Words by Rina Rossi // photographs by Andrew White and Sam Bates
In 2013, after surviving rape and spending six hours at a hospital, Harvard University undergraduate Amanda Nguyen discovered that her untested rape kit and the evidence would be destroyed after six months. The police didn’t give her a reason, but it soon became clear to Nguyen that this neglect was part of a broader disregard for women’s needs, prompting her to start non-profit, Rise.
In a post on Nguyen’s Instagram page, she noted that Harvard was supposed to be her dream, but her dream turned into a nightmare after experiencing the sexual assault. She felt “betrayed by the system that was supposed to protect [her].”
Nguyen acknowledged how underrepresented groups are neglected from participating in policy conversations and democracy in the United States. According to Rise Director of Programs, Flannery Houston, Nguyen “realized she had a choice: accept the system or rewrite the law.”
“So, I rewrote it,” Nguyen said on Instagram.
“Frustrated by the lack of comprehensive rights and protections for survivors, Amanda took action to create meaningful change,” Houston said in an email. “Recognizing the need for broader systemic reform, she established Rise to advocate for the passage of this bill and to empower other survivors to fight for their rights.”
Protecting survivors worldwide
In November 2014, Nguyen officially created the non-profit organization Rise to protect the rights of sexual assault and rape survivors. To date, the non-profit, based in Washington D.C., has passed 88 laws including a Congressional Survivor Bill of Rights, a United Nations resolution, and has taught eight different teams the necessary legislative skills to pass a total of 21 laws for survivors of sexual violence through the Rise Justice Labs.
Within the first few years of Rise’s inception, the non-profit had already made important strides for survivor justice in the United States. Notably, Rise created a Survivors Bill of Rights in the U.S. Congress, which passed unanimously on October 7, 2016, and provided survivors of sexual violence the right to survivors’ advocacy and equality under the law, according to the Rise website. Houston notes that this legislation protects the rights of 25 million survivors of sexual violence across the United States, and has “paved the way” for the passage of more than 65 state laws.
The bill also mandates the right to receive a forensic medical examination free of charge, as well as the right to a rape kit that will be preserved for either 20 years “or the maximum applicable statute of limitation.” Additionally, the bill instructs that survivors be given written notification before the disposal or destruction of a sexual assault evidence collection kit, and be notified of their rights.
Rise also helps others put pen to paper to pass their own laws on survivor justice. The organization heads the Rise Justice Labs, an incubator program for grassroots organizing on survivor justice. The 12-week program, which boasts notable alumni such as Paris Hilton and Chloe Flower, provides participants with $5,000 in seed funding and teaches them how to pass and write laws, meet legislators, launch campaigns, pitch journalists, and build community.
Rise’s advocacy to protect survivors under the law is not limited to the United States. The organization championed a Universal Survivors Bill of Rights in September 2022 at the UN General Assembly intended to expand justice for survivors worldwide. According to Houston, this resolution secures rights for 1.3 billion survivors across the globe. The bill represents the first UN General Assembly resolution centered solely on the rights of survivors of sexual violence and “condemns all forms of sexual and gender-based violence.”
Protecting 1.3 million survivors in Louisiana
With Rise aiding activists in passing legislation every day, survivor justice will continue to be legally codified into law. Rise recently worked with Louisiana Senator Beth Mizell to help pass SB 124. SB 124 expands rape kit retention from 1 to 20 years, renames “victims” as “survivors,” and bars healthcare providers from mandating law enforcement reporting for forensic medical examinations.
“Rise played a crucial role in the passage of this bill by building and cultivating a relationship with the lead sponsor, Senator Mizell, over the past three legislative sessions,” said Houston.
She added that SB 124 will impact at least 1.3 million survivors in Louisiana.
Nguyen Continues to Rise— to NYFW and to Space
Today, Rise and Nguyen work to advocate for survivors through legislation, social media advocacy, and town halls for survivors. They have also worked to achieve survivor justice beyond the legislative scope. In particular, Rise organized a Survivor Fashion Show at New York Fashion Week in September 2021, where survivors and allies of sexual violence came together for a night celebrating survivors’ resilience and exhibiting how sexual violence has little to do with what a person is wearing.
Nguyen explained in an Instagram post that following her sexual assault, she had to choose between continuing her advocacy or pursuing her astronaut dreams, as she studied government and astrophysics at Harvard.
“For ten years, I traded my telescope for a pen to draft laws protecting survivors,” said Nguyen. Yet, when she started advocating for survivor justice, she also made a promise to herself to return to her initial dream of going to space.
Indeed, Nguyen persevered and stayed true to her dreams. In March 2024, Amanda Nguyen announced that she will be going to space, making her the first Vietnamese woman to do so.
“To the girl who has waited your life for this day, the girl I was before I was hurt and carried the hurt of millions of others, I honor my promise to you. We make it through. Your dreams matter. They come true,” said Nguyen.
