Episode 20: Cosplayer Survivor Support Network Founder, Trickssi

Trigger Warnings: Discussion about sexual assault and rape. Noelle and Bill interview Trickssi about the Cosplayer Survivor Support Network, what it does, convention safety, a discussion about the phrase "Cosplay does not equal consent" and and Noelle and Trickssi talk about college football with their small liberal arts colleges.

Founded in 2016 by Trickssi (she/her), the Cosplayer Survivor Support Network (CSSN) strives to unite anyone who’s been harassed, stalked, abused, or sexually assaulted in our community, including but not limited to cosplayers. Their ultimate missions are to hold conventions and individuals responsible for actions that are not conducive to the safety of everyone, both in the convention's physical and online spaces; to provide resources and respect for anyone approaching crisis and allies wishing to help anyone in crisis; to raise awareness to anyone who may not understand the specific needs of survivors/victims/targets in the community; and to provide education in the spheres of effective bystander intervention, positive interactions between cosplayers and attendees, and sustainable definitions of consent. CSSN’s current project grades conventions’ harassment policies on a 6-point scale to gauge how effectively their policy could protect someone in a worst-case crisis situation, should that person choose to report. They are striving to become a full 501c3 nonprofit in the near future. If you’ve been affected by harassment or worse in the community, they want you to know that you didn’t deserve to be treated like that, and you’re not alone. #WeBelieveYou

CSSN website: http://cosplayer-ssn.org/index.php

CSSN harassment policy report card: https://cosplayer-ssn.org/policies.php

Uplift (provides training and individualized tailoring of policies/interventions): https://uplifttogether.org/

Uplift’s convention-specific page: https://conresources.org/ 

If you want to support our projects, please consider donating a Ko-Fi to Trickssi’s account (in lieu of an official nonprofit account, which is forthcoming with your support) here: https://ko-fi.com/trickssi

You can also provide support by subscribing to Trickssi’s Patreon, which provides monthly updates and additional rewards related to her advocacy work in the cosplay/nerd convention community: https://www.patreon.com/trickssi

Sponsored by Copper Frog Games. Visit them at https://www.facebook.com/copperfroggames

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Executive Director: Bill Malvasi

Hosts and Executive Producers: Noelle Dial and Bill Malvasi

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