“Our first instinct as a human is to empathize,” said Johnathan Jones.
The Student Center for Reconciliation and Diversity (SCRD) held a “wokeshop” entitled Red Zone on Oct. 1, aimed at combating sexual assault and gender-based violence at Azusa Pacific.
The Red Zone is described as a period of vulnerability for sexual assault victims beginning when freshman first walk onto campus until Thanksgiving break.
The wokeshop included speakers from the Title IX office, the director from the Office of Women’s Development, as well as a representative from Project Sister Family Services. There was also a staff panel that answered questions and gave different points of view and experiences on sexual assault and gender-based violence.
Christine Guzman and Madeline Ho from the Title IX office at APU spoke on the current statistics of assault and violence in universities. They said among undergraduate students accross the country 23.1 percent of females and 5.4 percent of males have experienced rape or sexual assualt.
According to the two women, this happens to a lot of freshmen because “they are away from home, maybe for the first time. They may lack a cohesive and reliable group of friends who are committed to looking out for one another.”
They also talked about affirmative consent, and how there is a lot of self blame that occurs after a victim is assaulted.
Next, Guzman and Ho talked about Title IX laws, explaining that it “prohibits discrimination based on gender in educational programs that receive federal financial assistance.” Students can learn about their rights are by taking a look at Title IX on APU’s website.
“[Sexual assault] is one of those things that never gets easier to talk about, because it is such a visceral thing and vulnerable thing whether that is about race, or about gender and sexuality,” said panelist Jonathan Jones, an RA in Bowles.
As an RA, Jones previously had to submit reports to the Title IX office, saying the “point of their office is to make you feel comfortable, safe and to give you choices and options to remain comfortable and safe.”
Danelle Woodman, a student intern for the SCRD, headed up the wokeshop. She said the idea for the wokeshop stemmed from their initial mandatory Title XI training at the beginning of the semester.
“[I was] overwhelmed with the one statistic that 50 percent of students in college experience sexual assault during the months from August to November,” Woodman said.
Because of that statistic, she decided to spearhead the event.
“I definitely feel strongly about toxic masculinity and gender based violence being here on campus and seeing how devastating acts of violence can be to both men and women,” Woodman said.
According to Woodman, recognizing gender-based violence is a big issue.
“We have to recognize that gender based violence is happening around us, then we have to acknowledge that if we’re going to be like Jesus,” Woodman said. “Jesus would probably do something about this.”
Woodman defines gender-based violence as any type of violence, whether it be sexual assault or harassment towards another individual, specifically towards those who identify as a women.
Woodman went on to discuss toxic masculinity as one of the issues that contributes to gender-based violence.
“In order to be a man, you have to do certain things in order to have other people see you as a masculine individual. And so oftentimes, this gets shown through showing your dominance over women, and that can extend into being abusive to women, and committing acts of sexual violence towards a woman,” Woodman said.
Outreach Specialist from Project Sister Family Services, Halie DeGuzman, talked about her group’s services, and how they help students and victims. Project Sister Family Services is the local sexual assault crisis center whose mission is to reduce the trauma and risk of sexual assault and child abuse.
The nonprofit can provide APU students with several free and confidential services. They have a free 24/7 hotline for anyone who may need immediate crisis intervention, provide free counseling and therapy to any survivor of sexual assault regardless of when the assault occurred.
DeGuzman said Project Sister Family has volunteer opportunities for students 18 years or older. If applicable, these volunteers could serve as assault advocates.
“Although it is an enormously difficult problem to confront, gender-based violence will only end if we do just that — together,” DeGuzman said. “Finally, if you are a student looking for support, please know you are not alone and there are people and resources in your community available to you.”