by Megan Brown, Student Reporter
While laughter rang from the auditorium during Monday night’s seminar, the topic of sexual violence is no joke.
In the United States, one in three women and one in six men will experience some type of sexual violence within their lifetimes, according to NSVRC.org.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University is looking to combat these statistics by educating students on types of violence and the resources that are available to students.
A Monday seminar covered mental and physical abuse, the titles and definitions of different types of offenses, and the legal actions that could be taken.
Steve Tanio, an investigator with the district attorney’s office, used a small amount of humor to lay out consent in a less serious manner. But this does not mean that receiving consent is not serious.
According to NWOSU, effective consent to participate in sexual activity is informed, freely and actively given, and mutually understood through words or actions.
Brandy Johnson, the school’s victim advocate, said: “If you have the capability to laugh about it, then you are, perhaps, one of the lucky ones who has never had to deal with it. Laughing about a subject as serious as sexual assault is sometimes even a coping mechanism for some people. It is called a chameleon effect. Like, if I can laugh about it, then it didn’t affect me.”
Taylor Wilson, the university’s director of counseling and career services, said she wanted to use the event as a way to make sure all students were aware of their resources.
NWOSU’s “1 is 2 many” campaign outlines the steps and resources a victim of a sexual crime has access to.
The university encourages students to first seek safety, preserve evidence and receive medical care before reporting a crime. While not all may feel comfortable reporting a crime committed against them, it is also encouraged that victims do disclose this information to someone in order to have a support system.
While NWOSU does have confidential resources for students to report to, it is important that students are aware that all NWOSU employees, excluding the counselor and victim’s advocate, are required by the Clery Act to report any sex-related crimes as soon as they are made aware of said crimes.
Confidential reporting options on NWOSU’s campus include the school counselor and the university’s victim advocate, both of whom are located on the second floor of Ryerson Hall.
Johnson is available by phone at any point in time for students to contact for assistance. The number for the 24-hour, confidential hotline is 1-888-256-1215.
Students and faculty should refer to the Title IX handbook for more details or contact the university’s Title IX representative, Calleb Mosburg.
For immediate help, NWOSU asks students to call the Alva Police Department for incidents that took place off campus at 580-327-2121 and the NWOSU Campus Police for incidents on campus at 580-327-8511.