Voices of Courage brings together people who have been affected by sexual assault. Their aim is to make a difference on campus in regards to sexual assault, which is why they host events that raise awareness about sexual assault and end the problem of sexual assault on the UW campus. We interviewed Rachel Knaff, the Secretary of Voices of Courage to learn more.
Her Campus: Tell us about Voice of Courage.
Voices of Courage: Voices of Courage is a student organization that focuses on advocating and educating for sexual assault prevention. We’ve been at UW for a year now and have had several events like, Survivor speak outs, documentary showings, panels and tabling. We work out of the STOP Violence Office in Knight Hall and work closely with SAFE Project, a local non-profit in Laramie that helps survivors of Sexual assault and domestic violence find the appropriate resources, as well as STOP Violence at UW. We meet Thursdays at 5:30 and are always looking for new members to help us out.
HC: What made you want to join Voices of Courage?
VOC: Personally, what made me want to join was to have the chance to make a difference on my campus and sexual assault prevention was something I have always been passionate about. Voices of Courage gave me the perfect outlet to help make a difference on our campus and learn about how to become a better advocate.
HC: How long have you been involved?
VOC: I have been involved since Spring semester last year, my freshman year, and I have loved every second of it.
HC: What’s your favorite program the group has done?
VOC: My favorite program we have done has been the Intimate Partner Violence Panel we did with Safe Zone. It was a really heavy topic, but we were able to get a ton of people within the Laramie community to come and talk about all the different services they provide as well as what a healthy relationship looks like. We had an unexpectedly large turnout of people and it made a lot of people in the room realize how this is an issue that affects all of us.
HC: What programs would you like to see more?
VOC: I’d like to see more programs show casing the different ways we can intervene and educate the public on how to prevent sexual assault from happening. I think it would be awesome if we could partner up with Step Up and do a program all about how bystander intervention can help these things from happening.
HC: How can people get involved?
VOC: Feel free to come to meetings and help out, as I said before they’re Thursdays in the STOP Violence Office at 5:30pm. As well, just feel free to stop by and say hi when we table in the Union, we’re usually there every Wednesday. As well, just be an advocate in your community, if something doesn’t look or feel right don’t be afraid to speak up and speak out.
HC: Tell us about advocates:
VOC: Some of the advocates we have are our partners SAFE Project and STOP Violence. SAFE is a non-profit in Laramie (319 S Lincoln St) that helps survivors of domestic, sexual and gender based violence in our community find the resources they need. STOP isavailable to all UW to use if they think themselves or someone else is dealing with domestic, sexual and gender based violence and is a UW student, they do not have to report and are somewhere safe survivors can go to get the help they need so that they can get their education in a safe environment.
HC: What are upcoming events Voices of Courage will be hosting?
VOC: November 16th we will be giving out hot cocoa and information about local resources at Simpsons Plaza and then for the spring semester we have a lot planned for April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and will also be planning a Self-Care night sometime in the spring as well.
Links to websites:
https://uwyo.collegiatelink.net/organization/voicesofcourage0
https://www.facebook.com/voicesofcourage0/
https://www.instagram.com/uwvoicesofcourage/
http://voicesofcourage.tumblr.com/following