Monthly Archives: October 2011

FBI Finally Votes to Expand Definition of Rape

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It’s that time of year again (MIDTERMS!), so I’m pretty behind on everything right now. But! I’ve got some fantastic news to report that I really should have blogged about over a week ago. Last month, the New York Times lambasted the FBI for its appallingly outdated definition of rape, which effectively excludes swaths of survivors, such as men and people whose experience did not involve vaginal penetration. It seems that the FBI FINALLY got the message, because, according to GOOD, “a subcommittee unanimously voted to update the FBI’s definition of rape” on October 19. Thank God.

In other (exciting!) news, SAFER has raised ALMOST $4,000 since we launched our fundraising campaign to support training and mentoring two weeks ago. We’re trying to raise $7,000, so we still need your help! Please spread the word and donate a few bucks if you can!

Quick Hit: Calling All Survivors!

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Did you experience acquaintance rape during college? Do you want to share your story with other young women? Then we’re looking for you!

If you’re ready to share your experience with other young people around the country, email me at megan@safercampus.org as soon as possible. SAFER is looking forward to hearing from you!

University of Maryland and Bowie State Hold Sexual Violence Mini-Conference

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The University of Maryland, Bowie State University, and the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MCASA) have organized a mini-conference consisting of several educational events and workshops that will run until April of next year. And we’re very proud to be a part of the line-up! Our amazing trainers will present at Bowie State University on November 2 from 8:30 am to 12 pm. Check it out if you’re in the area!

Future events feature great speakers such as Green Dot and Men Can Stop Rape and span topics from LGBTQIA community issues and sexual violence to Greek life and sexual violence. You can learn more about the conference and register by visiting MCASA’s website! 

SAFER hopes to see you there!


Because You Rock…

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Because SAFER’s supporters are so freaking awesome, SAFER has officially been featured as one of IndieGoGo’s MOST POPULAR FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGNS! 

Amazing, right?

As of right now, SAFER has raised $2,751 to support its training and mentoring programs. We’re aiming to surpass $3,000 by the end of the week. And you can help! If you haven’t already, donate to SAFER on IndieGoGo! If you’re not able to financially support SAFER at the moment, you can still help us reach our goal! Share SAFER’s fundraising campaign with your friends via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and email.

And thank you SO MUCH to everyone who’s donated so far!

Oct 27-29 Each One Teach One World Internet Forum: Register!

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Have you heard of EOTO World? Founded by one of SAFER’s former Board members (and former Students for a Greater CUNY leader!) Elischia, EOTO World facilitates dialogue across a wide range of human rights activists. This month they are hosting an online global forum for human rights activists on the state of human rights education and violence. Topics of focus will include violence against women in the Carri bean and electoral violence in Nigeria. And unlike most conferences we post here, this one you can attend from the comfort of your own computer.

The official invite, with instructions for how to register (by 10/24), can be found here, and can be translated to a number of other languages.

 

 

The NYT Reports on the FBI’s Archaic Definition of Rape

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I’ve been meaning to get around to this story in the New York Times for a couple of weeks now. Reporter Erica Goode alerts readers to the FBI’s totally and completely ridiculous and obsolete definition of rape:

The definition of rape used by the F.B.I. — “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will” — was written more than 80 years ago. The yearly report on violent crime, which uses data provided voluntarily by the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies, is widely cited as an indicator of national crime trends.

Yes, you read that right. According to the FBI, rape is legally limited to “the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will.” There are so, so, SO many things wrong with this definition. Let’s start with the phrase “carnal knowledge,” as in, WTF IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? Furthermore, this definition completely overlooks the fact that men can be survivors of sexual assault, too. Goode elaborates on these criticisms:

But that definition, critics say, does not take into account sexual-assault cases that involve anal or oral penetration or penetration with an object, cases where the victims were drugged or under the influence of alcohol or cases with male victims.

As a result, the FBI excludes thousands of cases of rape documented by police departments across the country from its federal crime report each year. The good news is that awesome organizations like the Women’s Law Project are actively working to push the FBI to update its definition of rape. And you can express your outrage, too, by signing Ms. Magazine’s Change.org petition!

Three Upcoming Conferences To Get On Your Calendar

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The fall is a killer. Everyone we know is super busy right now, but if you have the time and easy transport to New York, Florida, or Michigan, consider these awesome conference opportunities:

This weekend is the Anita Hill: 20Years Later Conference at Hunter College. Online registration ends tomorrow at noon (and is free for students!) so if you haven’t registered yet, get on it! A bunch of us SAFER folks will be there,so we’ll try to report-back for those who can’t make it.

