Article by Freelancer Cece Shilling
The CARE to Stop Violence Office offered warm coffee and cookies at their monthly “CARE in conversation” event on Oct. 18 to discuss the sexual violence “red zone” with students at the University Health Center.
Campus Advocates Respond and Educate, or CARE, is a non-reporting entity that provides free and confidential resources to survivors of power-based violence, said Grace Boudreau, Coordinator for Outreach and Assessment.
“The really unique thing about our office is that we are able to provide non-judgemental, unbiased views, have resources and services available and walk the survivor through what those services look like and what the steps will entail,” Boudreau said. The outreach team at CARE works to inform students about the free therapy and advocacy services their team can provide.
During the event, CARE Outreach Peer Rahi Shah and Assistant Coordinator of Outreach and Assessment Charlotte Sheffield discussed a number of risk factors that contribute to the “red zone,” a time of heightened rates of sexual assault that disproportionately affect female students in their first and second years of college.
Students filtered in and out of the meeting as the two led a constructive round-table conversation about sexual violence on campus while listeners filled out floral, empowerment-centerd coloring sheets.
“Fifty percent of sexual assault happens in the first months on campus… between the beginning of the semester and thanksgiving,” said Sheffield.
The impact of alcohol on newly independent students was one risk factor discussed during the conversation. Football games and Halloween parties, though staples of campus culture in the fall semester, often include heavy drinking, leading to increased sexual violence and crime in general, according to Shah.
The pair went on to talk about the importance of not just risk-reduction strategies but also prevention education.
“When we tell someone to be careful we tell them you should carry pepper spray, be careful when you’re going out late at night. That is kind of putting all the pressure on the person who could have possibly been a victim… instead of actually focusing on preventing the issue,” said Shah.
The event was a comfortable place for students to talk about serious issues facing college campuses around the country.
“I did enjoy the open conversation…it was the type of conversation that I feel like isn’t brought up a lot,” said senior Public Health Science Major Sarah McMahon. “[The issue of sexual assault is] something that I think about a lot and something that I think is really normalized… I notice a lot of issues pertaining to that.”
CARE’s annual Purple Lights Night event will happen on Wednesday, Oct. 26 to recognize and spread awareness about Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The team will discuss ways to identify relationship violence and support survivors.