Perspectives on responses to sexual assault

Participant 1: It is really easy to give advice. You can just say, “Go to the police. Go to the administrators, or faculty.” But it’s not as easy as one might think; and there is…

Some victims want to protect their anonymity. They are afraid of going to the police or confessing to anyone; because it would expose shame, or self-hate, or self-loathe; because it would be hurt their value,…

If it’s someone you care about, someone you know, you should approach them the same way: from the heart. You should just care about them and try to be there for them, because that’s all…

Protecting anonymity and privacy is very important. Keeping privacy protects the victim from the emotional pressure that he/she could experience.

I think that the best quality that a friend could have is to listen to what the person [who has experienced sexual assault] has to say. I think listening is a big part of it,…

I believe that you have to have compassion in a situation like this, where it’s not about enforcement of what you think is right, or what you think should be done. It’s just understanding the…

Another quality I would say would be reliability. It could help if you went through a struggle of your own. It may not be the exact struggle – you don’t have to be abused yourself;…

I think that the person who will deal with sexual violence should be knowledgeable about what sexual violence is, and what procedures [to use] to report the sexual violence. And second, that person should have…

Participant 1: The first thing that would come to mind for me would be making sure that she is physically alright and in a mental place where they will not cause themselves harm. But yes,…

There’s a story that my friend told me, when we were still back in Vietnam. He told me about how he got involved in sexual assault when he was in the bathroom with other men.…