of Sexual Assault, Relationship Violence, Stalking and Sexual Harassment

Supporting Student Survivors

October 7, 2015

Dana Cuomo, PhD Health & Wellness Advo-

cate dcuomo@uw.edu

Alcohol and Other DrugEducation

Health & Wellness Advocacy Services

Suicide Intervention

Program

Student Care Peer Health Educators

livewell@uw.edu | 109 Elm Hall | 543-6085

Health & Wellness ProgramsHealth & Wellness Advocate

Provides outreach and support to students affected by sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking or sexual harassment

Advocates for and assists students with reporting options, provides academic advocacy, individualized safety plans and connects students to other support services, including counseling.

Confidential and Safe

Sexual assault, relationship violence & sexual harassment affects students and staff from all genders, sexual orientations, classes, races, religions, ages, & abilities.

Dynamics of Sexual Assault in College

• Students are most at risk during the first 2 years on campus.

• Most survivors know the perpetrator (classmate, friend, partner or ex, acquaintance).

• Most sexual assaults occur in the home/apartment of the survivor or perpetrator.

• Survivors are more likely to tell their friends and roommates about what happened than UW staff or faculty.

• Many survivors do not report to the Police or UW personnel.

• Alcohol is the most common drug used to facilitate sexual assault. Most sexual assaults involve both the victim and perpetrator voluntarily drinking alcohol and victim incapacitation.

• 6.4% of college men reported perpetrating completed or attempted rape. They averaged 5.8 rapes each. 63% of perpetrators committed repeat rapes, either with multiple victims or more than once with the same victim. (Lisak & Miller 2002)

Title IX

TITLEIX @UW.EDU

The University of Washington is committed to showing national leadership in tackling the problem of sexual assault on college campuses.

Title IX and UW Policy prohibits:• discrimination based on sex• sexual harassment• sexual violence • retaliation against those who make reports

Title IX When “put on notice” that a violation has occurred, schools must:

• Inform complainant (victim) of reporting options

• Take interim measures designed to:• protect the complainant• avoid any repeated behaviors • avoid retaliation

• Conduct an investigation to the extent possible and take appropriate action if there is a finding

• Protect the campus community

Title IX

A word about UW’s current polices and practices

Responding to and Supporting Students

Refer, Support & Consult

Student disclosure

Refer to a Confidential Advocate:Health & Wellness AdvocateUW Police

Victim Advocate

Advocate reaches out to

student via email to offer:

safety planning, support options, reporting

options and more…

Refer, Support and Consult

Email or call to make a referral to the Advocates

Health & Wellness Advocate (Dana Cuomo)hwadvoc@uw.edu or dcuomo@uw.edu

685-4357

UW Police Victim Advocate (Natalie Dolci)dolcin@uw.edu

543-9337

The H&W Advocate guides students through their options, rights, resources, and offers support. In a meeting,

students can expect to:• Share as much or as little

information as they would like to share.

• Learn about common reactions to sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, sexual harassment, trauma and other experiences.

• Learn about their rights and reporting options.

• Learn about protection orders.

• Make an individualized safety plan.

• Discuss self care, counseling options, stress reduction techniques, support groups and other resources.

• Discuss academic advocacy options.

• Learn about other resources in the community and at UW.

• Make a holistic plan minimizing the impact to their experience at UW.

• The first interaction with a UW staff/faculty makes a difference in whether or not students seek further resources

• Start by believing the student

• Be up front about your role. You cannot keep this information to yourself, but you will only share the information with people who can help

• Expectations are important

• Consult, consult, consult

How to Respond to Disclosures

1. Affirm Disclosure 2. Explain Advocate’s Role 3. Share Referral Process 4. Do Safety Check-In

How to Respond to Disclosures

How to Respond to Disclosures• Thank-you so much for sharing your experience with me. It’s

really brave of you and I know it can be difficult to talk about this.

• Unfortunately you’re not the only student at UW who has had similar experiences, which is why we have trained advocates on campus who are prepared to offer support. The advocates can talk with you in private and share information about your rights, and the options and resources that are available.

• I’m going to make a referral, which means that I’ll share your name and contact information with the advocate, who will then reach out to you so that you have the opportunity to speak with someone confidentially. After I make the referral it will be your choice to respond to the advocate, and you can decide how much you want to share about your experience.

• Between now and when the advocate reaches out to you, do you have any safety concerns or anything else big or small that you want to talk to me about?

Affirm

Explain

Share

Safety Check in

UW Police or 911 for immediate safety or

medical concerns

For 24/7 violence prevention and reporting assistance

(206) 685-SAFE

Understanding Survivor Experiences

• Physical • Emotional• Cognitive • Social

Common Reactions to

Trauma

Self-Care for You

• UW CareLink

• Creating healthy boundaries

• Relying on campus resources to help support students