By Claire Latsko & Hannah Lussier | Staff Writers
Last Thursday evening, a group of around fifty concerned students and faculty members met in Salve’s little Bazarsky lecture hall to attend a panel discussion and information session on sexual assault. The event was hosted and arranged by the emerging activist group, the Sisterhood, shortly following their email blast that shook campus last week. With demands for a more open dialogue about sexual assault on campus and a more thoughtful recognition of the critical concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, which include nonviolence and women. The message of the Sisterhood is clear: it is time to take action.
The Sisterhood’s first step was bringing lifelong Rhode Island resident, Salve Regina graduate student and military sexual trauma survivor, Jessica Coulter, to the discussion. Coulter shared her story and also demonstrated the stigma surrounding sexual assault in our society.
The Sisterhood began the discussion by showing a short film on Coulter entitled, “Wounded: The Battle Back Home – Jessica – Operation Overcome” which can be found on YouTube. The film was meant to get people thinking, as later questions for the panel were handled in the style of an open forum. It chronicled Jessica Coulter’s battle to handle Post Traumatic Stress Disorder while simultaneously raising her children as a single parent and navigating a system that refused to recognize her sexual trauma. The Sisterhood pointed out that Coulter’s story demonstrates a broken system that allows incidents like Coulter’s to fall through the cracks.
Following the film, the Sisterhood introduced a moderator to the panel, Professor Arthur Frankel. The panel itself consisted of Jessica Coulter, Dean of Students Malcolm Smith and Professor Sheila Quinn. A few other outspoken voices throughout the discussion were Vice President of Student Affairs Barbara LoMonaco and members of the Sisterhood, Ariana Caputo and Wilmaris Ramos. The discussion revolved around three main threads: University processes for handling sexual assault, ways to change the campus climate and avenues towards direct action.
University Policy:
Caputo started the evening’s conversation by asking Smith what Salve Regina’s process is when handling an on campus sexual assault case. He said that a victim of sexual assault will either come to him or go to the Office of Safety & Security, who will then direct the student to a Title IX Deputy Coordinator. The coordinator should get back to the student within 24 hours and provide them with the proper forms and resources that they need to report the case. Neither Smith nor Safety & Security requires the student to talk to the police; it is entirely their choice whether or not the victim would like to press charges.
Once the case has been filed, two investigators are assigned for witness collection. “We try to keep a gender balance,” said Smith, meaning that one male and one female investigator will be working on the case. The investigators spend time interviewing the victim, the accused perpetrator, and other witnesses. Both parties are allowed to read all of the statements made and have the right to appeal something that the other said. All of the information is then given to Smith for him to review and then decide an outcome. “In most of these instances the perpetrator is removed from the university,” he said.
Smith stressed that he always avoids the “hearing style” investigation because he never wants to force the victim to face the accused. He said that it is a “re-victimization” and is “more traumatic” for the victim.
The usual time frame for a case depends on its complexity. “We can probably wrap up most cases in about a month or maybe less,” said Smith. The longest case that he has seen at Salve took 28 days to resolve. The federal regulation for sexual assault cases says that they need to be resolved in 60 days. “That’s too long,” said Smith.
Changes for Campus Climate:
From discussing Salve’s policy on sexual assault cases, the panel transitioned to a new topic by answering questions about our ability to change campus climate on the issue. In general, it was expressed by the Sisterhood and others that sexual assault awareness and bystander education are typically left out of the curriculum at Salve. The panel agreed that, while there are a couple of opportunities for students to engage with these ideas during convocation and the First Year Transition class, there is a serious lack of follow-through when it comes to continuing that education.
The panel, with the help of comments from LoMonaco, discussed the hook-up culture and the debilitating effects of unhealthy masculine norms as the main factors which perpetuate the prevalence of sexual assaults on college campuses. According to the panel, the issue is that we are not checking students’ newfound independence with a set of social rules that prevent them from making the wrong choices.
“We, as a society, do not teach young men not to rape,” Smith said. Instead, Smith said that the dominant culture is one which teaches women to avoid being raped, discourages the active bystander, ignores the importance of consent and stigmatizes assault victims. LoMonaco said that an important part of changing the culture will be to “develop a healthy masculinity” that challenges the current rules about boundaries and about what kind of behavior is to be tolerated.
Quinn expressed excitement at the possibility for this cultural change to occur on our campus and said she believes it can start with “this level of social activism” which is being demonstrated by The Sisterhood. Smith said that “making sure that people are well” is what is most important to Salve and that his office should work towards becoming more transparent with their data. Overall, this conversation was seen as a baby step by the Sisterhood in the way of taking direct action.
Direct Action:
Caputo said that the Sisterhood has taken the initiative, and now more action needs to be taken by the university towards sexual assault awareness. “It’s time to stop talking and start doing,” she said. LoMonaco responded by saying that it excites her that students care so much about these things, but in reality “activism has to begin with dialogue.” She thinks that we are on the right path towards a better future.
Martasian agreed with LoMonaco, but is also taking action. After the Dating and Relating event about healthy relationships that took place on campus a few weeks ago, Martasian was inspired to create a one credit workshop on domestic violence that she wants to offer next year.
Everyone on the panel agreed that Salve needs to begin creating a culture that does not encourage people to stand by and let sexual assault occur. They said that it would be a good idea to have mandatory bystander intervention workshops. LoMonaco said that this would be especially good to teach to all male sports teams. “Men need to become ingrained with this culture,” she said. Frankel said that it is important that the Salve Regina faculty and staff understand that their duties extend to beyond the classroom; they are key players in this change as well.
