SMU
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…
Our university defines sexual assault as any type of unwanted pressure [unclear] including, you know, from a hug to rape. So my question is do we need different words for different kinds of wrongdoing? Like,…
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;…
My advice would be, coming from the Middle East, I would suggest that things over there, when it comes to gender or dignity, it’s very sensitive, and we are not, very comfortable [unclear]. So, they…
I would suggest that they complain to a therapist because by complaining to a therapist, they would feel more comfortable about the topic. I would also like to add that it would be even better…