Rebecca Kotz began speaking and educating on issues of men's violence against women eight years ago and has trained thousands of professionals and community members since.
She currently works as an assistant director at a state university women's center and focuses on gender violence prevention, healthy relationships and sexuality programming, advocacy, and support for student victim/survivors, leaders, organizers, and activists.
Kotz has years of experience in sexual assault counseling, facilitating offender programming, community organizing, group and workshop facilitation, consulting, program creation, curriculum development, technical assistance, professional training, policy and protocol development, research, advocacy and analytical writing, lobbying, criminal/legal systems change, classroom presentations, and liberation education.
Kotz created the first Safe Harbor program for youth and adult survivors of the sex trade and trafficking in Central MN. She also created and facilitates the court-ordered accountability program for men convicted of soliciting prostituted/trafficked individuals: Men Accountable for Sexual Exploitation (MASE). MASE is strongly rooted in feminist principles and radical anti-oppression analysis.
In the past she has worked or interned for a variety of human rights organizations and centers providing services for survivors of trafficking, sexual, and domestic violence. These centers include the Central MN Sexual Assault Center, 360 Communities Lewis House Battered Women's Shelter, The Advocates For Human Rights, The Institute For Trafficked, Exploited & Missing Persons, and the Department of Social Concerns at Catholic Charities.
Rebecca is an organizer in the Safe Harbor for All (SH4All) movement and a founding member of the Implementation Task Force. SH4All is a movement to shift social norms and ultimately abolish all forms of sexual objectification, commodification, and exploitation. Safe Harbor for All is a policy and service model to protect adult survivors of the sex trade from criminalization and to expand housing and services to victims in the state of Minnesota. What is known in Minnesota as SH4All is known nationally as the Equality Model and internationally as the Nordic/Swedish/Abolitionist model of partial decriminalization of prostitution.
Kotz is a member of multiple state, regional, and local county sex trafficking task forces, and is adviser for many Minnesota Department of Health Safe Harbor/No Wrong Door initiatives and sexual violence prevention efforts statewide.
Kotz has authored viral articles such as "Dear John: A Letter from an Advocate to the Men Who Buy Women for Sex" and "A Church in Crisis: Pornography and Patriarchy" that have tens of thousands of views and shares. She was a regular writer for CBE International on topics of feminism, egalitarian theology and relationships, ethical sexuality, eradicating patriarchy, and men's violence against women. Her blogs have also been featured in Bridging The Gap and Patheos. Kotz wrote two chapters for an upcoming book on domestic violence for pastors and faith communities.
In 2012, Rebecca co-founded an outreach for women working in local exotic dance clubs. She also founded and chaired an interdenominational church coalition that takes action against trafficking, sexual, and domestic violence.
She currently works as an assistant director at a state university women's center and focuses on gender violence prevention, healthy relationships and sexuality programming, advocacy, and support for student victim/survivors, leaders, organizers, and activists.
Kotz has years of experience in sexual assault counseling, facilitating offender programming, community organizing, group and workshop facilitation, consulting, program creation, curriculum development, technical assistance, professional training, policy and protocol development, research, advocacy and analytical writing, lobbying, criminal/legal systems change, classroom presentations, and liberation education.
Kotz created the first Safe Harbor program for youth and adult survivors of the sex trade and trafficking in Central MN. She also created and facilitates the court-ordered accountability program for men convicted of soliciting prostituted/trafficked individuals: Men Accountable for Sexual Exploitation (MASE). MASE is strongly rooted in feminist principles and radical anti-oppression analysis.
In the past she has worked or interned for a variety of human rights organizations and centers providing services for survivors of trafficking, sexual, and domestic violence. These centers include the Central MN Sexual Assault Center, 360 Communities Lewis House Battered Women's Shelter, The Advocates For Human Rights, The Institute For Trafficked, Exploited & Missing Persons, and the Department of Social Concerns at Catholic Charities.
Rebecca is an organizer in the Safe Harbor for All (SH4All) movement and a founding member of the Implementation Task Force. SH4All is a movement to shift social norms and ultimately abolish all forms of sexual objectification, commodification, and exploitation. Safe Harbor for All is a policy and service model to protect adult survivors of the sex trade from criminalization and to expand housing and services to victims in the state of Minnesota. What is known in Minnesota as SH4All is known nationally as the Equality Model and internationally as the Nordic/Swedish/Abolitionist model of partial decriminalization of prostitution.
