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New Organization Aims to Get People Talking About Sexual Violence in Utah

Courtesy photo
Taylor Jarman and Taylor Rippy Monson are the founders of Honey.

A new organization aims to raise awareness about sexual assault in Utah. It’s called Honey.

The founders of Honey are Taylor Rippy Monson and Taylor Jarman. They’re good friends, and they discovered recently that they share more than their first names. They’ve both been victims of sexual assault.

“There’s something about hearing that coming out of the mouth of you know, one of your best friends that really lights a fire,” Monson says. “There’s something I need to do here because this isn’t OK, and if I’ve experienced this and you’ve experienced this, how many others are suffering and not talking about it?”

They decided to start an organization focused on victim advocacy and education, but what to call it? Monson remembers looking at a spoonful of honey during a brainstorming session with Jarman. “You have this beautiful, pure, natural thing, but it can also be sticky and destructive,” she says.  

Jarman says they want to develop educational programs in Utah for students at all levels, but also for parents and community members.

“We do feel like education is huge in our organization, so that somebody can grow up and know what rape means,” Jarman says. “I personally didn’t know; I didn’t know what rape consisted of, and so now that I do, I’m realizing how much I struggled not knowing what it was.”

Monson and Jarman are not counselors or clinicians, but they say they can connect people to those resources. They aim to serve as a bridge, to tell their stories of sexual assault, and help others do the same.

“We feel like being able to share experiences and start a conversation is such an essential component to stop it in the first place,” Monson says. “If no one knows that it’s happening and it’s not being acknowledged, how are we going to take action to make it end?”

You can find more information on their website thetasteofhoney.org.

Andrea Smardon is new at KUER, but she has worked in public broadcasting for more than a decade. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and news announcer for WGBH radio. While in Boston, she produced stories for Morning Edition, Marketplace Money, and The World. Her print work was published in The Boston Globe and Boston.com. Prior to that, she worked at Seattleââ
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