Next up is the first ever School and College Organization for Prevention Educators (SCOPE) conference in Orlando, Florida. October 21 to 23. Conference attendees need to be SCOPE members, but student membership is fairly cheap as these things go and there is a discounted conference rate for students. The sessions looks super interesting though and we’re sad we can’t be there.

November 4-6, the North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) will be holding their Cooperative Education and Training Institute in Ann Arbor Michigan. Our very own Erin Burrows will be speaking on the first day in a session about confronting campus-based sexual violence, alongside folks from Philly Stands Up! Again, the conference seems to be for NASCO members, but membership isn’t limited to folks who are part of co-ops and seems to operate on a sliding scale.

If there is ever an event you think should be up here, please contact us!

Join SAFER’s Board of Directors!

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We’re officially accepting applications for a Development Coordinator to join our Board of Directors! As you might already know, SAFER is run almost entirely by its volunteer Board members. As someone who joined the Board in the past year, I can assure you that, by joining SAFER’s Board, you’ll meet some incredible people and learn invaluable new skills about running non-profits. Since we meet at least once per month in person (and sometimes more than that), we’re looking for someone who resides in or around New York City. I’ve included a description of some of the things you’d do as SAFER’s Development Coordinator below. But your opportunities within SAFER wouldn’t be limited to these items!

As a member of the Board of Directors, the Development Coordinator will help forge new relationships to build SAFER’s visibility, impact, and financial resources. Our volunteer board members work hard to contribute to the organization’s mission, but we also understand that as volunteers, our board members have other commitments in their lives. Ideally, we hope that the Development Coordinator will contribute in many of the following areas:

  • Spearhead SAFER’s annual fundraising to secure financial support from individuals, foundations and corporations through grants and fundraiser events.
  • With the support of other board members, manage the activities required to prepare and submit grant proposals to foundation and corporate sources
  • Lead prospect research on foundations and corporations to evaluate potential funders
  • Submit a project report and any proposed agenda items to the Chair a week prior to the monthly Board meeting.
  • Work with the Board Development Coordinator and Board Chair to support Board members with their fundraising requirements if needed

Skills & Qualifications

SAFER is seeking an accomplished Development Coordinator who preferably has at least 1 year of fundraising experience, ideally in a nonprofit entity.

  • Highly collaborative style but also comfortable working largely independently, with minimal supervision. As a volunteer position, it is important to know how to maintain and manage one’s workload.
  • Strong written communication skills; experience writing clear, structured, articulate and persuasive funding proposals
  • Knowledge of fundraising information resources, particularly for foundation and corporate grantseeking
  • Knowledge of basic fundraising techniques and strategies, event planning
  • Strong attention to detail and accuracy, the ability to prioritize and organize multiple projects, meet deadlines, problem-solve and multi-task
  • High energy, maturity, and leadership with the ability to serve as a unifying force and to position fundraising discussions at both the strategic and tactical levels
  • Sincere commitment to the social justice movement
  • A background with student activism is a plus

 

Check out our listing on Idealist.org for more information. To apply, send your resume and cover letter to Davinia at davinia@safercampus.org. Applications are due on October 31, 2011!

Gannon University recognizes that statistics do not always match reality

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Sexual violence is a pandemic on college campuses throughout our nation. It is unrealistic to believe that there is a college somewhere in the United States that has escaped the grasp of sexual exploitation altogether. However, the issue arises when colleges do not believe they have a problem with sexual violence. School officials often cling to low statistics of reported attempted or completed sexual assaults and rapes on campus and argue that it is not a problem. But one report is too many. Further, it is unrealistic to think that the reported incidents are the only ones occurring on college campuses. Adopting such a belief among school officials is dangerous and compromises the safety of their college university.

Gannon University, a co-educational Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania, has recognized that statistics do not always match reality.The Department of Justice statistics show that 5% of college women are raped or are victims of attempted rape during their four years of college. However, Gannon University falls well below that statistic. At the University, there are less than 1% completed or attempted rapes reported. Ted Marnen, the director of Gannon University’s office of campus and safety, reported that there are, on average, 1.66 rapes per year at Gannon University.

Despite this low statistic, Marnen recognizes that evidence shows there is not a large issue with sexual violence on campus, but he is aware of under reporting statistics. Therefore, the Department of Justice has granted Gannon University nearly $300,000 to use for programs that will aim to reduce sexual violence on campus. With this money, the University will hire a new violence-prevention coordinator, cultivate a community response to violence, provide mandatory anti-violence programs for incoming as well as current students, and create new crime-response policies. The programs will continue after the funding is over in three years.

The funding was announced by U.S. Senator, Bob Casey, of Scranton, D-Pa. He recently started the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination (SaVE) Act, which requires colleges and universities to specify their policies on sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. As the securityoncampus.org website states:

The Campus SaVE Act seeks to address the violence college aged women face: the highest rates
of stalking, the greatest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence, and 20-25% of students
experiencing rape or attempted rape.

