This April Linn-Benton Community College is coordinating Sexual Assault Awareness Month by hosting events that inform students and staff of methods of supporting victims through intervention, empathetic care, deconstructing gender roles, and finally a public demonstration. This issue is potentially more pervasive than the student body realizes, given “13% of all students experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation,” according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
The SAAM program at LBCC has been organized by Nuria Gamarra, LBCC’s Student’s Rights and Responsibilities Specialist. In lieu of the original Supporting Survivors and Survivor Empathy event originally planned for April 4, she shared information about SAAM and some ways that students can have a positive impact. The event still may be rescheduled.
“Today was going to be bystander intervention, it’s talking about basically what you can do if you see something that is not going so well, someone is not respecting someone’s boundaries, or is saying something that’s inappropriate. A lot of the presentations are based on the model of a continuum of violence and aggression,” she said.
The continuum of violence connects more extreme acts of violence such as sexual assault and other less extreme behaviors such as innappropriate comments and rigid gender roles.
“It’s a snowball effect, it’s a building block for oppression, power and control, which is the basis for a lot of the harm that happens.”
There are four D’s to remember to help guide a bystander of inappropriate behavior’s next steps: Delegate, Direct, Distract and Delay.
Delegate — Invite peers to join in an intervention so you don’t have to deal with the situation alone, or inform someone with more power or authority to intervene on your behalf.
Direct — If you feel safe to do so, intervene directly by speaking up.
Distract — Alternatively to direct confrontation you can cause a distraction, for example Gamarra suggested telling an aggressor their car is being impounded.
Delay — If you’re unable to intervene in the moment, connect with the victim later and offer support.
If an assault has already taken place, Gamarra offered several potential steps to take.
“First thing is asking if they’re OK and, if they know, how you can help them. Next you can refer to resources. We have resources on campus: the advising center, the counselors, and confidential advocates. The difference between a confidential advocate and a counselor is that a confidential advocate is able to, besides items which fall under mandatory reporting for a college employee, take the information from a survivor and help them process and guide them to what their next steps should be.”
Another option is community centers. “In Linn and Benton we have CARDV (Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence) and they are fully confidential advocates. What you tell a CARDV confidential advocate is confidential to the highest degree of the law, they’re not mandatory reporters, and you can say anything on their hotline or in-person to them and they cannot release any information without a release-of-information, written, signed by the survivor. It makes sure that the survivor’s experience stays with the survivor and they’re not feeling like their experiences can get back to somebody else.
“A CARDV advocate can also help people with protective orders, whether it’s a stalking order, a sexual assault order, or domestic violence order. If a survivor feels they need to report, go to the emergency room, get treatment, or get a sexual assault kit done, a CARDV advocate can go with them.”
“There Sarah’s Place in Albany and they do the sexual assault exams and have sexual assault nurse examiners.”
The next LBCC events are:
- “SAAM and Masculinity” on Thursday, April 18, from noon to 1 p.m.
- “SAAM y el Machismo” on Tuesday, April 23, from noon to 1 p.m.
- “Denim Day” on Wednesday, April 24, from noon to 3 p.m.
- “Feria De Recursos De SAAM” on Wednesday, April 24, from 5 to 6 p.m.
All events will be held in the Equity Center in the Forum building of LBCC’s Albany campus in room 220, except for Denim Day, which will be held in the courtyard.
At a Glance:
What: Sexual Assault Awareness Month
When: April 2024
What’s Next: “SAAM and Masculinity” on Thursday, April 18, noon to 1 p.m. In the Equity Center, room 220 of the Forum Building on the Albany LBCC campus
For More Information: Nuria Gamarra at gamarrn@linnbenton.edu
