Starting a dialogue on sexual assault
One in four women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime; less than one per cent of women ever come forward about their attack; and in 84 per cent of sexual assault cases, the victim knew their attacker.
That's some scary information for something that seems to stay in the shadows of talked-about topics.
"People need the hard, cold statistics to see how serious it is," explained Candice Lawrence, a counselor with Fanshawe College's Counselling and Accessibility Services.
After Lawrence and other counselors read a short but impactful letter to the editor in the Interrobang early this year from a girl whose last name was not printed. The letter stated sexual assault needed to be openly talked about, and they realized something needed to be done.
The fact that the girl did not choose to disclose her last name piqued Lawrence's intuition. She explained that a girl who chooses to remain somewhat anonymous likely experienced a situation herself.
Thus, the small letter started big talks amongst Counselling Services, the college, the Fanshawe Student Union, the security department, the Sexual Assault Centre in London and Fanshawe media programs. The result has been a public education initiative concerning sexual violence as "over time (sexual assault education) fell by the wayside," said Lawrence.
The aim was to get as many factions from Fanshawe involved with the message that sexual assault needs to be acknowledged and prevented. This included speaking to residence advisors, who have the most direct contact to those students in residence, as well as international students who bring different cultural viewpoints, said Lawrence. One result of discussions was that a public educator from the Sexual Assault Centre came to the college to do training at the residences.
The public awareness the campaign focuses on not just about "telling women how to stay safe," said Lawrence. It's also about "educating men and women on what the issue is about, looking at sex a different way," and the situations that can lead to assaults, "when alcohol gets going, boundaries get confused."
Assumptions and misconceptions tend to make the issue of sexual assault one where men feel vilified.
"A lot of guys feel like, 'Great, we're the evil people.' But that's not what it's about," said Lawrence.
Through more education, the campaign hopes men recognize the situations that perpetuate stereotypes towards women and avoid them — such as a high status male making derogatory comments who is joined by his friends who want to be considered "cool."
There's also the issue of communication between the sexes, especially during situations that move into grey areas. For example, and girl and a guy are drinking and are clearly interested in each other. They may agree that they will kiss, but if at some point in the process — if things get more heated — and the woman wishes to stop or says no, the guy needs to recognize and respect that, explained Lawrence.
Additionally, the campaign is looking to break old ideas, such as a woman wearing provocative clothing is "fair game," said Lawrence. "I know it's 2010 but that's still in the culture."
She added that students' peers hold the key to changing minds, if they were open up conversation on these issues.
"Other students have a great amount of power in challenging the stereotypes of men and women."
With this being Sexual Awareness Week, there will be a variety of options for students to get engaged in the topic of sexual assault:
- There will be wallet-sized safety card foldouts available at Counselling Services in F2010. Personal/door alarms will be available free from Campus Security at E1004 or call (519) 452-4400.
- Also those interested in taking a self-defense course can contact Nikki Vanleeuwen at Campus Security at (519) 452-4244.
- On October 1, students are welcome to attend a talk by Darlene Barriere as she discusses building respectful relationships and staying safe. 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in M2017.
"Students see everything," said Vanleeuwen. "It's about starting conversations and third party people coming forward. If you see something going on ... come forward and talk to us."
Lawrence said the same for Counselling Services.
"If we can prevent one person from being assaulted through this program or encourage one person who has been assaulted to come to counselling, we can provide a lot of connections," she said.
That's some scary information for something that seems to stay in the shadows of talked-about topics.
"People need the hard, cold statistics to see how serious it is," explained Candice Lawrence, a counselor with Fanshawe College's Counselling and Accessibility Services.
After Lawrence and other counselors read a short but impactful letter to the editor in the Interrobang early this year from a girl whose last name was not printed. The letter stated sexual assault needed to be openly talked about, and they realized something needed to be done.
The fact that the girl did not choose to disclose her last name piqued Lawrence's intuition. She explained that a girl who chooses to remain somewhat anonymous likely experienced a situation herself.
Thus, the small letter started big talks amongst Counselling Services, the college, the Fanshawe Student Union, the security department, the Sexual Assault Centre in London and Fanshawe media programs. The result has been a public education initiative concerning sexual violence as "over time (sexual assault education) fell by the wayside," said Lawrence.
The aim was to get as many factions from Fanshawe involved with the message that sexual assault needs to be acknowledged and prevented. This included speaking to residence advisors, who have the most direct contact to those students in residence, as well as international students who bring different cultural viewpoints, said Lawrence. One result of discussions was that a public educator from the Sexual Assault Centre came to the college to do training at the residences.
The public awareness the campaign focuses on not just about "telling women how to stay safe," said Lawrence. It's also about "educating men and women on what the issue is about, looking at sex a different way," and the situations that can lead to assaults, "when alcohol gets going, boundaries get confused."
Assumptions and misconceptions tend to make the issue of sexual assault one where men feel vilified.
"A lot of guys feel like, 'Great, we're the evil people.' But that's not what it's about," said Lawrence.
Through more education, the campaign hopes men recognize the situations that perpetuate stereotypes towards women and avoid them — such as a high status male making derogatory comments who is joined by his friends who want to be considered "cool."
There's also the issue of communication between the sexes, especially during situations that move into grey areas. For example, and girl and a guy are drinking and are clearly interested in each other. They may agree that they will kiss, but if at some point in the process — if things get more heated — and the woman wishes to stop or says no, the guy needs to recognize and respect that, explained Lawrence.
Additionally, the campaign is looking to break old ideas, such as a woman wearing provocative clothing is "fair game," said Lawrence. "I know it's 2010 but that's still in the culture."
She added that students' peers hold the key to changing minds, if they were open up conversation on these issues.
"Other students have a great amount of power in challenging the stereotypes of men and women."
With this being Sexual Awareness Week, there will be a variety of options for students to get engaged in the topic of sexual assault:
- There will be wallet-sized safety card foldouts available at Counselling Services in F2010. Personal/door alarms will be available free from Campus Security at E1004 or call (519) 452-4400.
- Also those interested in taking a self-defense course can contact Nikki Vanleeuwen at Campus Security at (519) 452-4244.
- On October 1, students are welcome to attend a talk by Darlene Barriere as she discusses building respectful relationships and staying safe. 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in M2017.
"Students see everything," said Vanleeuwen. "It's about starting conversations and third party people coming forward. If you see something going on ... come forward and talk to us."
Lawrence said the same for Counselling Services.
"If we can prevent one person from being assaulted through this program or encourage one person who has been assaulted to come to counselling, we can provide a lot of connections," she said.
