In the wake of trauma and tragedy, we find ourselves in a very delicate and difficult experience. Our community continues to grapple with how to best carry onward. How can we best support those directly affected? How can we best process our emotions? How can we best hold each other with care, compassion, and respect? How can we best respond in a way that acknowledges an imperfect understanding of events while also emphasizing honor, safety, and belief for those who speak out? All things are possible with perseverance and love, but the challenges we face are real, and the road before us seems daunting indeed.

Even as our village struggles with these difficult questions, we realize the importance of acknowledging the atrocity of sexual abuse and clarifying our stance against it. After much conversation and consideration, our Board of Directors has arrived at the public statement below in the hope of articulating our position to the broader world. It is our desire that this statement be at least a step in the long journey of addressing the injustice and tragedy of sexual abuse. 

Sincerely, 

Kyle Yoder, on behalf of the CSCC Board of Directors
 

STATEMENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AND COOPERATIVE CULTURE AND DANCING RABBIT LAND TRUST
IN REGARDS TO SEXUAL ABUSE

     Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is committed to the pursuit of a sustainable, cooperative, non-violent, and just society. Sexual abuse is a tragedy that has no place in this vision, and should never be tolerated within the ecovillage or in any other place in our society.

     We will listen with honor, care, and respect to victims and survivors of abuse, focusing on their needs. Abusers must be held fully accountable for their actions. We will support and assist Dancing Rabbit in protecting all persons from injury, including through the establishment and expansion of processes and structures to prevent abuse within the village, especially of children.

     We welcome truth, no matter how hard it is to hear. Where possible, we will aid the village in working restoratively for justice. In this way, we seek to create a safer environment at Dancing Rabbit while working for a better and more sustainable world.