Additionally, according to the Gannon University website, every spring the campus holds a Take Back the Night to rally against sexual violence and domestic violence. This has been in place prior to the recent grant and will continue with the help of the Gannon Counseling Center, SafeNet: Domestic Violence Safety Network, the Erier County District Attorney’s Office, and the Crime Victims Center.

Not only does the recent grant and the upcoming initiatives to stem from this money show great effort in eliminating sexual exploitation on Gannon University’s campus and greater community, but the current initiatives such as the Take Back the Night demonstrates collaboration within the community to truly stand up against violence.

As Marner told the Erie Times News, “we’re putting an added emphasis on safety.”

We applaud the Gannon University community for staring a seemingly small and harmless statistic in the face and accepting that the number may be larger despite the University’s best efforts. The programs that are going to come out of this grant money will undoubtedly promote awareness and create a safer community for students and faculty.

Be An Active Bystander

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Hey SAFER blog readers! My name is Heather and I am a recent Ithaca College grad. Throughout college, I was in a local SAFER organization, and for two of the years I was even SAFER’s President. SAFER hadn’t been around Ithaca for very long, it was only two years before I entered college that Dan Wald created the group. I now live at home (temporarily!) in the D.C. Metropolitan Area and work as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton doing Policy Analysis.

Students Active for Ending Rape only became a huge part of my life once I entered college, but it opened my eyes to so much more. Being president for Ithaca College’s SAFER made me realize how little awareness there is about rape and sexual assault on college campuses.  When I would tell people what SAFER did, many asked,

“Why do we need a group to stop something that only happens once a year on campus?”

Once a year? I wish. Yes, about once a year you would hear how an unidentified man was trespassing on campus, entered a dorm room, and sexually assaulted a student. But what about all the other 364 days of the year, when it could be your boyfriend, girlfriend, bestfriend, acquaintance, or classmate? It’s a scary reality, but the more aware students are, the better we can fight against rape culture.

I believe it’s important to identify the types of behaviors or experiences associated with rape and sexual assault because it allows for an open-discussion that has never been had before on campuses. Rape is a problem, and the only way we can address it is by educating everyone, men and women, about being an active bystander, helping others, and ultimately trying to stop rape before it happens.

Active bystanders are extremely important on college campuses, because of the typical close-knit college community. An active bystander can be the way to get between a victim and an attacker, and potentially save that person from becoming a victim of interpersonal violence. Say you are at a crowded house party, and you see a girl that you don’t really know from one of your classes who is extremely drunk. She is wandering around the house, stumbling, falling and is all by herself. You then see a boy you also don’t know approach her and try to lead her upstairs. She looks confused but doesn’t seem to resist. What would you do in this situation?

Before joining SAFER, if I had seen this situation happening, I probably would not have done anything because I didn’t think I could do anything. I didn’t even think about what could happen in that situation. But in the role of an active bystander, you could be the key to preventing such a horrible act from taking place. Alcohol makes everything much more complicated, and even another drunk bystander may be able to evaluate the situation better since they are not directly involved.

There are three components to Active Bystander Intervention. They are often refered to as the ABCs:  (Department of Defense, 2011)

(A) Assess for safety. Ensure that all parties are safe, and assess whether the situation requires calling authorities. When deciding to intervene, your personal safety should be the #1 priority. When in doubt, call for help.

(B)  Be with others. If safe to intervene, you’re likely to have a greater influence on the parties involved when you work together with someone or several people. Your safety is increased when you stay with a group of friends who you know well.

(C)  Care for the victim. Ask if the victim of the unwanted sexual advance, attention, or behavior is okay. Does he or she need medical care? Does he or she want to talk to a counselor to see about reporting the matter? Ask if someone he or she trusts can help him or her get safely home.

I believe being an active bystander is the first step in pro-actively ending rape and sexual assault on college campuses. Here are ways
you can help be an active bystander on YOUR campus:

  • Talking to a friend or acquaintance to ensure he or she is doing okay
  • Name or acknowledge an offense and encourage calm dialogue
  • Making up an excuse to help the person get away from someone
  • Use body language to show disapproval
  • Calling for help/the police
  • Pointing out someone’s disrespectful behavior in a safe and respectful manner to help deescalate the situation

Check out Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s website with examples and ways to be a great active bystander: http://web.mit.edu/bystanders/assessing/index.html

Now go out there an be an active bystander!!

Resource:
Department of Defense. “Active Bystander.” MyDuty.Mil. Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, 2011. http://myduty.mil/index.php/prevention-sub-ab