Red Halloween
“Thank you for calling CAPSA, this is Cassidy. How may I help you today?”
With October comes not only Halloween, but also Domestic Violence Awareness month, giving students the opportunity to become more informed about how serious domestic abuse is in Cache Valley.
Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse, or CAPSA, knows how serious it is. In the state of Utah, there are 14 different domestic violence nonprofit shelters. CAPSA, here in Cache Valley, is one of two in the state that shelters men, as well as women.
Halloween is seen as a potential time for a rise in sexual harassment due to the nature of the holiday. However, there is not much to support the claim.
“It’s really difficult to say when is our busiest time of year, because we just had the red zone which is an actual time from August through November, when students go home for Thanksgiving, when students are at highest risk for being sexually assaulted,” Erazo said.
There are times that sexual assault reports increase, but if there was one reason for it, it could more easily be stopped, Boyd said.
However, USU plans on maintaining as much safety as possible for one of the biggest events of the year, the Howl, which will take place the night of Oct. 24.
“We have 6,000 tickets that are available, tickets went on sale last Tuesday and we have been averaging 500 ticket sales everyday,” said Madison Maners from the USU student association.
USU has already hired 35 on-campus police to cover the event, plus 181 volunteers and student body officers to help keep the event organized.
“We want to have some signage up that says costume is not consent … we think that signage like that can serve as an extra reminder to students and people who are coming to campus,” Maners said.
From July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015 CAPSA received 3,532 crisis calls from individuals seeking escape from abuse.
CAPSA’s hotline ensures that a mobile crisis team advocate is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
“The first thing I will ask is ‘Are you safe at the moment?’ If they say no, I will tell them to call 911 and to call back when they are in a safe situation,” said Cassidy, a CAPSA volunteer, who didn’t want her last name disclosed.
CAPSA provides shelter, as well as support groups and services for those in dangerous and abusive situations.
“Our goal is to provide support services to individuals who have been impacted by domestic violence and sexual assault,” said James Boyd, Communications Director for CAPSA.
Within the last year, CAPSA has seen 481 clients and sheltered 288 individuals here in Cache Valley. Of those sheltered, 156 were children.
“To qualify for shelter means you are running for your life; this is not just anyone who needs a place to sleep. It’s you’re fleeing for your life and have no where else safe to go, and we will shelter you,” Boyd said.
Utah is, among sexual assault and domestic violence, one of the states with the highest numbers in the country. Nationally, one in four women will experience some form of these things some time in their life; in Utah, according to the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, it is one in three women, Boyd said.
Additionally, according to the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, one in seven men will experience stalking, domestic violence or sexual assault in their lifetime.
“I wish I knew why. I’ve looked too and of all the other crimes reported we fall two or three times below [the national average]. But when it comes to sexual assault we fall higher than the national average,” said Jenny Erazo, director of the SAAVI department at Utah State University.
SAAVI stands for Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information. It has been USU’s personal student center against sexual violence for the past 11 years.
“My mission is to put myself out of a job, to create a campus where people are safe. To educate people. I am really looking to get a culture shift on campus where people are looking out for each other and helping each other,” Erazo said.
Erazo has been with the SAAVI department for the past three years.
“Each year since I’ve been here I’ve seen an increase of students coming into the office,” Erazo said.
She believes the increase of students is not increasing sexual harassment over the years, but believes instead that more students are becoming better informed with the services they have available to them.
“Because there is a higher rate here in Utah, we are dealing with it everyday. Often the ones we deal with are months after [the assault or harassment],” Boyd said.
No matter the time of year, domestic abuse and sexual assault still happen. Information is key to helping prevent it.
“Our services are free and confidential, and we don’t judge. So come in speak to someone, we are the experts. We know what resources you have, what avenues you have, we can help you. Our goal is to empower you to make decisions you want to make,” Boyd said.
For more information about CAPSA, visit capsa.org/en. For more information about SAAVI, visit usu.edu/saavi or email saaviinfo@aggiemail.usu.edu.
—saraalbertson13@gmail.com