Susanna Apgar

Susanna Apgar has held multiple leadership roles, including in the nonprofit world, for over two decades, focusing on development, programming, and community engagement.  With two degrees in critical race and gender theory, from Smith College and NYU respectively, her focus on justice and equity is both sharp and abiding.  Susanna is the survivor of a D.A.R.V.O. Lawsuit — D.A.R.V.O. stands for “Defend, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender,” a tactic commonly used by abusers and predators to deflect blame, and to falsely cast themselves as the victims and their accusers as the aggressors.  D.A.R.V.O. Lawsuits are on an incredibly sharp rise, as a direct backlash to the #MeToo movement.  As the general terrain became ostensibly safer for women to speak up in unprecedented numbers about the abuse they have faced, their abusers have turned to the court system, using it as their personal cudgel to punish their victims for using their voice, and speaking their truth.  This new brand of gendered violence must be the next chapter in the global conversation amongst survivors and their allies.  Speaking up is still not safe.

Susanna carries firsthand knowledge of the depth of harm these cases create — in fact, she carries this knowledge in her body, as D.A.R.V.O. suits are deliberate acts of financial abuse, as well as emotional and psychological abuse, which collude to carry over into physical abuse.  In her case, the lawsuit was brought against her after she received an extensive set of serious and wholly credible allegations, and intervened on behalf of the named minors. Rather than silencing her, Susanna’s experience has made her that much more determined to raise the visibility of these cases, and the women targeted by them.  By raising awareness, she hopes to help generate substantial and sustained support for the women facing D.A.R.V.O. Lawsuits — support she herself desperately sought, and could not find.  She also hopes to be instrumental in making it impossible for abusers to bring these cases against their targets.  

To that end, she was honored to be invited by Anne Marie Hauben to testify before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary in support of House Bill 1974 and Senate Bill 1143, the “Speak Your Truth Act” drafted by Victoria Burke Esq.  These bills seek to tighten regulations and restrictions specifically around retaliatory defamation lawsuits brought against survivors.  They would make it much more difficult, even punitive, for men to use the court system as a weapon against women for speaking up about abuse.

Susanna looks forward to helping make the world that much safer for survivors of all backgrounds and identities.