Jennifer Joy Freyd
@jjfreyd.bsky.social
Human. Scholar. Activist. Feminist. https://www.jjfreyd.com/
“Very few people say that they were raped,” Freyd says. “Even if they just indicated to us [in a scientifically-sound anonymous survey] with a behavioral item that their experience met the legal definition of rape.” www.marieclaire.com/politics/mor...
What the Morning After a Sexual Assault On Campus Really Looks Like
The Cornell case put one woman’s behavior under a microscope. Five survivors describe what they actually did in the hours and days that followed.
marieclaire.com
" When there’s institutional betrayal, things get worse; it adds harm. . People, if they get upset at all, talk about how the institutions fail to respond well afterward. And that’s all important and meaningful. But I think it’s even a bigger deal that they fail to prevent this from occurring."
National expert, former UO professor shares what colleges, families can learn from the Cornell rape case and recent Eugene reports
OPB speaks with Jennifer Freyd, a retired University of Oregon psychology professor and national expert on sexual violence.
opb.org
"[A]s perpetrators increasingly secure favorable legal outcomes through DARVO . . .the legal framework becomes an instrument for silencing survivors, inflicting collective harm as perpetrator narratives permeate in legal and public spheres." More at: www.institutionalcourage.org/the-courage-...
Psychiatry organization apologizes for treatment of sexual abuse survivors in new position paper. They acknowledge false memory syndrome (FMS) "is not a real syndrome and was aimed to pathologize the memory of survivors. . ." See feature article here: www.institutionalcourage.org/the-courage-...
Two themes, institutions acknowledging harm and the growing scholarship on DARVO, run through the October issue of The Courage Brief. We share a powerful example of an institution publicly acknowledging past harm, and a new resource for understanding research on DARVO.
The Courage Brief - October 2026 | Center for Institutional Courage
institutionalcourage.org
"'The devil is in the details, and a lot of the [training programs] are terrible,' said Jennifer Freyd. . . . That doesn’t mean all educational programs miss the mark, Freyd said, 'just that a one-off isn’t going to do a whole lot.'" (1 of 2)
Cornell Students Want Better Sexual-Assault Prevention. Such Training Often Falls Short, Experts Say.
Months before a rape case shook the nation, Cornell acknowledged its existing education needed improvement.
chronicle.com
"In Cornell’s case, Freyd says in a phone interview, the university appears to have committed institutional betrayal on two fronts. " english.elpais.com/education/20...
Cornell case: an ‘institutional betrayal’ of victims in the post #MeToo era
The handling of a former student’s allegation that she was gang-raped two years ago highlights how educational and judicial institutions often fail the victims and protect the perpetrators
english.elpais.com
"Good things are happening. Like, really good. . . .what we focus on tends to grow, so . . .We must relish our wins! Savor them! Bask in them! Share them!" @jesscraven101.bsky.social See Jess Craven's list here: chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/extra-extr...
Institutional courage attenuates the association between institutional betrayal and trauma symptoms among campus sexual assault survivors. Adams-Clark, A. A., Barnes, M. L., Lind, M. N., Smidt, A., & Freyd, J. J. (2026). psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
Research from my lab group: Pledged into harm: Sorority and fraternity members face increased risk of sexual assault and sexual harassment. Barnes, M.L., Adams-Clark, A.A., Rosenthal, M.N., Smith, C.P, amp; Freyd, J.J. (2021). digitalcommons.uri.edu/dignity/vol6...
Pledged into Harm: Sorority and Fraternity Members Face Increased Risk of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment
The purpose of this manuscript is to examine the risk of sexual exploitation (both assault and harassment) associated with sorority and fraternity membership on U.S. college campuses. The results from...
digitalcommons.uri.edu
I received a mug in the mail and I love it. It was made by Cathy S Harris. www.wokeandsubversivemerch.com
More about DARVO www.jjfreyd.com/darvo
DARVO — Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD.
jjfreyd.com
Jennifer Joy Freyd@jjfreyd.bsky.social · 3w agoA few days ago I learned that DARVO, a word I coined and first published in 1997, is now in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. I'm astonished. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/D...
A few days ago I learned that DARVO, a word I coined and first published in 1997, is now in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. I'm astonished. www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/D...
Definition of DARVO
manipulative tactics that are commonly used by wrongdoers (such as those accused of physical, sexual, or verbal abuse) upon being confronted or accused by their victims and that consist of denial of w...
merriam-webster.com
"Things are going badly for team Trump—and better for our side—every day. We should be encouraged by that! But even if that weren’t the case I’d still have tons of good news for you. " @jesscraven101.bsky.social chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/extra-extr...
Extra! Extra! 9/22
Yes! Good things ARE STILL HAPPENING! 👏🏼👏🏼
chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com
Thank you for doing this. Your courage and your effort are so important!
Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD@arghavansallesmd.medsky.social · 4w agoI am suing the NIH. As part of a class action with the ACLU and 16 other plaintiffs, we are challenging the thousands of unlawful grant terminations in an effort to get them all reinstated. Whatever happens, at the very least, no one can say I sat back and watched while they destroyed science.
Thank you @jesscraven101.bsky.social for another great list of good things that have happened this past week. chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/extra-extr...
Extra! Extra! 9/13
Yes! Good things ARE still happening! 🎉🎉
chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com
We have two new resource pages on the Center for Institutional Courage website. One is a database of 74 articles about DARVO research. More here: www.institutionalcourage.org/courage-in-a...
DARVO Research, Institutional Courage, and Gloria Steinem | Center for Institutional Courage
We announce new resources for DARVO research and for tracking applications of institutional courage research. We also express our gratitude for Gloria Steinem.
institutionalcourage.org
"Enjoy this week’s looooong list of improbable victories, incremental steps forward, and time-earned wins!" @jesscraven101.bsky.social chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/extra-extr...
Extra! Extra! 9/6
Yes! Good things are STILL happening! 🎉🎉
chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com
"As I write this, the world seems in a tailspin. Many feel that all the progress we’ve made is being reversed. When you’re lucky enough to have lived a long life, as I have done, your role as an older person is to remind us how far we have come." - Gloria Steinem www.newyorker.com/culture/life...
Gloria Steinem’s Final Essay
Gloria Steinem writes about what she meant when she called herself a feminist.
newyorker.com
I so appreciate @democracydocket.com. Resistance persistence. It doesn't always work but it frequently does. And going along with tyranny is guaranteed to lead to more tyranny. Here, one of many great resistance victories: www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
In major win for voters, judge blocks Trump’s mail voting restrictions for midterms
"The court concludes that disenfranchisement for Plaintiff Organizations’ members, regardless of residence, is practically inevitable," the judge wrote.
democracydocket.com
Call for submissions: Special Issue on Institutional Betrayal in Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Jennifer Gomez & Alexis Adams-Clark, editors. • Abstract Deadline: 1 Oct 2026 • Submission Invitations: 1 Nov 2026 • Full Manuscripts: 1 Feb 2027 Call: files.constantcontact.com/ccd1b400301/...
files.constantcontact.com
"Ron DeSantis and friends expertly employ DARVO" by Stephanie Hayes in the @tampabaytimes.bsky.social More about DARVO: www.jjfreyd.com/darvo www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2...
How to get away with stealing $10 million | Column
Gov. Ron DeSantis and friends expertly employ DARVO in the Hope Florida scandal.
tampabay.com
Call for papers on institutional courage - for a special issue of the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, & Trauma. think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu...
Institutional Courage
Call for abstracts: Special Issue on Institutional Courage. Submit research on institutional responses to violence across educational, workplace, healthcare, and justice settings.
think.taylorandfrancis.com
Each time someone chooses to act with courage, she plants a seed that may change the world soon - or perhaps decades later. Thank you Patricia Douglas. Thank you @ninasiegal.bsky.social and NYT for make her courage known. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/o...
Overlooked No More: Patricia Douglas, Who Challenged Hollywood’s Culture of Abuse (Gift Article)
Eight decades before the #MeToo groundswell, she took MGM to court after alleging she was attacked at a studio party in 1937.
nytimes.com
"In a statement, Mr. Eisen called the decision “a landmark victory for one of our nation’s crusading journalists.”" www.nytimes.com/2026/08/24/b...
Washington Post Ordered to Rehire Fired Columnist Karen Attiah (Gift Article)
An arbitrator ordered the newspaper to reinstate Karen Attiah, who was fired after posting about “white men who espouse hatred and violence” following Charlie Kirk’s killing.
nytimes.com
"As usual, a lot of good stuff happened this week. It’s tempting to only focus on Trump’s attempted torching of our democracy—because of course that happened again, too—but if we don’t stop to celebrate the wins we will absolutely burn out." @jesscraven101.bsky.social
Extra! Extra! 8/23
YES! Good things ARE still happening! 🙌🏼🙌🏼
chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com
"Brianna Delker, Carly P. Smith, Marina N. Rosenthal, Rosemary E. Bernstein, and Jennifer J. Freyd documented what they called "family betrayal" — the parallel to institutional betrayal, applied specifically to close family members who fail to prevent or respond supportively to abuse."
TAKE IT DOWN Act Binds Platforms; Jaden Newman's Father Faced No Law After August 18 Stream
TAKE IT DOWN Act gives NCII victims a 48-hour right to platform removal of intimate imagery, but Jamie Newman’s lie detector livestream on August 18 revealed the law’s structural blind spot: betrayal ...
techtimes.com
