How S.A. Pros Can Help Students Stand Up Against Sexual Assault & Violence

"Talking about empowerment is odd, because when we talk about empowerment, what affects us most are the stories." - Meera Vijayann, "Find your voice against gender violence"

The Reactions of Millenials

In this TED talk by Meera Vijayann, she discusses how her experiences and Indian national events led to finding her voice against gender violence as a citizen journalist. She reported on community events, like young men wearing skirts to show that clothing is not an invitation for rape or a candlelight vigil during which locals were able to openly talk about the issue of sexual violence.

However, another young woman, an American college student named Michaela Cross who studied abroad in India, is introduced in the talk. Meera tells us how Michaela also used her voice in the media to speak about her own experiences with sexual harassment in the country. Why is this so interesting? Her university got behind her platform and gave her the assistance she needed to educate other students about sexual harassment. According to Meera, the university created programs to teach students necessary skills for confronting challenges like harassment while studying abroad.

Both women utilized social media and online platforms for telling their stories. As a Millenial, this is not surprising: The internet is the easiest way to get your voice heard. I think this is one way that many students can initiate their journey into this area activism, and student affairs professionals can create programs and campaigns to get the conversation started on their campuses.

The SA Pros' Point of View

Of course, Title IX and the #ItsOnUs campaign forces student affairs professionals to face the issues of sexual harassment on campus from many different points of view. Although the TED Talk mainly focused on the experiences of two women, sexual assault and Title IX are not a single-gender issue. As student affairs professionals, I think we need to find ways to make this topic engaging for the men and women on our campuses by being proactive about prevention and responses to cases that are reported.

According to this HigherEd Live podcast on the topic, the experts agree that this is a social justice issue that should be focused on the root causes of sexual assault and taking the time to learn the opinions of students in order to create learning opportunities. How can we incorporate men in finding their voice against gender violence? I like Virginia Solan's suggeston: including men on discussion panels and to use stories and images of male victims in presentations and posters.

Kevin Dougherty lets us know that we should not be afraid of an increase in sexual assault reports on campus. Students today have been taught to stand up for themselves and others, and it may be an indicator that your institution has given those students the education on how to report, to whom, and what resources are available for students. When addressing this rise in claims, we should teach parents and students the reason behind the increase may mean the campus is a much safer environment.

New Technology for a Safer Campus

There is some new technology that might be interesting to discuss with students: a suite of apps called, "We-Consent" (record of affirmative consent), "What-About-No" (used when a person is not taking no for an answer) and "Changed-Mind" (this one is referred to as the "not now" version). There is some controversy about the app confirming consent, but the other two are meant to keep potential victims safer by recording the faces of potential criminals and sending videos to law enforcement.

In a time when social media and Youtube have given students an outlet for using their voices against sexual assult and harassment, I believe there are amazing opportunities for student affairs professionals to provide students with the information, education, and support needed to utilize these resources.

Do you have a student with a strong voice against sexual violence on your campus? What educational programs has your institution utilized for sexual assault and harassment education? Would you consider telling your students about the consent apps? Let me know in a comment below!

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