Kotz is a member of multiple state, regional, and local county sex trafficking task forces, and is adviser for many Minnesota Department of Health Safe Harbor/No Wrong Door initiatives and sexual violence prevention efforts statewide.
Kotz has authored viral articles such as "Dear John: A Letter from an Advocate to the Men Who Buy Women for Sex" and "A Church in Crisis: Pornography and Patriarchy" that have tens of thousands of views and shares. She was a regular writer for CBE International on topics of feminism, egalitarian theology and relationships, ethical sexuality, eradicating patriarchy, and men's violence against women. Her blogs have also been featured in Bridging The Gap and Patheos. Kotz wrote two chapters for an upcoming book on domestic violence for pastors and faith communities.
In 2012, Rebecca co-founded an outreach for women working in local exotic dance clubs. She also founded and chaired an interdenominational church coalition that takes action against trafficking, sexual, and domestic violence.
Rebecca has also been a lead organizer for the End Demand 2020, Stop Traffick & XXXploitation anti-porn protest, the Women's March, Take Back the Night, and other marches, demonstrations, and activist events in the community.
Rebecca is a trained and certified group facilitator of many renowned anti-violence/trafficking curriculums in the field: Ending the Game, Safe Dates, #NotANumber, My Life My Choice, and more. She is a statewide trainer-of-trainers for Love146's #NotANumber sex and labor exploitation/trafficking prevention curriculum and GEMS's Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children 101 training and Victim-Survivor-Leader training.
Kotz is currently a graduate student at Prescott College finishing her Master's in Social Justice & Community Organizing. Rebecca earned her Bachelor's degree in Political Science and minor in Multicultural Studies. She earned multiple scholarships for her undergraduate work and was awarded the School of Public Affairs Honor's Research Graduate Distinction for her academic achievement and defending an additional graduate thesis, "Legal Practices, Policies, and Programs Curbing the Sex Trade."
In her undergrad, Rebecca was a student activist who founded Students Against Trafficking & Sexploitation (SATS), the first student organization in Minnesota to solely address these topics. She also worked with the university's women's center on sexual assault awareness and was the president of Chi Alpha campus ministries. She also organized around issues of ending voter suppression, homelessness, poverty, racial justice, immigrant rights, environmental protection issues, and GOTV.
Rebecca has committed to use her voice as an activist, speaker, consultant, educator, writer, and community organizer to defend women's liberation, global social justice, and ending all forms of men's violence.
Kotz was the 2017 recipient of CBE International's Micah Award "for courage, creativity, and tenacity in opposing abuse and advancing justice for women and children."
Kotz, along with her partner, live in central Minnesota.
*Click HERE to see past speaking engagements.
Rebecca is a trained and certified group facilitator of many renowned anti-violence/trafficking curriculums in the field: Ending the Game, Safe Dates, #NotANumber, My Life My Choice, and more. She is a statewide trainer-of-trainers for Love146's #NotANumber sex and labor exploitation/trafficking prevention curriculum and GEMS's Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children 101 training and Victim-Survivor-Leader training.
Kotz is currently a graduate student at Prescott College finishing her Master's in Social Justice & Community Organizing. Rebecca earned her Bachelor's degree in Political Science and minor in Multicultural Studies. She earned multiple scholarships for her undergraduate work and was awarded the School of Public Affairs Honor's Research Graduate Distinction for her academic achievement and defending an additional graduate thesis, "Legal Practices, Policies, and Programs Curbing the Sex Trade."
In her undergrad, Rebecca was a student activist who founded Students Against Trafficking & Sexploitation (SATS), the first student organization in Minnesota to solely address these topics. She also worked with the university's women's center on sexual assault awareness and was the president of Chi Alpha campus ministries. She also organized around issues of ending voter suppression, homelessness, poverty, racial justice, immigrant rights, environmental protection issues, and GOTV.
Rebecca has committed to use her voice as an activist, speaker, consultant, educator, writer, and community organizer to defend women's liberation, global social justice, and ending all forms of men's violence.
Kotz was the 2017 recipient of CBE International's Micah Award "for courage, creativity, and tenacity in opposing abuse and advancing justice for women and children."
Kotz, along with her partner, live in central Minnesota.
*Click HERE to see past speaking engagements.