While Georgia Tech has dedicated experts committed to preventing sexual violence, we all share a responsibility in preventing these reprehensible acts of violence. Most sexual assaults don’t go reported on college campuses. National statistics indicate that one out of every four college-aged women has been the victim of sexual violence, and we know that men are victimized as well.

As Georgia Tech works to prevent sexual violence on campus through trainings, policy implementation and a campus-wide task force, I encourage all of you to take an active role in becoming educated about how you can help prevent sexual violence as well as how best to support a victim.

To help Tech’s faculty and staff understand the issue of sexual violence and how they can support a victim in need, the VOICE program, which is a collaborative initiative led by the Women’s Resource Center and Health Promotion, has recently developed and distributed more than 5,000 Faculty and Staff Sexual Violence Response Guides.

Please take the time to review the information in the folder as well as the following Q&A with Colleen Riggle, assistant dean and director of the Women’s Resource Center. By educating ourselves about the resources available to the campus community, we all can stand up and help put an end to sexual violence.

Best Regards,

Bill Schafer
Vice President for Student Affairs

Q: What is VOICE?

A: VOICE is a collaborative anti-violence initiative between the Women’s Resource Center and the Office of Health Promotion. VOICE was established in 2002 as part of a Violence Against Women Act Grant. Its mission is to address the issues of sexual violence on campus through advocacy, education and community outreach. While the acronym, or letters, may not stand for anything specifically, think of it as a venue to speak your voice against sexual violence.

The Voice Peer Educators, which are Tech students, recently launched the campaign “I Refuse to Stand By” to help build awareness of sexual violence on campus. They collected 765 pledges of support to end sexual violence on campus. This student to student approach is a very effective way to communicate our message to students.

Q. How else do you reach students and other campus constituents?

A. There are many VOICE outreach initiatives on campus. One is the Sexual Violence Taskforce which has been in existence since 1995. This team consists of representatives from Housing, Athletics, Student Integrity, Greek Affairs, and Women’s Resource Center.

We also offer training to staff, faculty and students. Our regular training offerings consist of Ally, Safe Sister, Fraternity Men, Bystander Intervention, and Advocate training, and these are conducted every semester. There is an Advocate training session coming up later this month that staff are encouraged to attend. In addition, we develop custom training that can be tailored to address specific departmental needs.

Q. VOICE recently produced the Faculty and Staff Sexual Violence Response Guide. What is the intent behind this piece?

A. These informative folders are intended to get basic “mission critical” information on sexual violence to faculty and staff at Tech – the ones who come in contact with students on a daily basis. It is important that they know how to support a victim as well as how to file a report which they are obliged to do if they become aware of an act of violence.

Q. In addition to continuous education on sexual violence, what other initiatives does VOICE conduct?

A. We are always looking at policies on campus because they need to actively reflect the changing needs of our students. Last month we began reviewing the Georgia Tech Sexual Misconduct Policy. One of the areas we would like to address is how students are able to report sexual violence. We believe there is an opportunity to evolve this process.

Another initiative that VOICE is proud of is the programming focused on healthy relationships. Beginning last year, we have started conducting classes geared toward teaching students about healthy intimacy and what that looks like. Not everyone has had good experiences with relationships and it is critical that they get that needed information.

 

For more information on VOICE including how you can get involved, visit www.voice.gatech.edu.