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Feministe Feedback: Sexual Assault Resources on Campus

Jill

A Feministe reader writes in:

I go to school on a teeny tiny (<500 students) college campus where, I have noticed, there are really no resources for victims of sexual assault. there are campus counselors, but they’re pretty well overbooked and kind of hard to get ahold of; all the bathrooms have lists of related hotlines taped to the stall walls, which is unquestionably a good thing, but I’m thinking maybe people would like to have an option around that’s a little more personal. I’m thinking some kind of safe space where people can feel comfortable sharing their stories with peers if they so desire, because there’s really nothing like that here.

there are, however, some things I have to consider. the campus is so incredibly tiny that I don’t know how realistic it would be to organize a face-to-face group. all it would take would be one person sharing someone’s supposedly anonymous secrets with one other person, and suddenly the entire campus knows. but, at the same time, I think the lack of a space for the victims of sexual assault contributes to a campus-wide silence. understandably, we don’t hear stories of rape happening as anything more than gossipy campus whispers–they’re vague, pulp fiction-esque horror stories that get passed around in the bathrooms. but beyond that, there’s only silence when sexual assault is concerned, and as much as I would like to think that this means assaults aren’t happening, statistics make me think otherwise.

so what are some ideas?

Any suggestions?

21 thoughts on Feministe Feedback: Sexual Assault Resources on Campus

  1. How feasible would a message board be, or even a tumblr or group blog? It sounds like a small enough group that moderating comments wouldn’t be too difficult, and you could make it password protected (people could email the moderator for access, maybe?) to let people be candid.

  2. My college campus was really small, too. What some women got together and did was petition for a small office, in the main building but a little out-of-the way. They’d have shifts during the week where one or two volunteers would just sit and be there if students needed to talk. And they advertised just that – if you’ve had some experience and you need support, come by. There weren’t that many students who needed help, but I know on a couple occasions, they set up some meetings between regular visitors, like a support group. I think the key is to feel out the need level, then focus on targeting your plan of action to the needs of your actual survivors.

  3. The small size of the campus places it more in line with that of a high school. Lack of anonymity is just a matter of course. However, this means that the likelihood of nearly everyone having a personal connection to someone who is sexually assaulted is fairly high. This could be quite useful to foster understanding.

    Giving victims the ability to speak in a safe, confidential space is going to be a challenge, no matter what system is devised. One can make it less likely for details to become public domain, but I have to say that there are times when I think people need to be aware of the grim realities. We know of sexual assault, as you’ve mentioned, in lurid, pulpy details, but rarely do we contemplate a victim as a human being, rather than fodder for gossip.

  4. At my campus, putting together a Vagina Monologues cast as part of the V-Day movement really helped. Of course, not all of the actresses had experienced abuse, but we grew pretty close and were able to support each other. The show is structured such that a participant is invited to share her story publicly, but no one *has* to. At the very least, it brings visibility to the issue and helps survivors realize they’re not alone.

  5. How many sexual assaults have taken place on campus? Are there any police reports or anecdotal evidence that it is a problem?

  6. Bukowski- it’s generally difficult if not impossible to get accurate information on these kind of things. Also, people don’t spend their entire lives on campus, and assaults not taking place on campus doesn’t mean that there aren’t survivors on campus who would benefit from support.

  7. How big is the surrounding community? Are there other schools nearby? I’m just wondering if there might be an opportunity to partner with an existing community organization to set up a campus chapter, or even a carpool to a nearby safe space (some people may feel more comfortable in an off-campus space where the group may feel more anonymous).

    Could you work with the administration to create and distribute an anonymous online survey to gauge interest levels in these services? That could give you a better idea about where to focus your resources, and could also be useful in gaining funding or space.

  8. You might try researching/getting in contact with someone at SAFER (Students Active for Ending Rape). They are specifically devoted to safety on college campuses.

