My proposal is
inspired by the #MeToo Movement. With my proposition, I am trying to bring
awareness to sexual assault victims. Many men and woman fear of judgment, so
that they end up not sharing their personal stories because of shame. They fear
of being blamed by society yet they mostly blame themselves anyway, causing
further mental disturbances such as, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and
Depression etc.
Bringing public awareness to sexual abuse can positively reinforce victims of sexual abuse to speak up about their assaults. For many decades sexual assault was a non-spoken topic. In recent months, due to the incidents in Hollywood, sexual assault became a more outspoken topic to the extend where every incident with different degrees of severity is being published and spoken about. The whole incident in Hollywood caused a positive “#MeToo” movement among sexually assaulted women and even men. The movement encouraged sexually assaulted individuals to speak and stand up against sexual abuse. The idea for the hashtag started with singer/actress Alyssa Milano, as a means of addressing the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in America. The celebrity posted on Twitter, asking people who had experienced sexual violence to reply “me too” to her tweet. Even though, many people see it as an attention seeking opportunity, many assaulted women if in the public eye or not, are brave enough to talk about their incidents. They learned to speak up without the fear of social shame and judgment. Young adults such as college students should be more informed on sexual assault and the negative psychological impacts and risk factors.
The proposal I suggest, is to have a mandatory workshop once a semester in high schools and on college campuses. Those mandatory meetings bring awareness to sexual abuse and the risks associated with it. During those workshops, statistics are being introduced, support groups are being created, and help is being offered - either publicly or individually in confidentiality. My proposal should be held in educational environments either in a large conference room or a gym that can fit the majority of students. Workshops should be divided into freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior standings. There should be a mandatory meeting for every student and an informative meeting open to the public. The reason for my proposal is to bring awareness to sexual harassment and abuse by bringing together survivors of sexual violence. Survivors can share their personal stories and encourage others to speak up and inspire victims to come forward. Also, those meetings can inform non-victims and how to be safe. In order to create a movement, everyone - if survivors of sexual assault or not, should come together in fighting a battle that should have been fought a long time ago. Well-known guest speakers will be invited and asked to speak during mandatory meetings. A public figure will help attract the majority of students and get them involved. During the semester meetings an informative documentary (The Hunting Ground, 2015) on college campus rape will be presented to students. This documentary provides detailed statistics on U.S. college campus rape. Many universities try to hide the fact that sexual assault and rape is occurring on their campuses. Even though, police reports are being filed many reports lead nowhere. Universities have to be well aware of the incidents occurring on campuses and provide classes and support to students of sexual assault.
My proposal is to bring awareness here on campus by starting a support group for sexually
assaulted students. Hopefully with further developments, monthly and/or even
weekly meetings can take place on campus. In order to get the attention of survivors, my idea is to create a large invitation poster by using "disturbing" photos by representing today's rape culture. A young student named Yana Mazurkevich created a series of photos called "It Happens" in order to point out that sexual assault can happen anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. I will use her pictures in order to get students attention for my invitation for a sexual assault group. Sadly, upsetting and disturbing pictures can attract the attention of others. I will use that to my advantage, in order to get students involved in the sexual assault support group on campus.
Bringing public awareness to sexual abuse can positively reinforce victims of sexual abuse to speak up about their assaults. For many decades sexual assault was a non-spoken topic. In recent months, due to the incidents in Hollywood, sexual assault became a more outspoken topic to the extend where every incident with different degrees of severity is being published and spoken about. The whole incident in Hollywood caused a positive “#MeToo” movement among sexually assaulted women and even men. The movement encouraged sexually assaulted individuals to speak and stand up against sexual abuse. The idea for the hashtag started with singer/actress Alyssa Milano, as a means of addressing the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in America. The celebrity posted on Twitter, asking people who had experienced sexual violence to reply “me too” to her tweet. Even though, many people see it as an attention seeking opportunity, many assaulted women if in the public eye or not, are brave enough to talk about their incidents. They learned to speak up without the fear of social shame and judgment. Young adults such as college students should be more informed on sexual assault and the negative psychological impacts and risk factors.
The proposal I suggest, is to have a mandatory workshop once a semester in high schools and on college campuses. Those mandatory meetings bring awareness to sexual abuse and the risks associated with it. During those workshops, statistics are being introduced, support groups are being created, and help is being offered - either publicly or individually in confidentiality. My proposal should be held in educational environments either in a large conference room or a gym that can fit the majority of students. Workshops should be divided into freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior standings. There should be a mandatory meeting for every student and an informative meeting open to the public. The reason for my proposal is to bring awareness to sexual harassment and abuse by bringing together survivors of sexual violence. Survivors can share their personal stories and encourage others to speak up and inspire victims to come forward. Also, those meetings can inform non-victims and how to be safe. In order to create a movement, everyone - if survivors of sexual assault or not, should come together in fighting a battle that should have been fought a long time ago. Well-known guest speakers will be invited and asked to speak during mandatory meetings. A public figure will help attract the majority of students and get them involved. During the semester meetings an informative documentary (The Hunting Ground, 2015) on college campus rape will be presented to students. This documentary provides detailed statistics on U.S. college campus rape. Many universities try to hide the fact that sexual assault and rape is occurring on their campuses. Even though, police reports are being filed many reports lead nowhere. Universities have to be well aware of the incidents occurring on campuses and provide classes and support to students of sexual assault.
The “#MeToo”
movement has created a wave of awareness. This movement inspired many sexually
assaulted individuals to stand up and speak out against sexual harassment and
violence. This movement has also inspired me in creating my proposal. The
movement rose to a prominence as a social media campaign and ended up being a
social change. This movement inspired men and women in 83 different countries
to speak out. That is what I hope for my proposal. Individuals will learn how
and where to find help on and off campus to cope with their distress. Most
importantly is that they know that they are not alone. Publicly speaking and
creating outspoken support groups and lectures in learning facilities for sexually
assaulted women can strengthen people self-esteem and avoid the chances of
self-blame and lower the distressing symptoms of PTSD. Young women can learn
how to overcome triggers of Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorders, they can learn how
to avoid self-blame and how to prevent maladaptive coping-strategies, in order
to lower the risks and links associated with sexual assault. All in all, it is
important to promote and bring awareness to childhood sexual abuse, adult
sexual abuse and the risk factors associated with traumatic events such as
revictimization. As mentioned before, a small social media wave can lead to a
social change and that is what I hope my proposal will lead to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBNHGi36nlM
http://www.ufunk.net/en/photos/it-happens/
http://thehuntinggroundfilm.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunting_Ground
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0886260506286879
https://metoomvmt.org/
https://www.njcu.edu/counseling-center/additional-resources/sexual-assault-and-abuse
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