- Penn Violence Prevention works to engage
the entire Penn Community on addressing issues
of sexual violence, relationship violence, and stalking.
The Penn Violence Prevention Website was created
as a place where students could go and find all
of the information about what the support resources are,
what the student groups are, what the policies
and the procedures are, and we wanted that to be
in one centralized place so that
it could be easily accessible for students
who are trying to figure out what role they wanna play
in prevention or where they wanna go for support.
It's important to us to make sure that students
are being exposed to these issues
and getting the resources around them
as soon as they get to campus,
and in some cases even before they get to campus.
- We're here to help educate you about these issues
and introduce you to the university policies and resources
in place to help keep our community safe.
- This year, all incoming students received
an online module that addressed sexual violence,
relationship violence, and stalking.
- Stalking can be repeatedly following
or spying on someone.
- Spreading rumors about someone.
- Sending unwanted emails, texts, Facebook messages.
- Leaving unwanted gifts.
- And they also attend a performance-based program
called "Speak About It."
That does a program about consent,
about healthy relationships, about boundaries.
That really engages students in thinking
about the role they play.
- Hey UPENN! What's up?
We're Speak About It and we're super pumped
to be here.
- Woo!
- Whoa, wait, guys! You out of here already?
- Yeah, I think we're gonna go head out.
- Here are a few suggestions for intervening
without being a total buzzkill.
- Oh my god, Kayla, I really have to pee! Come here!
- We're really excited to have
the "It's On Us" Penn campaign,
which is sort of our version of the national
White House "It's On Us" campaign.
- And together, we can change our culture
for the better by ending violence against women
and girls.
- It's on us to stop sexual assault.
- All of us.
- [Together] To stop sexual assault.
- "It's On Us" Penn, which is a series of posters
that are making students aware of the resources
but also giving examples of how
to become an active bystander.
Trying to show them ways that they can,
as a part of the Penn community,
be part of the solution.
Students are most likely to talk to a friend
or a peer so this year I really wanted to focus it
on RAs and GAs and think about
how can we better prepare them
to support students, to have a response
that's gonna be really helpful and empathetic
and informed.
- Don't just assume that everybody
who's experienced sexual violence, relationship violence
is going to need the same thing.
The healing process can look very different
for different people and we can't just think
that we know what's best for them.
It's about empowering them to figure out
what do they need to feel supported and to heal.
- We offer a lot of opportunities for students
to get engaged around these issues
and to get educated on these issues.
- Okay, please take care of this person.
I think this is convenient because there are friends there,
but in the event that there aren't friends
and you are just on a date or you just went out
with your boyfriend.
That's the only person whom others
would feel comfortable and yeah, go home.
- We have a new student group that's starting this year
called PAVE, the Penn Anti-Violence Educators,
which are a group of peer educators
who are gonna be doing workshops
about bystander intervention.
- We specifically use this term "active bystander"
to sort of define it as simply as possible
to think of an "active bystander,"
so we have that person who's witnessing,
who's seeing, but they're also doing something.
They're responding to what they see.
- It's stepping back and getting them to recognize
the role they play in their everyday lives.
- As a PAVE student, we're really focused on
just looking out for one another and creating
a campus culture where we can support each other
and look out for each other and hold each other accountable.
- It's amazing how just a concerned question
can make a huge difference.
A lot of prevention is not so much
swooping in and saving the day,
but just being present for another person
and giving them an outlet if they need help.
- We're really trying to highlight how many resources
there are that are available to students
and the fact that students can utilize the ones
that they feel the most comfortable with.
There are a number of resources at Penn
who work really closely together
to support students.
That includes Special Services
in the Division of Public Safety,
the Penn Women's Center,
Student Intervention Services in VPUL,
Student Health Service.
Counseling and Psychological Services has a team
called the STTOP team,
Sexual Trauma, Treatment, Outreach, and Prevention.
The STTOP team is a team of trained professionals
who are available to work specifically with students
who have experienced sexual violence,
relationship violence, and stalking,
which makes it easier for us to make
a direct referral and often make students
feel more comfortable to go directly to CAPS,
which is a confidential space.
Beyond all of our education and prevention work,
at the core of this is really supporting our students
and making sure that students feel like they have
safe and comfortable spaces that they can go to
if they experience sexual violence,
relationship violence, or stalking.
Whether it be coming to me or going
to Counseling and Psychological Services
or the Penn Women's Center,
we wanna make sure that those are spaces
that are designed to be welcoming to students
and to make them feel empowered and supported
no matter what their experience is.