The Student Union Senate allocated $1,000 last night to the Mentors in Violence Protection program, a program designed to educate Boston University students of the warning signs of sexual assault and how to respond to violent situations.
“MVP trains groups of men and women to respond when they are bystanders to a situation that they think is potentially dangerous in terms of a potential rape,” said program organizer and School of Education senior Patrick Donovan, who is also the Union’s vice president of safety services. “Training will involve education around the issue, in terms of how widespread the problems of sexual violence and violence against women are.”
Donovan said MVP training produces people who can identify potential violent acts thus reducing the risks posed to those involved.
“If someone trained is at a party, and they see a guy clearly getting a girl plastered, trying to isolate her, MVP shows them what they can do to de-escalate the situation,” he said.
The uniqueness of this program, Donovan said, is the continued learning process of its participants. After the initial group of 28 is trained, they can return to their respective groups of students in government, residences or friends and pass on their training.
“BU has always had a problem of getting its students involved in what its doing,” Donovan said. “Whether it’s educating the students about sexual assaults, reaching the students is something that the administration and student groups struggle with. The strength with MVP is that MVP reaches a wider-range of people and it reaches them in-depth.”
Donovan said if the initial trained group is diverse enough, eventually the whole campus will be MVP trained.
“What we try to do is get a cross-section of students from resident groups from student groups from fraternities, so that the next 700 to 900 who are trained will represent a wide range of people at BU,” he said. “Even if people don’t experience it themselves, they will know people who have been through it and who know about it.”
Although Donovan did recognize already existing groups such as the Pen Players — a Wellness Center group which dramatizes violence — he said the difference with MVP is the accessibility of those trained. Once the initial group trains others, it is possible for every student to know someone who can help.
Donovan said MVP doesn’t place blame on men or women, making the program more beneficial.
“Some programs that deal with rage and violence against women make men very defensive,” he said. “And men turn off cause they say, ‘I’m not a rapist. This isn’t me. I don’t have to listen to this.’ MVP shows men something productive they can do.”
Since the program also doesn’t make women feel they will be victims, Donovan said, women are more prone to help others.
Training begins this Friday and Saturday, and continues next weekend. Currently, there are 25 vacancies for students who want to be trained.
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