In its first month on campus, the Boston University Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Center has offered training and education as well as help for students, officials said.
“I think at this point, since we’ve basically been open a month, a lot of the impact is on the individual students that have come here,” said SARP Director Maureen Mahoney.
In 2011, the Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism and other members of the BU community proposed a center for sexual assault victims. SARP was officially announced in May after a number of instances of alleged sexual assault and hazing at BU.
Mahoney said the center is tackling sexual assault in two ways, response and prevention, as denoted by its name.
In response to incidence of sexual assault, SARP is able to provide counseling and support for victims and families of victims as well as medical advocacy on the students’ behalf, according to SARP’s website.
“The mission of the SARP is to provide confidential care, support and advocacy for victims of sexual assault, while simultaneously promoting awareness and prevention programs on campus,” the website stated.
The center is located at 930 Commonwealth Ave.
Mahoney said an important part of prevention is community building. SARP members have focused on training residence assistants in what they do and making more students aware of the center.
About 1,000 students have been trained in bystander intervention, Mahoney said. The training involves a two-hour program designed to teach people how to prevent gender-based violence.
“The bystander intervention program does a lot towards community building, towards giving people permission to intervene in a situation that seems maybe a little sketchy or downright dangerous,” she said. “We began putting the wheels in motion the summer of 2011.”
Mahoney said she urges students to remember that services provided by SARP are free and information is kept confidential. On nights and weekends, callers have the option of leaving a non-urgent message or being transferred directly to the Crisis Intervention Counselor on call.
Chelsea Schwalm, a College of Arts and Sciences junior minoring in women’s, gender and sexuality studies, said education is key to preventing sexual violence.
“SARP is something that’s necessary, and it’s really important to have those resources there for people who do experience sexual assault or other types of violence, but the issue is much larger than that,” she said. “It’s about the rape culture that exists at BU and beyond that, which is sort of a societal type of thing.”
Schwalm, who also serves as the health resources coordinator for CGSA, said SARP is attempting to combat issues in culture.
Mahoney said she hopes to gain community support for a number of other sexual-assault prevention and education groups.
“There’s a list of prevention initiatives on the website that I’m hoping CGSA and other student organizations and individual students will become involved with,” Mahoney said.
SARP is also co-teaching a first-year studies class in CAS with CGSA. The course focuses on many aspects of the BU community, Mahoney said.
Students said while they have not used the center, they are happy the center exists as a resource.
“It definitely seems beneficial and a good source for girls or whoever has been sexually assaulted to reach out to,” said Kim Kaelin, a CAS freshman.
College of Communication graduate student Emily True said she was surprised the center was only just established, but is happy that it was.
“Especially in a college environment where alcohol is so prevalent and friendship lines get really blurred, I think it’s really important for men and women, women especially, to feel like there are places and sources available for them to turn to,” she said.
Sarah Donovan, a CAS junior, said that the center is beneficial but not known enough by students.
“Certain individuals, like leaders of student groups like FYSOP staff, definitely know [the center] exists because as part of your training you’re told that it is there, and that students can use it as a resource,” she said,” but I haven’t seen it advertised to students in the general population.”
Mahoney said SARP is always available to students who have experienced trauma.
“A big part of our advocacy is helping students that have experienced a trauma be able to live in a safe place, be able to feel safe going to their classes, be able to feel safe rebuilding a part of the community,” she said. “We are available 24 hours a day.”
