Jill Pilgrim, whose firm conducted the study that lead to the report, suggested that students start believing people who claim they’ve been assaulted, listen with openness and offer help.
Pilgrim reminded audience members that it is not solely the job of the University to make campus safe, but that students carry the responsibility to be conscious of sexual violence and report it.
Rita Smith, a national expert on violence against women, emphasized the importance of communication between students, as well as being more open and receptive to any mention of sexual violence.
Oftentimes this violence occurs within an established relationship, in which students may not know how or if they have been assaulted or how to tell a partner no, Smith said. Collecting evidence can help students who have been victimized to receive the help they need.
Smith also stressed that even if an incident does not take place on campus, students can still receive aid from University resources. Students should always communicate with the campus if they feel threatened, she said.
Several representatives from the UNM Women’s Resource Center and the Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico attended the Q&A.
WRC Director Summer Little said the center will resume training sessions regarding sexual violence every Thursday, starting in February, which will focus on how to avoid the ‘bystander effect’: when people stand by and don’t act or don’t know how to approach a situation in which someone has reported an act of sexual violence. This can also include watching something take place, but not knowing what to do.
The training will work to minimize that effect and make students more comfortable talking about these topics, she said.
Dean of Students Tomas Aguirre said a similar training is given to faculty, and stressed the importance of improving that training so teachers and staff know how to report suspicious information. He called this the ‘peer-educator model,’ by which students can receive help they need from their teachers.
Aguirre answered many questions by highlighting the importance of giving both the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator equal freedom to communicate, while also holding them accountable.
There are now several student organizations working to bring awareness to sexual violence on campus, among which is LoboRESPECT, he said.
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“We want to make a difference,” he said.
Moriah Carty is the assistant culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at cultureassistant@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @MoriahCarty.
