WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Music 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:08.000 My name is Jaime Silva and I'm the director of Student Health and Counseling Center. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.000 I would like to share with you some information on how to be supportive and helpful 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 to a student who has come to you with a report of sexual assault. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.000 A student who comes to you with a report of sexual assault 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.000 may exhibit signs of anger, signs of 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000 disbelief, hysteria, and a host of 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:32.000 other emotions. Or they may present as calm or indifferent. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000 Each person deals with traumas in their own manner. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.000 So one of the most important things that we can do 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000 at this point is to listen. We want to be supportive and 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000 affirm what they are telling us. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000 This is not a time to ask questions using the word 'why'. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.000 The reason for that is because when you use the word 'why", 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:60.000 in a question, it automatically puts the person on the defensive. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.000 Questions such as 'why did you go to that party'? Why did you drink? 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000 Why weren't you doing your homework? Those kinds of questions are automatically 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 going to put the person in a defensive mode and they are going to not 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.000 feel so supported, right? So it's best if you're going 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.000 to gather information from them, ask questions using 'what 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.000 or 'where'. Where did you go? What did you do? What happened next? 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.000 Those kinds of questions are nonjudgemental and they're more 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.000 of a curious nature. So you want to keep it curious and nonjudgemental. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.000 That way the person will feel heard and they will feel affirmed. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:40.000 Also telling them statements like 'I believe you. You did not 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.000 deserve that. It's not your fault. Those kinds of affirming statements 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.000 can be very helpful and supportive to the student. We also 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.000 want to help the survivor access resources that are 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.000 available to them. One great resource that we have here on campus is 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:60.000 the Student Health and Counseling Center. The mission of the Student Health 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.000 and Counseling Center is to facilitate the health and wellbeing of the students of 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.000 Western Oregon University. And we do that by providing quality and affordable medical 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.000 care, mental care, and health, wellness, and prevention education. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 So if a student has gone through this traumatic event 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.000 of a sexual assault, we encourage them to come to the 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.000 Student Health and Counseling Center to address any medical issues that may 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.000 be needed. We have medical doctors. We have nurse practitioners 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.000 and other medical staff that can help treat 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.000 any medical injuries that may have occurred. We also have 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 counselors who can provide confidential counseling and mental health 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.000 services to the student. There's also another resource 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.000 here on campus called Abby's House. The mission of Abby's House is to 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.000 provide students of Western Oregon University with educational programming, 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.000 information, and referral services. Abby's House has volunteer 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:60.000 advocates who go through an intensive training on resources, referrals, 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.000 and how to handle crisis situations. They can help the survivors 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:08.000 with information and support. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.000 There's also a resource called Sable House. Sable House 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.000 is in Polk County. The mission of Sable House is to increase 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.000 the safety of domestic and sexual violence victims in Polk County. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.000 Services include crisis intervention, 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.000 community education, they also have a twenty-four hour crisis hotline. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 They have in-person sexual assault response. They have a 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:36.000 twenty-four hour emergency shelter. They also provide support groups, 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.000 legal advocacy, and information and referral. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.000 There's another resource available to students, survivors of sexual violence 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.000 and this resource is in Salem. It's called the Center for Hope 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:52.000 and Safety. They offer a safe refuge and support to women and children 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:56.000 who survived domestic and sexual violence. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:60.000 They also have a twenty-four hour crisis hotline. They have 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.000 an emergency shelter and support groups. They also have 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:08.000 hospital advocacy and case management services and outreach 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:12.000 services for survivors of these traumatic 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.000 events. It's also important to support our students 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.000 and to give them information on how to formally report 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.000 this sexual assault. On campus 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:28.000 there are two places where they can go to report a sexual 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.000 assault. The first is Campus Public Safety. There they can talk to 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.000 Campus Public Safety officers and report the information. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.000 Or they can go to the Office of Student Conduct and report 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.000 this information to the Dean of Students. If they are off campus, 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.000 and they wish to formally report this traumatic 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.000 event, they can go to the local law enforcement. Here 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.000 in Monmouth, they can go to the Monmouth Police Department or if they're in Independence 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:60.000 they can go to the Independence Police Department or in Salem, the Salem Police Department, 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.000 et cetera. If they log on to the Western Oregon 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.000 University website, they can go to the webpage for the Division 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:12.000 of Student Affairs and there they will find 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.000 the link to the sexual assault and relationship violence anonymous 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.000 report form. They can fill out this report 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.000 and this report will go directly to the Vice President for Student Affairs. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.000 I would also like to talk to you about the word 'crisis'. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:32.000 The reason I want to emphasize this is because at the Student Health and Counseling 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:36.000 Center, we have a system, a crisis system, that is able to 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.000 provide confidential counseling and support to students who come in 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.000 in a crisis situation. As soon as the receptionist hears 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:48.000 the word crisis, she will notify the appropriate person 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.000 so that we can rearrange schedules or find a slot, 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:56.000 a crisis slot so this person can be attended to immediately. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:60.000 As I mentioned earlier, we have medical staff available to help 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.000 the student if there are any medical issues, but we also have 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.000 mental health staff. We have six professional counselors. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.000 We have three masters level student interns. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.000 And we are there to help students through these difficult situations. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.000 The information shared at the Student Health and Counseling Center 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:24.000 can be kept confidential. If the student reports a sexual 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.000 assault to anyone else on campus, that has to be reported 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:32.000 because employees of Western Oregon University are mandatory 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:36.000 reporters. If the student chooses or wishes 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.000 that information to be kept confidential, they can come to the Student Health 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:44.000 and Counseling Center and there they can talk to a medical professional and a 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 mental health professional and this information, if they do not want it 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.000 released, will not be released. We will talk to them about their options 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:56.000 and we will give them the guidance and 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:60.000 information that they need so that they can make an informed decision. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.000 We want them to be in control of their situation. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.000 So we at Western Oregon University are here for students. We want to 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:12.000 help them in any event and we want them to succeed. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:16.000 Music 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.000 Music