    They have trainings and teach-ins, a resource center with sexual assault policies from universities around the nation, and other useful stuff all designed to help student activists promote safe spaces campus wide. And if your administration is anything like the administration at my school, the resources they provide can be useful for persuading skeptics.

    Link to SAFER home page: http://www.safercampus.org/

    Good luck! Silencing the issue happens far too often. The burden of proof shouldn’t be on the students to demonstrate that sexual assault occurs, it should be on the administration to prevent it in the first place. Creating safe spaces is one of the best ways to create awareness.

  9. I’d consider contacting your student counseling center. The counselors (likely some combination of doctoral students on practicum, doctoral interns, post docs, and a licensed psychologist or two) might be terribly overbooked but most of the college counseling centers I’ve encountered would have been thrilled to have students asking to start a processing group about anything.

    Ask if they would be willing to provide space and a facilitator. Aside from creating a working relationship with the center (which might make referrals for group members in dire straights easier), an experienced facilitator would be able to help keep an eye on stress levels in the group. More importantly, getting the campus counseling center involved gives you some institutional leverage to help maintain confidentiality and manage breeches.

  10. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned that you may want to keep in mind is issues of liability. Students in crisis may express suicidal feelings, or the desire to harm others (like the rapist), and there needs to be a plan of action for dealing with such things. It may be too much emotionally for peer counselors to deal with, but it’s also too much, legally — counseling professions have professional standards around breaking confidentiality in such cases, and it’s both for the good of the patient, and to cover counselors legally. You don’t want to be in a situation where you (or other peer counselors) are held responsible because you knew that another student was planning suicide before she did it, and didn’t take the right steps to keep her safe (or as safe as possible).

  11. my advice: create a safe space on campus, get a support group set up (even if people don’t show), have the local shelter hold a teach-in or lecture on DV and sexual assault, publish your school’s statistics along with a critique in the school’s paper, look over your sexual assault policy to see if it acts as a deterrent to reporting, talk to your administration about how they can change culture around sexual assault on campus.
    also, take those stats you have and double them (at least) thats prob a more accurate number.
    I think the person who wrote this might actually go to my school, in which case, we’ve tried all these things and are screwed.

  12. Can you find an existing organization or group (whether based at your school, another school, or your municipality) that would come to your campus and offer support?

    You sound pretty small, and it may be difficult to start this on your own. An established group would also have some of the initial work done and might provide better services at first.

  13. One thing that hasn’t been mentioned that you may want to keep in mind is issues of liability.

    Liability in situations like this is always something of a sticky issue. The bottom line is that if someone wants to sue you they will. That said, peer counseling and support groups have a pretty long track record. More importantly, having an open and safe space to talk about trauma with other people who have experienced the same trauma is likely to decrease the kinds of isolation, shame, helplessness, and hopelessness that leads to completed suicide attempts. I think it would be pretty problematic to allow an increase in the likelihood of a completed suicide on campus following a sexual assault in order to reduce one’s potential for liability.

    Students in crisis may express suicidal feelings, or the desire to harm others (like the rapist), and there needs to be a plan of action for dealing with such things.

    I’m not necessarily sure thats true. We have to be careful not to pathologize normal responses to trauma. I’ve hardly ever had a patient who has experienced significant trauma who hasn’t expressed some kind of suicidal or homicidal ideation. Whats dangerous (sometimes) is when the person begins to form a plan around carrying out that very normal fantasy. The problem with a plan of action in a peer support group is that the people leading the group likely aren’t trained, which means they are far more likely to overreact.

    It may be too much emotionally for peer counselors to deal with, but it’s also too much, legally

    I don’t know about that. AA (and all of it’s various iterations) has been chugging along quite nicely for a long time without professional counselors at the helm. Explicitly feminist workgroups have been pretty successful for years without much in the way of legal exposure. A trained professional in the room is useful, but I wouldn’t call us essential to a process group’s ability to operate.

    counseling professions have professional standards around breaking confidentiality in such cases, and it’s both for the good of the patient, and to cover counselors legally.

