get involved

There are lots of ways to get involved to end sexual violence in your community. A good way to start is to request Change Happens, our guide to reforming your campus sexual assault policy. Join the discussion on the blog to share your experiences and get support from other students and the SAFER team. Volunteer with a peer prevention program. Wear a SAFER t-shirt to spread the word. You can also bring a SAFER organizing trainer to your campus.

Another way to get involved is to help raise money to support SAFER's programs. If you'd like to support SAFER's work, we've listed several ideas below for raising money and awareness. If you need help getting started, please call us at 347-293-0953!

buy or sell your books for SAFER

If you plan to sell your textbooks at the end of the semester, you can set aside some of the proceeds for SAFER! You can also support SAFER buying or selling your books online through CampusBooks.com or Textbooks.com. CampusBooks.com enables you to compare prices and buyback offers from multiple textbook sellers. When you buy or sell books through Textbooks.com, they send us a small commission to help support our work. The price you get is the same whether you go through us or not. When you go through CampusBooks.com we get $0.15 per lead. Either way, it means deals for you, and support for us!

Compare Prices on New and & Used College Textbooks

organize a fundraiser for SAFER!

SAFER is a small, grassroots group led by college students and recent graduates. As a social justice organization that challenges oppression, we rely on donations from individuals and fundraising by the students who use our services.

Students at colleges around the country have used these events as fundraising opportunities, either for themselves or as benefit performances for SAFER. When you can, we encourage you to use fundraising events like these, which raise consciousness and have a positive effect on a community on their own, instead of things like bake sales and other events that don't challenge the status quo.

If you would like to organize a fundraiser for SAFER, please contact us so we can send you materials to hand out and help with your planning process. Fundraisers make great community service and student group projects!

Plays

For information on how to put on a play, talk to your school's theatre department or local theatre groups.

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf is a 'choreopoem,' a series of 20 poems performed by a cast of women, who addresses a variety of issues that face women and girls. The production is excellent for student theatre groups because it requires only very simple costumes, lighting, and backdrops. To purchase a copy of this work, visit Textbooks.com.

V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls. As part of the V-Day movement, students at colleges across the country organize over five hundred Valentine's Day performances of the Obie-Award winning play the Vagina Monologues. The performances serve as fundraisers for anti-violence organizations across the country. Campus V-Day donations to SAFER have allowed us to build this website, organize trainings on several campuses, and lots of other very important stuff that we never could have done without that support. For more information about V-Day and the Vagina Monologues, visit the V-Day website.

The Laramie Project is a play and HBO special addressing the murder of Matthew Shepherd, who was beaten and left lashed to a fence to die because he was gay. SAFER sees hate crimes directed at queer people as a form of sexual violence, and a production of the Laramie Project (either a play or a showing of the HBO special) co-sponsored by different progressive groups on campus can be an excellent way to address the links between different forms of violence. To purchase a copy of this play, visit Textbooks.com.

Films

INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence is "a national activist organization of radical feminists of color advancing a movement of women of color and their communities through direct action, critical dialogue and grassroots organizing." Each year, INCITE! holds conferences and activist institutes to inspire dialogue about effective organizing on issues of violence against women of color. They have videos of amazing speakers such as Angela Davis, Urvashi Vaid, and Aisha Simmons speaking at these conferences available for purchase. Tapes only cost $20, so if you bring in 50 people to watch and charge them each $5, you can raise a lot of money. To order a video from INCITE!, visit their website.

No! is a feature length documentary that unveils the reality of rape, other forms of sexual violence, and healing in African-American communities. A screening of No! is an excellent opportunity to raise money for anti-violence groups.. To learn more about No!, or to bring it to your campus, visit the documentary's website.

Comedians

Other Events

Faculty Auction

Right, how is this different from a bake sale? How does this raise awareness as well as money?
Well, it depends on who you auction! The concept of a faculty auction is to ask progressive faculty members who support your cause to donate their time and skill to be auctioned off. For example, a favorite theater studies prof might donate an evening at the theater with her. The winning students gets to see a play and talk about it with an expert. A gender studies professor could donate a personal guided tour of his or her favorite museum. Maybe there's a econ professor willing to play a round of golf with a student for a good cause (18 holes provides lots of time to talk to an elusive professor!). A sociology professor makes dinner for 4 winning students, a business professor offers resume critiques, singing lessons from a music teacher, a tennis match with an English professor, a nature hike with a biology professor. Maybe your French professor can do your laundry. Catch a baseball game with a physics professor. The auction can be silent, taking place over a few days, or a combination of live and silent in one fun evening. There are lots of ways you can incorporate awareness into the event, with materials, video, presentations, t-shirts, etc. Please call us at 347-689-3914 if you need help getting started!

Take Back the Night

Take Back the Night began in England as a march to protest the fear women felt walking alone at night. Now, it is an annual event to raise awareness about sexual assault, and many colleges and universities take part. Students organize a march to protest sexual violence, and following that, an anonymous 'speak out' for survivors of sexual assault and their friends and family members. The event can be an excellent way to educate students about sexual assault in the community, and show people that sexual violence is a reality at your college. At most colleges, people think that sexual assault isn't really a problem on campus. Take Back the Night shows that sexual assault is an issue that needs to be dealt with. A Take Back the Night can also be a chance to raise money for anti-violence organizations like SAFER. We recommend passing a collection jar around to those attending the speak out. You can use some of what you raise to cover your costs (banners, etc.), and donate the rest to SAFER. Download a Take Back the Night Organizing Kit.

That Takes Ovaries! began as a book devoted to stories of women being bold and courageous. Is has since evolved, and now includes open mics for men and women to tell others about the courageous acts of women in their lives. These events are also fundraisers for organizations promoting the welfare of women and girls. Some V-Day organizers organize a That Takes Ovaries! event as part of a 'V-Week,' including a variety of activities devoted to ending violence against women and girls. That Takes Ovaries! requests that you donate a portion of your funds to local a local girls' organization, and another portion to Equality Now, and international human rights organization focusing on women and girls. The rest you are free to distribute to an organization of your choice, such as SAFER. For more information on That Takes Ovaries!, or to learn how to organize an open mic in your area, visit the That Takes Ovaries! website.

Mango Tribe Productions is an Asian/Pacific Islander American (APIA) women's interdisciplinary performance group. Mango Tribe uses experimental community-based theatre to create a stronger presence of APIA females on the national and local level. Mango Tribe does amazing performances addressing violence against women and other issues. They often bring their performances to college campuses, and they regularly do benefit performances. Visit the Mango Tribe website.