Next Step: Empowering Students to Spot and Reject Undesirable Behavior
CSU Stanislaus has hired its first confidential sexual assault victim advocate, affirming its commitment as a safe, learning-conducive campus. Now the University is seeking to improve campus culture by training students to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable dating behavior.
Victim Advocate Sarah Beal began work in December, well ahead of the CSU system’s deadline of June 15 for its 23 campuses. Her full-time presence on campus assures victims confidentiality, compassionate counseling and resource referral.
Beal previously served as a trauma response advocate and staffed the crisis hotline at Haven Women’s Center — Stanislaus County’s sole agency for domestic violence and sexual abuse. At CSU Stanislaus, she plans to launch awareness campaigns using her academic background in film production and media.
“The more people who come together as a team to prevent sexual assault and violence, the sooner we will see change. We need to let people know that something is being done, that these types of behaviors aren’t tolerated here, and that there are consequences,” Beal said.
“In a time of trauma, the greatest need is to be believed, not to be told what to do. This is especially important for victims from a controlling environment who have lived without empowerment,” she added. “While it’s vital for a victim advocate to have knowledge of the issues, language, and resources, if you don’t have a heart of compassion, you’ll be limited in being able to assist.”
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which is charged to enforce Title IX in schools, considers sexual violence a form of gender discrimination. Its effects hinder the ability of victims to complete their education goals and compete on equal footing with other applicants for employment, explained Julie Johnson, Deputy Title IX coordinator.
Hiring a sexual assault victim advocate was a positive first step in assuring that all students have equal access to education. The next step, Johnson said, is changing the campus culture — particularly students’ perceptions of what are and what are not healthy behaviors in their social and dating relationships.
“We recognize and embrace that the most effective tool to create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable talking to a victim advocate is our student-led initiatives. We are giving students the tools to create a campus culture that does not tolerate or turn a blind eye toward sexual violence,” Johnson said.
“Many students don’t even know that the conduct they see in their peers is a problem,” she added. “There is a continuum of violence they must become aware of: How do behaviors progress from adoration to isolation to threats of violence to violence?”
Johnson referred to statistics showing that:
- Female students who drop out of college due to sexual assault are at higher risk of living in poverty.
- The average age of a student entering college is 22. The leading cause of injury to people in this age range is intimate partner violence. In the digital age, stalking has become the most prevalent form of undesirable behavior on the continuum of sexual violence.
Johnson aims to accomplish this cultural shift through a student bystander intervention program known as Warrior Watch. It prepares students to respond in specific ways when incidents arise. More than 70 Warrior Watch volunteers have been trained thus far. The next training is planned for this spring. Interested students may call Megan Rowe, health educator at the Student Health Center, at (209) 664-6551 or Julie Johnson in the Title IX Compliance Office at (209) 667-3006.
In his annual address in 2014, President Joseph F. Sheley identified a safe, healthy campus as one of his top priorities.
“We can and will look out for each other. There can be no such thing as the disinterested bystander within our campus community. No more looking the other way. I am asking especially for leadership and action from our students,” Sheley said.
The victim advocate’s office is in Room 234 in the Science 1 building. Appointments can be made for Monday through Friday by calling (209) 667-3993.