Arisha Hatch, the interim executive director of the women’s advocacy group UltraViolet, condemned the verdict as “a stain on a criminal justice system that for decades has failed to hold accountable abusers” and called it “an indictment of a culture in which not believing women and victims of sexual assault remains endemic.”
“This is a decisive moment for our justice system, one which threatens to undo the sacrifice of courageous survivors who stepped forward to share their stories in this trial, as well as to all those abused by Diddy who weren’t able to,” said Arisha Hatch, Ultraviolet's interim executive director
Shaunna Thomas, a co-founder of Ultraviolet, said in an interview on Friday that Spotify’s reversal was “shameful” and “disheartening.”
“There is no consequence for abusing women and they’re just affirming that in a really straightforward way,” she said. “They’ve decided that their bottom line is important.”
Ms. Thomas added that she agreed with the critique that Spotify had been problematic in narrowly targeting only specific black men, but the solution, she said, was “not to reverse the hateful conduct policy, but rather to expand it — to be comprehensive.”
“Women weren’t asking Spotify to play judge and jury,” she said. “We were just asking the company to stop promoting artists that have a documented history of physical and sexual abuse.”
On Monday, Executive Director Shaunna Thomas (who is white) penned an open letter to Spotify head Daniel Ek with the belief that their new public Hate Content and Hateful Conduct policy is a step in the right direction, particularly for black women.
“Your action demonstrates that Spotify is following the lead of Black women who demanded that these two men [R. Kelly and XXXTentacion], who have sexually and physically abused women for years, not be promoted and celebrated,” it reads.
And before you assume that the organization is only coming for black or black-adjacent artists and music, they’re also imploring Spotify to remove The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Don Henley of The Eagles, Ted Nugent and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. (Yea, they’re not playing).
Women’s advocacy group Ultraviolet is applauding Spotify’s new policy banning hate content and hateful conduct that has brought with it high profile removals of R. Kelly and XXXTentacion from curated playlists, but in an open letter published Monday (May 14) is also asking for more.
As well as R. Kelly and XXXTentacion, the letter written by Ultraviolet executive director Shaunna Thomas requests that Spotify take action against other artists who have been accused of sexual misconduct, including Chris Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nelly, Eminem and others.
“Google is complicit in luring vulnerable, pregnant women to anti-abortion centers posing as legitimate reproductive health clinics that deceive, lie to, and shame them out of abortions,” Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet, said in a press release. “Users trust Google to be an honest broker here. The company must take action immediately to uphold its advertising policy and ensure abortion care search results are accurate.”
Karin Roland, chief campaigns officer for UltraViolet, said her organization has been in talks with Google for four years trying to get ads for what she calls “fake clinics” removed from Google search results and Google Maps.
“Women are seeking medical information, and Google is sending them to clinics that not only don’t actually provide what they claim to — but are actively trying to trick and mislead women,” Roland said.
The ruling to push forward with Zervos’ case “is an important victory,” Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet, an organization fighting sexism, said in a statement.
“More than 20 women have accused Donald Trump of sexual assault and harassment. Just as he has tried to do with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, Trump has tried to threaten and silence these women,” Chaudhary stated. “As we have seen over the last few weeks, these women will no longer be silent and that should scare the daylights out of Donald Trump.”
UltraViolet, a leading national women’s group, held a candlelit vigil and light projection outside of Visa headquarters in Foster City Thursday demanding the company to refuse sales from retailers who sell assault weapons.
“Protecting children from sexual abuse must be a top priority for everyone in this country, and this bill is an important first step. We support this bill and are glad it is now law,” said Nita Chaudhary, cofounder of UltraViolet, a national women’s rights organization.
“But watching Donald Trump…be the one to sign this legislation into law is deeply disturbing. Trump has abused, insulted, assaulted, and harassed women throughout his entire life. In the last week alone, Trump repeatedly supported and sympathized with abusers over the survivors of abuse, and all amid reports that he feels the #MeToo movement is bad for businesses. The idea that he can sit in the White House and pretend to be a champion for the abused is absurd.”
“DONALD TRUMP HARASSED OR ASSAULTED TWENTY WOMEN. CONGRESS: INVESTIGATE TRUMP. #SOTU”
That’s the message that women’s group Ultra Violet projected onto the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., tonight ahead of President Trump’s first State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. UltraViolet describes itself as “a 1,000,000 strong community that leverages high-profile media moments to hold decision makers accountable, create a cost for sexism, and shine a light on the people and policies that are improving all women’s lives.” And boy, did they take advantage of tonight’s high-profile moment.
A women’s rights group used the occasion of Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address to bring renewed attention to allegations of sexual assault against the president.
UltraViolet, an organization aimed at fighting sexism in politics, media and pop culture, projected a message onto Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening, just hours before the president was scheduled to deliver his remarks.