    Thats…a matter of some debate. I can think of quite a few professionals who see laws requiring reporting as being violations of the therapeutic relationship existing solely in order to enforce society’s will and cover clinicians legally. Saying that these kinds of standards exist for the good of the patient suggests that you’ve not seen how the system works once someone’s name appears at the top of a petition.

    You don’t want to be in a situation where you (or other peer counselors) are held responsible because you knew that another student was planning suicide before she did it, and didn’t take the right steps to keep her safe (or as safe as possible).

    Thats a good argument for having a facilitator, but (and some of the more legal types here could probably throw more illumination on this than I) someone who is not a professional does not have the same legal responsibilities. If I have a patient who is suicidal I’m legally obligated to do something because I’m a professional with a license offering care. If you meet someone who says “I’m going to go kill myself tonight” you’re under no legal obligation to stop them. There might be some messy blurring because of a support group, but I’m not aware of any case where someone has actually been sued for holding a support or processing group.

  14. I would like to thank you for your concern about this issue on your campus. I work for rape crisis center and we partner with the counseling center at a small university in our area to provide sexual assault services. Students learn of our agency and partnership through the counseling center, the women’s center and other student organizations. We are able to provide our 24-hour hotline, professional counseling, support groups, crisis intervention, hospital accompaniment, etc. to students in a confidential environment. Our offices are just down the street from the university, so it is convenient for students who want counseling off-campus. Through this partnership, we have also been able to use space on campus for peer and therapeutic support groups and counseling when there has been a need. We also partner with staff and students to provide prevention, education and awareness programs throughout the year. This works great in our community!

    If there isn’t a rape crisis center in your area, the domestic violence agency may be able to offer support as many are dual programs. If not, I would consider contacting your state sexual assault organization for support and ideas.

  15. If you’re interested in venues for women to share their stories, And It Was Wrong (www.anditwaswrong.com) is a project I facilitate that you might find useful. Currently you can submit but not read stories online, but that’s in the process of changing. Once that changes, it might be a good reference point for starting conversations about this problem–reading some of the submitted stories and opening the floor for people to share their own. If you want to be kept up to date on when the new site is live, you can sign up for the mailing list on the site or find the project on facebook. Best of luck!

  16. I’ve been a student at a very small campus before, as well as a medium sized one (20,000 students). At the larger campus, I was an active member of my student union’s women’s collective, a part of which was maintaining our autonomous space. I can’t recommend highly enough having a space (even part time to begin with) on campus where only women are allowed. This doesn’t have to be specific to sexual assault survivors, but inevitably it ends up being supportive to those who are. Having a more broader base to appeal to women students could make the difference between having a sustainable group/space or not.
    I would recommend these steps:
    1. Find other women on campus who agree that having a safe space for women only is a priority (even part time).
    2. Find a suitable space yourself, this may include going to every building on your campus and asking around for little used rooms.
    3. Arrange to use the rooms regularly (once a week is a good start)
    4. Make posters or fliers or otherwise advertise the use of the room happening, eg talk to students at the beginning of classes to let them know.
    5. Be prepared to answer questions about why a women only space is a neccessity (this will be an ongoing thing, so get used to it! Do some research around why autonomous womens spaces have existed and continue to exist
    6. Keep using the space, and use the time you are in it to talk to other women about issues specific to women, such as safety on campus, coping strategies, safer sex, good consent, gendered violence etc etc (soooo many topics!)
    7. Keep using the space and meeting! Talk about the space to others and ask them to join you and get them to participate (Check out this site: http://asen.org.au/resources/ it has loads of excellent resources around sustainable student organising. Its geared mostly towards the environment movement, but is totally applicable to womens organising also)
    8. When you have build a fairly strong and regularly meeting collective, use your combined voices to lobby for a more permanent space. If you have a student council/student union, then this is a great place to start. If not, then go to the dean of students, and get the student counsellors on side too.
    9. When you finally get your space (it may take up to a year of hard work!) celebrate that you have created a rare thing: A safer space for women to organise and support each other around women specific issues.

    other notes: when you are recruiting people, think about who you are recruiting. Its all to easy to end up with a group of white middle class straight able bodied women, try to avoid this if you can. It might mean expanding your circle of friends (or not, I don’t know you!)

