Sexual Violence Prevention and Responses
Sexual Violence Education & Support
We are the area within the Office of Student Life that addresses situations of sexual assault, stalking, intimate partner abuse, and sexual harassment. We cover the prevention and the education aspect, as well as the advocacy and support aspect of sexual violence.
Support and Advocacy
Sexual Violence Prevention and Response
(740) 364-9578 | Contact Student Life
What is Sexual Violence?
Sexual violence has no bias. Both the survivors and perpetrators come from all genders, cultures, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, socio-economic status, and religions.
Click Here to Get The Facts and understand more about sexual violence
Perpetrators may be:
- Wives/Husbands
- Partners
- Boyfriends/Girlfriends
- Co-workers
- Supervisors/Bosses
- Professors/Teaching Assistants
- Friends
- Acquaintances
- Strangers
Definitions:
Advocate - A person who has been trained on issues related to sexual violence situations and who provides support services through their work with a community organization.
Coercion - Used in an attempt to pressure a person to do something they might not want to do. Flattery, guilt trips, intimidation, or threats are used to manipulate a person’s choices. Even if someone gives into coercion, it is not consent.
Consent - The act of knowingly and voluntarily agreeing explicitly to engage in sexual activity. Consent must be freely given and can be withdrawn at any time.
Intimate Partner Violence - A pattern of controlling behavior with a current or former partner (dating relationships, domestic relationships, same-sex and opposite sex relationships). It can include emotional, sexual, verbal, or physical threats of violence.
Sexual Assault - Penetration (however slight) of the vaginal or anal cavities with any body part or object, or oral to genital contact when consent is not present.
Sexual Harassment - Any deliberate or repeated language, behavior, or visual display that causes a person fear, anxiety, shame, or embarrassment.
Sexual Violence - A continuum of behaviors including intimate partner abuse, stalking, sexual harassment, and those behaviors commonly called “rape” or “sexual assault.” Sexually violent behavior can be physical, emotional, verbal, or a combination; without the consent of the victim.
Stalking - When a person repeatedly behaves or acts in a way that invades another individual’s life and causes them mental distress and/or fear of bodily harm.
Survivors - A term of respect and to acknowledge that people who experience sexual violence have survived an event or events that can be life-changing.
Victim Blaming - The phenomenon where the survivor is held responsible for causing or not avoiding the attack or violence. This includes blaming the survivor for “risky” behaviors such as walking alone at night, drinking and/or taking drugs, wearing “provocative” clothing, having multiple sex partners, doing things that “imply” consent like flirting or going to the other person’s room, etc.
Men
Their victimization is just as important to take seriously and end as women’s victimization.
Men are told to play very specific stereotypical roles in our society. Those stereotypes include being physically strong, emotionally absent and always in control. When men are put into these types of boxes, there is little room for them to admit that they have been a victim of anything, let alone sexual assault. Many people believe that men should have been strong enough to fight off their attacker; that men are not able to be sexually assaulted by women; and that men are simply incapable of being sexually assaulted.
Approximately 2.78 million men in the US have experienced a rape at some point in their lifetime. For more information and additional resources especially for male survivors of sexual violence, please see the links below.
Additional Resources for Men:
1 in 6
Male Survivor
RAINN
Buckeye Region
Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO)
Pennsylvania
Coalition Against Rape
Get Help!
Know that it is NOT your fault. You may be replaying the situation over and over in your mind, asking yourself what you could or should have done differently. But remember, sexual violence is an act of power, and you are not responsible for another person’s choices and actions! You did what you needed to do to survive. Nothing you did caused the violence!
First Steps to Consider
- Get to a safe place
- Don’t shower or wash clothing
- Go to a nearby hospital or medical center
- Tell a trusted person about the incident
- Contact the Student Life Office | (740) 364-9578 | Warner Center 226
- For help 24 hours a day, contact the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio (SARNCO), (614) 267-7020
Click for Quick Resource Guide and Response to Sexual Violence Guidelines