Student Efforts on Combating Sexual Abuse

Blog Corrections: On my previous post on how the sex-crime audit happening in Chico State, San Diego State, Berkley, and UCLA, will affect the schools in the short-term and in the long run, I mentioned that it is not a highly publicized matter, and that one of the only place I found information about the audit was from an article that was published in my school newspaper.

            However, while going through my e-mails this weekend, I found a message sent out by Chico State to their students in the beginning of the semester about the audit. Therefore, I stand corrected.

            
            I try to make my blogs as objective as possible (as every journalists should), and so I felt it was important for me to include that bit of information for the readers. This blog is not meant to criticize the schools involved, or the audit itself. I am simply trying to inform students and people about the nature of the audit and how it affects all the parties involved.

 Now that I have gotten that out of the way... 
         
             I want to talk about a talk about a group that is involved in the matter at hand, the students.

            Ultimately, the audit will affect not only the schools, but also the students who attend the schools that are being investigated.

            Students are the ones who are often the victims in the sexual abuse crimes that happen in college institutions, which is why I felt it was important to address them in someway.

             As a student myself, I often find it difficult to try and find organizations who can help me with particular questions and concerns that I may have. Being that this is a blog about the current audit on sexual abuse, I thought it would be useful to include information about organizations who can assists victims of sex crimes, so that anyone who may be reading this, who is a college student and who has been a victim of sexual abuse can find solace in knowing that there are organizations out there that can help.

College Organizations vs. Sexual Crimes:       

   In my previous blog, I touched upon the issue of sexual abuse and how it is often a subject that is disregarded, but there are some who put an effort on trying to bring this issue upfront. 

   In Chico State, one particular group that tries to bring the issue of sexual abuse to the forefront is the Associated Students’ Gender and Sexuality Equity Center (GSEC). GSEC is ran by students who attend Chico State. They are an activist organization that attempts to empower students, with their two programs: Women’s Program and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Program (LGBTQ).

                                                                                   

Recently, GSEC put together an event on Chico State called “Take Back the Night,” a biannual event that protests against rape and sexual abuse.

           

The other schools that are currently being audited also have similar organizations that try and tackle the issue of sexual abuse. UC-Berkeley has GASA (Greeks Against Sexual Abuse), a student led organization within the Greek community. San Diego State does a fair that is held on April during National Sexual Awareness Month called "This Hands Don't Hurt," and UCLA has CARE (Campus Assault Resources & Education).

What these organizations show is that the schools being audited do provide some sort of assistance and recognition to anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault. With that in mind, one can assume that the schools involved do in fact have their ways of handling and dealing with sexual abuse. 

Although it is unclear how much effort and help these organizations provide, negligence of addressing sex crimes could not have been the reason why the schools being audited were chosen.

 I have brought up plenty of questions upon starting this blog, yet it seems like I have provided very little answer. Next week, I will be speaking to Chico State's Director of Public Affairs, Joe Wills. Hopefully, he will be able to clear up some of the issues that readers of this blog most certainly have, in regards to the sexual crimes audit.