  17. hi, everybody, I’m the one who wrote in. thanks so much for all your suggestions! I’m particularly glad that yall directed me to SAFER (where, tellingly, my campus is not registered) and that website dedicated to student organizing. I’m an amateur organizer for sure and needed all the help I could get!

    in regards to the comment about trying to get some diversity in the group–that’s definitely a priority. unfortunately, the diversity level on my campus itself is pretty minimal, it being a teeny tiny very expensive East Coast private school. but I fully intend to do my best.

    thanks again, Feministe community! you’ve been a great help to me.

  18. I think a women-only space is a very, very bad idea. Survivor-only space makes a lot more sense. I also think reading submitted stories to a website about sexual violence in a group of survivors is a TERRIBLE idea – hello triggers? I find it alarming anyone even proposed that. People sharing their own stories to the point that they and others in the room are comfortable is a different thing.

  19. What my university has is a Women’s Resource Centre. One of its uses is as a safe space for sexual assault survivors, but it’s also a safe space for female-identified students in general, and it’s where you go for information or literature about women’s issues, and it’s where the feminist campaigns appear to be organized from (in reality there’s mostly organized from people’s home computers). I should add that my university has over 30 000 students, but if your university is a small one, it could probably use a women’s resource centre, anyway. It would be much easier for women to attend group counselling sessions or whatever if they could make it look like they were borrowing a book for a project, instead of having people see them coming out of the “rape room” (or whatever other horrid name students would come up with) and know exactly why they’re there.

    Re liability issues, I think you should find a professional in the field of counselling who is willing to train and supervise the volunteers. I’ve volunteered in a position where I might have someone confess suicidal thoughts or something like that, and that’s how it was done.

  20. RD: I also think reading submitted stories to a website about sexual violence in a group of survivors is a TERRIBLE idea – hello triggers?I find it alarming anyone even proposed that.  

    Hi RD, I wanted to respond to your concerns– I have found in facilitating this project that sharing some of these stories with survivors has elicited great discussion and self-reflection rather than triggering. I have found that particularly for new groups of survivors gathering, being the first to step up and share your own experience can be really difficult, and together reading some stories that others have shared can help break that barrier down. The stories generally focus much more on the benefits and triumph or realizing that one’s experience was not OK than on the gritty details of the experience itself. I should have clarified that the stories are often most useful reference point when survivors are looking for context for their experiences (perhaps seeking the knowledge that they are not alone in a small group where that type of community would be hard to come by) rather than in the initial aftermath of an experience.

    I definitely see the possibility for triggering, though, and you’re right that the group would have to decide for themselves whether inviting other peoples’ stories into their circle would be healing or hurtful. Thank you for bringing up this important consideration. I’m not at all trying to minimize your concern by responding, I just wanted to try and alleviate some of the alarm you said you felt by letting you know you know that I consider triggering anytime I share these stories and I appreciate you bringing up the concern for other people who might share these stories as well.

  21. A Mens Project – the website I recently started, though intended primarily for men, has a lot of links to college resources for women as well as some groups under the United States – local listings by state. I’m working on New Mexico and about to get to New York (working my way alphabetically through the US states now.) If you click on the link – with my “name”, you should get there or you can copy and paste:

    https://sites.google.com/site/amensproject

    There are also plenty of web links that might be helpful for you and others in the: “General Resources – by Issue” section.

    I think that many of these links can be useful for resources, ideas, contacts to help you/one, etc.

    Good Luck! I hope that this is helpful! G

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