Students Describe Experiences of Sexual Assault
New Instagram account highlights sexual assault at SCU
A new Instagram account by the name of “@metoo.scu” surfaced on Jan. 4 with the aim of creating a safe space for survivors of sexual assault at Santa Clara to share their stories. Since its creation, the account has been sharing stories collected via an anonymous Google form in their bio.
The Instagram account offers a new resource for Santa Clara students to come together and tell their stories as a form of processing and healing. It is run by an anonymous group of student leaders, activists and survivors.
“We encourage students to repost our content on their stories. The more attention the page gets, the more likely administrators are to address the issue of sexual violence at SCU,” said an anonymous member of the Instagram account. “We also want to thank @beingblackatscu for laying the foundation for allowing students to share their stories to incite change from the university.”
The creation of this new Instagram account, which has now amassed over 680 followers, is not the only newest resource available for survivors. The Wellness Center has recently recruited Bree Van Ness for the role of Wellness Center Assistant Director for Survivor Advocacy and Campus Support Services. She serves as the survivor advocate, and anything said to her remains completely confidential.
“I am here to help survivors be believed, feel heard and learn the available resources without having to take action,” said Van Ness. “My role is to provide a safe space for them to figure out their options.”
The filling of this role in the Wellness Center has been a long time coming according to Violence Prevention Educators (VPEs) co-presidents Sean Scanlon and Anjali Rangaswami. The search for an advocate started a few years ago, and it involved the university finding the funding and making an actual position in the Wellness Center. “We want to start a conversation about about sexual violence on our campus and provide support and resources to those impacted,” said VPE co-president, Anjali Ranagaswami.
Although there has been pressure for years to hire a survivor advocate in the Wellness Center, the catalyst was the negative media attention the school received from a Mercury News article about two female students who sued the university for allegedly failing to protect them.
VPEs has been one of the student groups putting in the most work on campus to tap into the needs and create resources for the student body. From gathering feedback to evaluating resources, the student organization has been on the forefront of securing resources and acting as a place of support for victims at Santa Clara.
Now with the survivor advocate role filled, Van Ness has become a more comforting and confidential resource, compared to the current federal Title IX investigators on campus.
Students wishing to report sexual assault or sexual misconduct can do so through Santa Clara’s Title IX website. These investigators, unlike Van Ness, offer victims a neutral resource as their job is to collect evidence and create a fair report based on the information of each case.
With the creation of the “metoo.scu” Instagram and the position of the survivor advocate filled, there is now much more space for survivors at Santa Clara to find healing and help.
“The culture at Santa Clara breeds an environment that ignores, and often encourages violence,” said an anonymous member of the Instagram account. “It can seem at times like people talk about sexual assault as a taboo subject, or something they want to keep quiet. Given the fact that sexual violence is a reality for many members of the [Santa Clara] community, this norm needs to change so that we can create an environment that supports survivors and helps them go through their healing process.”