and support for local organizations addressing sexual and domestic violence and child abduction.
Taking place on September 15th, VoicesUnheard will feature a 30-minute sexual assault survivor panel with speakers from Promoting Awareness | Victim Empowerment (PAVE), a national non-profit organization working to prevent sexual assault and heal survivors through social advocacy, prevention education, and survivor support. Notably, these speakers include PAVE founder and executive director Angela Rose, who created the organization after drawing strength from her abduction and sexual assault at 17 and helping enact the Sexually Dangerous Persons Commitment Act in Illinois in 1991. Since founding PAVE in 2001, she has been asked to serve on the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault and participated in several projects and public speaking engagements, earning her acclaim and accolades from TIME Magazine, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and more, making her a guest speaker worth attending VoicesUnheard.
Apart from the speaker panel, VoicesUnheard will host organization stalls supporting PAVE, Turning Point Rape Crisis Center, Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center, Emily’s Place, Agape Resource, Denton County Friends of the Family, Hope’s Door New Beginning Center, Mosaic Family Services, Inc., and more. These organizations, all dedicated to sexual and domestic violence and child abduction, will be fundraising through their stalls and distributing resources and goodies to those in attendance. Furthermore, there will be food and music at VoicesUnheard with the courtesy of sponsors, combined with activities for younger children.
To help VoicesUnheard come to fruition, Frisco students can volunteer to set up tables, raise awareness of the event, and more with volunteer hours. Shivaprakash aims to involve students from every high school in Frisco ISD, already having done so with Frisco High School, Independence High School, Heritage High School, and Liberty High School by contacting their respective student bodies. For students interested in volunteering, DM @itsvoicesunheard on Instagram.
Finally, thank you, Sruthi Shivaprakash, for answering my questions about VoicesUnheard and working with me to write this article. To support this event, follow VoicesUnheard at @itsvoicesunheard on Instagram and, once again, DM the account if you are interested in volunteering!