Women’s Services and Gender Resources sponsored the “Mythbusters” panel in Frost Commons Tuesday, April 10, to discuss the truth and lies surrounding sexual violence.
Erin Crely of the Americore Victims Assistance Program (AVAP) at PSU coordinated the event in light of her Americore training. “I recently went through training for AVAP,” Crely commented. “The people on this panel helped me get through my training. They were my myth busters. As a recent college graduate, I began to think how many other students didn’t know about these issues.”
The panel consisted of advisors throughout the Plymouth community. Sean McDaniel of the Plymouth Police Department and Jennifer Frank of the PSU Police Department shared their views on the legal concerns of sexual violence, noting the frustrations and responsibilities of being a survivor.
Delilah Smith of the Women’s Services and Gender Resources, Gail Mears of the PSU Counseling and Human Relations Center, and an advocate from the outreach program, “Voices Against Violence,” discussed some of the mental and emotional issues that survivors face and offered advice on how students can avoid becoming a victim.
The myths included: The definition of rape as the act of a man forcibly have sex with a women, rape is a dramatization of reality, agreeing with intimacy equates to sexual consent, rape victims “ask for it,” and sexual assault is not possible without some type of consent. The panelists used their real life experiences to debunk any suggestions of validity in these statements.
Following the mythbusters sessions, Crely posed what questions she had left, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
The advocate from “Voices Against Violence” noted that there are 14 domestic and sexual violence agencies in New Hampshire and several support systems on and around the Plymouth campus. Sexual assault outreach and counseling centers are confidential, so no one should be afraid to talk about a situation they’re confused about.
As a final public service announcement from Detective McDaniel, he warned that to protect oneself, PSU students should watch out for each other. Most potential sexual assault cases that are “caught” before they happen turn out that way because a concerned individual was looking out for a friend.