Panayiota Bertzikis

Advocate · Author · Veteran · Founder

Build the system around the survivor.

Not the other way around. Panayiota Bertzikis is a globally recognized advocate and trauma-informed expert who brings governments, militaries and institutions the training and strategy to make change that actually sticks.

Advisor on the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Invisible War

Portrait of Panayiota Bertzikis smiling, wearing a patterned orange scarf
As seen in
The New York Times Boston Globe CNN Glamour BBC Newsweek Boston Magazine Boston Herald ABC World News Tonight Salt Lake Tribune San Francisco Chronicle SF Gate Arizona Republic WBUR Radio Boston CBS 5 Arizona RT America The Invisible War The Hunting Ground

Saw a gap. Built the solution. Four times.

Known as much for how she leads as for what she knows: with integrity, compassion and zero tolerance for leaving communities behind.

20years leading survivor-centered reform
4/3MRCC offices across three countries
40+communities served by Teal Lotus Yoga
4national militaries and agencies trained

Legislation she helped write.

I Am Vanessa Guillén Act

DRAFTED · SIGNED INTO LAW

S. 1611, 117th Congress. Shaped provisions improving victim advocacy, reporting and accountability for sexual harassment and assault in the armed forces.

Stop Our Sexual Assault in the Military Act

AUTHORED PROVISIONS

H.R. 1434, 118th Congress. Stronger protections for service members and better reporting and accountability.

Military Justice Improvement Act

CO-DRAFTED

S. 1789, 116th Congress. Reforming military justice so sexual assault cases are handled independently of the chain of command.

Survivors and Children of Military Rape Compensation Act

DRAFTED

Compensation and support for foreign women and girls harmed by rape committed abroad by members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Selected institutions she has trained and advised

United States Congress U.S. Department of Defense (Department of War) U.K. Ministry of Defence Netherlands Armed Forces U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Organization for Women, national board City of Phoenix Super Bowl XLIX Human Trafficking Task Force British Armed Forces University of California system Harvard University Boston College University of Colorado Boulder University of Michigan, Ann Arbor K-12 schools Condé Nast News media organizations Nonprofit organizations Mental health clinics and many more

She also led a landmark lawsuit against the Department of Defense and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over the military’s handling of sexual violence.

Selected press

GLAMOUR “Attention Rapists: You’ve Met Your Match”
BOSTON GLOBE · UNSUNG HEROINE AWARD “One person who saw the need for something and used all of her ingenuity… to fill it.” State Senator Pat Jehlen
NEWSWEEK / WOMEN IN THE WORLD Woman of the Week

Books and film

FILM · 2012 The Invisible War Advisor and featured founder. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
FILM · 2015 The Hunting Ground Advisor.

Also seen on World News Tonight with David Muir, RT America and Protect Our Defenders’ advocacy series.

War Is Not a GameNan Levinson, 2014
Losing Our WayBob Herbert, 2015
Soul SurvivorsKirsten Holmstedt
Feminist ConnectionsFredlund, Hauman, Ouellette, 2020
Winter Soldier: Iraq and AfghanistanIVAW, 2008
The Politics of Protest and US Foreign PolicyCami Rowe, 2013
Censored 2009Project Censored, 2008
Ohio State Journal of Criminal LawVol. 11, Issue 2, 2014
Training Consultation Strategic guidance Speaking Policy drafting Institutional accountability
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