Panayiota Bertzikis is the founder of the International Center for Survivor Justice and the Military Rape Crisis Center. A veteran of the United States Armed Forces and a survivor of the same system she has spent decades challenging, she is a recognized leader in the movement to advance justice, accountability, and structural reform for survivors of sexual violence.
Her work has been shaped by engagement with survivors across more than 100 countries, where she has witnessed firsthand the global and intergenerational consequences of sexual violence, militarization, and impunity. These experiences have informed a sustained commitment to building survivor-centered responses grounded in dignity, human rights, and institutional accountability.
Panayiota’s international advocacy includes engagement with adult children in the Philippines born of rape committed by U.S. soldiers, as well as women in Cambodia who described rape and physical abuse by members of the United States Armed Forces and the lifelong consequences that followed. These encounters deepened her resolve to confront not only individual acts of violence, but also the systems of power that enable such harms to persist without remedy.
In response to these realities, she founded the International Center for Survivor Justice to advance cross-border advocacy, elevate survivor voices, and promote meaningful accountability and support for those impacted by sexual violence. She has also worked to build partnerships in support of programs serving women and girls affected by sexual violence in Southeast Asia and Western Asia.
In 2006, while still on active duty, Panayiota founded the Military Rape Crisis Center after witnessing profound failures in the United States Coast Guard’s response to sexual violence within its ranks. What began as an effort to support fellow service members grew into a major anti-sexual violence organization serving active-duty personnel, veterans, and their families across the United States and internationally.
Her advocacy has contributed to major legislative reform in the United States, including the I Am Vanessa Guillén Act, signed into law in 2021, as well as the Military Justice Improvement Act and the Sexual Trauma Oversight and Protection Act. She is also the writer of the Survivors and Children of Military Rape Compensation Act.
Panayiota’s work is defined by an enduring commitment to survivor leadership, legal and institutional accountability, and the pursuit of justice for those harmed by systems that too often fail to protect them.
Anh Nguyen is a case worker in Hanoi who works with women impacted by violence. She brings to the International Center for Survivor Justice both professional experience and a deeply personal connection to its mission. Anh is a descendant of women harmed during the Kháng chiến chống Mỹ, cứu nước (Resistance War Against America to Save the Nation), during which many Vietnamese women experienced rape and other abuses committed by members of the United States military. Her work is informed by the lasting intergenerational consequences of conflict-related sexual violence and by a strong commitment to survivor-centered justice, accountability, and long-term support for affected women and families.
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