‘You’re not alone’: SAAVI’s Love Letters to Sexual Assault Survivors
Utah State’s Sexual Assault and Violence Information program, SAAVI, has been providing an opportunity for Aggies to write love letters to survivors of sexual assault this month. For the past two Wednesdays, SAAVI has set up a booth on the first floor of the Taggart Student Center, outside of the campus store, where students can find blank cards to write their love letters.
Felicia Gallegos, SAAVI’s outreach and prevention coordinator, said she wanted “to give a means for people to be able to express their support and their encouragement to surivors.”
In addition to creating a means for the community to reach out to survivors, she wanted to create a means for survivors to feel that support.
“It can be really hard for survivors to feel like they’re supported or feel like they can speak out about what’s happened to them. Some individuals don’t even have the support of their friends or family,” Gallegos said. “I wanted to be able to give them something to show them that there are people out there that care and that are in your corner, even if they’re a complete stranger.”
Sydney Kraker, member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority, which is connected to supporting and raising awareness for survivors of domsestic violence and sexual assault, was one of the volunteers at the booth. Kraker spoke about the power of the letters for survivors.
“You’re in this time where you’re struggling and trying to get back on your feet with everything. It’s just like a little ray of sunshine to open at the end of the day,” said Kraker.
Gallegos said the event has been “super successful.” She bought 50 cards total for the month-long event, hoping they could fill them all as a goal. During their first Wednesday of doing the booth, almost all of the cards were used.
“It was just amazing to see. It’s so awesome to think of how many people came and were so willing too, not even knowing who was on the other side of the card that was gonna get it,” Kraker said.
SAAVI gives these letters to their clients, both those that have been coming and getting advocacy or therapy for a while and those who are new to the program. For those coming in for their first time, there is a letter of support for them following that initial intake session.
“We are an office that provides therapy and advocacy to help someone heal. When we first see somebody come in here, they’re often broken and they feel very alone and very scared,” said Gallegos. “After we’ve met with them and told them that we’re here for them, being able to give them a letter just to say, ‘Just so you also know, there are people out there- complete strangers- that care too and believe in you.’”
Before giving them to clients, Gallegos mentioned that they will read the letters to confirm there isn’t anything triggering for a survivor as well as to see if any letters are specifically written to female survivors.
In that process, Gallegos said, “We were all crying in our office, because they’re just really heartfelt and continuous words of ‘you’re not alone’ and ‘you can do this’ and ‘you’ll be stronger because of this.’”
“It impacted me way more than I thought it would,” said Gallegos. “People are pouring their hearts out in these love letters.”
Gallegos gave her own love letter to survivors: “I understand. I feel you. I know this is the hardest thing you’ve probably faced in your life. It’s really scary. It’s really lonely. But I want you to know that I know with absolute certainty that you are strong enough to get through this and you’re not alone. When you look back on this time and this healing journey, you’re going to be thankful that you went through it because it made you stronger than you ever would have been without it.”
SAAVI plans to continue the Love Letters to Survivors every year. Next Wednesday, SAAVI will open the booth from 11-1 as their final love letter event of the year.