Oct

3

Student Resources on Sexual Violence

Filed Under activism, education and schools, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls  | Posted by Cara |

Check out the SAFER Policies Database Project, which is tracking the different sexual assault policies held by colleges all across the U.S. This is an excellent resource for student activists. Nora explains:

Why a database, you might ask? It sounds a little dry, a little academic, not quite sexy enough for our operation, right? We developed it, though, because it is what student activists kept telling us they needed. If you’ve read any of the success story interviews, you might have noticed that everybody fixed their own policy with reference to other policies that they thought were better. We know, from talking to students and from putting together the database, that finding other schools’ sexual assault policies can be a real pain in the neck. Doing all that research was slowing activists down and causing them to waste time duplicating work that had already been done by other activists. Our database speeds up the research process and lets students look at a wider range of policies when trying to find solutions that will work on their campus. That means more effective proposals and faster organizing.

The second use of the database comes from the way it lets students compare their school’s policy to the policies of similar schools. You can quickly find “competitors” that are offering better services and policies then your school, and then use that information as added pressure on your administration to meet your demands. We’ve already heard from some people who’ve used the database that way, and, although it’s too early to add them to our success stories list, we know it bolstered their case.

Now if that isn’t a smart idea, I don’t know what is. If your school’s information isn’t in the database already, you can help SAFER out by providing them with a link to it.

Also via SAFER comes this resource for students: a fact sheet on how Title IX applies to sexual assault cases and a university’s handling of such cases (pdf).  Good stuff.

Oh, and if you didn’t get the hint either form this post or previous ones, you really should be reading the SAFER Blog.  Off you go.


Bookmark and Share

Comments

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Leave a comment

Note: This post is over a year old. You may want to check later in this blog to see if there is new information relevant to your comment.