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African Male

A point of harm reduction

I feel like it's also important to come into situations like this and other situations too, from a point of harm reduction, versus a purely justice standpoint. I say this to say that in certain situations, it's not always a binary where there's a victim and the perpetrator. Sometimes it is a lot messier than that, and sometimes both people end up being hurt and being abused and assaulted in certain ways. So, I think if we look at all these cases and we say, "where has the harm been done?" And, "how can we remedy that harm?" Versus, "who was wrong," and "who was right"- because in that situation, you end up putting all of the blame and all of the consequence on one of the two people, and the other person gets none. I feel like it's safe to say - and people would agree from experience - that in a lot of the situations, there is a lot of back and forth, there is a there is a lot of miscommunication, there is a lot of harm done on both sides and I think that's also important to address.

Recommendations

  • Seek ways to make healing practices that resonate with collectivist cultures and that are strength-based available to students, either through university services or through referrals to external programs.