USU wraps up Sexual Assault Awareness week
Sexual Assault Awareness Week at Utah State University was filled with personal stories of survival, support from students and faculty and education over the radio and through media outlets.
Felicia Gallegos, the outreach and prevention coordinator for Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information office works to prevent sexual assault on campus.
Sexual Assault Awareness Week is important to Gallegos and the university because it gives them an opportunity to support survivors and to show them there are people on campus who have been through similar situations and where they can get help.
“It is showing support but it’s also showing them that they are not alone” said Gallegos.
Through the many events, students are able to show their support to survivors of sexual assault and violence. The Heroes not Victims panel held Tuesday night featured four survivors who told their stories. Due to the nature of the subject and to protect their privacy, The Utah Statesman has chosen not to name the survivors who spoke.
Each of the four members were asked filtered questions through twitter from the audience. When asked how they have become stronger from their experiences, they respond with their own testimonials.
“Stay with what you dream of doing and what you want to become and keep pushing for that. That’s how I have fought my way through this. I have grown from the absolutely worst experience of my life to where I am today and I am excited about my life right now” said one of the Survivors.
Another said “I would never take back the experience because of what I have gained. I pushed myself and said watch me turn this into something good and that’s been my goal.”
Gallegos said the Heroes not Victim panel is her favorite event of the week.
“It’s very powerful and it’s very powerful for those in the audience to see other survivors up there and to see that they have healed and that they are stronger. I thinks it’s very empowering.” said Gallegos.
Catie Giraldes, a peer educator for SAAVI said “the victim panel shows three really important things to our community. It shows that we support survivors, it shows survivors resources and it connects them to other survivors, and it gets this conversation started about sexual assault and how it impacts everyone so I think this is one of the most important thing our campus needs.”
A survivor from the panel said, “I wanted to be on this panel because I’m very passionate about educating people, because I think if I knew more about it and how common it was, my recovery process would have been a lot easier.”
The survivors were able to give their final thoughts at the end of the panel by responding to the question of how it gets better.
One said, “I think it gets better by you putting energy into your life now rather than putting energy into dwelling. By focusing on what you’re doing on a daily basis, or trying new things are the things that you should be focusing on in order to feel complete and whole again.”
Another said “ It can happen to anyone no matter what. It’s not your fault.”
Three out of the four survivors are peer educators for SAAVI. One shared that they think of it as paying it forward to fellow victims. Another shared that a big reason why they did the panel was because they want to help other people and that they are not doing this for themselves.
A survivor on the panel said, “I am a peer educator for SAAVI and so I’ve been working to prevent sexual violence on campus for the past year and it’s become such a great passion of mine.”
Gallegos ended the panel by thanking the audience who came to show support to the four survivors. She also encouraged the audience not to turn a blind eye to the campaigns on campus and to be a supporter of sexual assault awareness.
Wednesday was the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes”. The event was held in the Taggart Student Center. Men were encouraged to come and participate to show their support to victims of sexual violence by wearing high heels throughout campus.
Tipa Galeai, a Utah State Football Player said “this is part of our teams core values, you know we always have to treat women with respect. We’re here to stand alongside the women and help raise their case.”
Galeai also said that he chose his sign “End Rape Culture” because he wants to show that he supports the movement against sexual assault and violence.
“Hearing stories, it hurts. It’s never a fun deal. So that’s why I’m here along with my teammates. Respecting them is step one to heading in a more clear path to stay out of trouble” said Galeai.
Another participant of the event and also a member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, Quinn Doederlein said, “I did it last year and it’s a really cool experience and it shows that the university actually cares and that they actually host and event that we can all come to.”
When asked about if the awareness is getting better on campus Gallegos said, “Oh yeah definitely. I’ve been working for SAAVI for three years now and just in the time I have been here the awareness and conversation that are happening, there’s just an increase in all of it.”
She said she is grateful to be apart of Utah State who has jumped on board and responded to sexual assault.
Gallegos said, “I think it takes all of us at Utah State to create a culture that is safe for survivors, and I think we all need to actively do our part.”
Utah State University continues to be an advocate for survivors on campus. Awareness is raised through events like these and according to one of the survivors in the panel, talking is the biggest thing and loving each other and being kind and assuming good things out of everyone is the best advice she can give.