Aspire – The I Have The Right To Podcast
Aspire - The I Have The Right To Podcast
Podcast Description
Join the I Have the Right to team and thought leaders as we Aspire to eradicate sexual assault. Inspired by Co-Founder Chessy Prout’s courageous voice and memoir, I Have The Right To- A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice and Hope, co-authored by investigative journalist Jenn Abelson, our mission is to create an ecosystem of respect, education, and support for all students! Aspire is meant to be a beacon of hope and opportunity for growth -- by offering a forum for dialogue - about issues affecting our culture and the way we live, interact, love, learn and grow. Real Men, Real Conversations: Aspire touches on both sides of the coin; Co-Founder of I Have the Right To and father of Chessy Prout, Alex Prout, and High School Student Leaders and Co-Hosts, Hugh Eastman and Gabriel Viscogliosi, share their voices with discussions about what it means to be a man- does it mean being aggressive, stoic, and not taking no for an answer? Or giving your buddy a hug and telling him you love him? Alex, Gabriel, and Hugh share how, across generations, common masculinity tropes impact us all, and how we can inspire the future to act with "aspirational masculinity". They interview guests to get their perspectives, while discussing how rigid gender norms can create harmful barriers for all. All this, and more, in “Real Men, Real Conversations”. Survivor Advocacy: In the “Survivor Advocacy” segment, Co-Founder and mother of Chessy Prout, Susan Prout, and Executive Director of I Have the Right To, Katie M. Shipp, highlight the power of survivor voices in driving meaningful change. These episodes —deeply inspired by Chessy’s unwavering courage to speak out despite attempts to silence her— amplify powerful survivor stories, engage with experts, and explore the path forward in the fight for justice and safety. Listeners will gain insight into where we’ve been, where we need to go, and how we can collectively create lasting impact. Together, we’ll explore diverse perspectives to drive meaningful, lasting advocacy and build a safer, more just future for all. We amplify survivors’ voices and address the root causes of sexual violence by creating open dialogue around its causes. Each episode features a variety of guests discussing survivor experiences, the aftermath of sexual assault, healthy masculinity, and the future we envision - free from sexual assault. Let’s explore, learn, and aspire together.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast centers on themes of sexual assault advocacy, healthy masculinity, and survivor empowerment. Episode highlights include discussions on aspirational masculinity, societal pressures around failure, the emotional journeys of survivors, and the impact of rigid gender norms. Specific episodes cover topics like the redefinition of masculinity following trauma and the significance of open dialogue among young men.
Join the I Have the Right to team and thought leaders as we Aspire to eradicate sexual assault. Inspired by Co-Founder Chessy Prout’s courageous voice and memoir, I Have The Right To- A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice and Hope, co-authored by investigative journalist Jenn Abelson, our mission is to create an ecosystem of respect, education, and support for all students!
Aspire is meant to be a beacon of hope and opportunity for growth — by offering a forum for dialogue – about issues affecting our culture and the way we live, interact, love, learn and grow.
Real Men, Real Conversations: Aspire touches on both sides of the coin; Co-Founder of I Have the Right To and father of Chessy Prout, Alex Prout, and High School Student Leaders and Co-Hosts, Hugh Eastman and Gabriel Viscogliosi, share their voices with discussions about what it means to be a man- does it mean being aggressive, stoic, and not taking no for an answer? Or giving your buddy a hug and telling him you love him? Alex, Gabriel, and Hugh share how, across generations, common masculinity tropes impact us all, and how we can inspire the future to act with “aspirational masculinity”. They interview guests to get their perspectives, while discussing how rigid gender norms can create harmful barriers for all. All this, and more, in “Real Men, Real Conversations”.
Survivor Advocacy: In the “Survivor Advocacy” segment, Co-Founder and mother of Chessy Prout, Susan Prout, and Executive Director of I Have the Right To, Katie M. Shipp, highlight the power of survivor voices in driving meaningful change. These episodes —deeply inspired by Chessy’s unwavering courage to speak out despite attempts to silence her— amplify powerful survivor stories, engage with experts, and explore the path forward in the fight for justice and safety. Listeners will gain insight into where we’ve been, where we need to go, and how we can collectively create lasting impact. Together, we’ll explore diverse perspectives to drive meaningful, lasting advocacy and build a safer, more just future for all.
We amplify survivors’ voices and address the root causes of sexual violence by creating open dialogue around its causes. Each episode features a variety of guests discussing survivor experiences, the aftermath of sexual assault, healthy masculinity, and the future we envision – free from sexual assault.
Let’s explore, learn, and aspire together.
In this week’s episode of Aspire, hosts Alex Prout and Gabriel Viscogliosi are joined by special guest Derrick Hurley, a father of three, retired retail technology executive, and author of Antiguan Justice: A Father’s Fight. Derrick shares the story of his eldest daughter, who while studying in Antigua, was drugged and raped by an off-duty UK police officer.
Derrick talks about the moment he and his wife first learned what had happened, and how he moved from a rush of rage and a desire for revenge into a posture of calm, unconditional support. He describes what it meant to tell his daughter, “You focus on school and healing, I’ll take care of justice,” and how that promise turned into a four-year battle through two countries’ legal systems, including an unprecedented and historic extradition.
The conversation explores what it looks like for fathers and caregivers to respond to disclosure in a truly trauma-informed way. Providing unconditional support, rejecting victim-blaming, and centering their daughters' needs over their own anger, are similarities that Alex and Derrick, both fathers of survivors, share. Derrick, Alex, and Gabriel discuss the toll that prolonged legal processes take on families, and what changed when they began to seek therapy, community, and advocacy as part of their healing.
They also zoom out to examine the broader systems that enable sexual violence to flourish: low rates of reporting and conviction, cultural myths about “staying safe,” and the ways law enforcement, embassies, and legal frameworks can either retraumatize survivors or protect them, sometimes even both. Drawing from Derrick's experience working with police and officials in Antigua and the UK, the hosts ask what true accountability should look like, and how survivor-centered reforms could transform outcomes for others.
Justice, they emphasize, is more than a verdict: it’s the daily work of showing up, listening, pushing systems to do better, and choosing not to let silence and denial have the last word. By sharing his family's story, Derrick offers a powerful example of how a battle for justice can ripple outward into changes in law, practice, and public conversation, and how even in the aftermath of profound harm, families can help build a world where survivors everywhere find justice.
To learn more about Derrick Hurley and his book, please visit https://derrick-hurley.com/product/antiguan-justice/
Aspire is produced by BenHudakProductions.com
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