As the Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA) Club here at University of Portland, we are so excited to announce that our Survivor Zine titled Reclaiming Power: Survivors’ Stories is now published! This zine is dedicated to amplifying the voices and stories of survivors of sexual violence here at UP, as well as experiences of dating violence, stalking and/or sexual harassment.
Zines have historically been used to give a voice and expression to marginalized communities and those without power. We chose to create and publish a zine of survivors’ stories in order to give a space for them to tell their stories and experiences while also making artistic creations. Art can be a very powerful outlet that gives survivors a unique space to reflect on their experiences, emotions, and heal in many ways.
Here is the link to the online version.
We will be handing out copies of the zine on Wednesday, Feb. 21 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Pilot House.
We wanted to expand on our Take Back the Stage event that we held last spring semester. This event was a twist on Take Back the Night. This is an annual event that SASA hosts where we provide a safe and welcoming space for survivors to tell their stories and metaphorically take back the night they were sexually assaulted and reclaim their voice. Often survivors are ignored, diminished and silenced. Take Back the Stage specifically invited people to express their stories and experiences through art of all types (physical art pieces, written stories or poems or performance art).
It can be really challenging to talk about difficult emotions and mental health issues that survivors of sexual violence often experience, such as depression, anxiety, fear, guilt, shame, confusion, etc. Art can be very healing for survivors because it provides them with an unique outlet to experience and express their innermost emotions that may be hard to express and feel in everyday life and situations or out loud. Art can allow survivors to process traumatic memories and work through them, which can contribute to the healing process.
Additionally, all these emotions that are often experienced by survivors of sexual violence can be extremely overwhelming, so it can be very helpful to write it all out or get them physically out of your body and mind by creating something. It provides an avenue for emotional release.
We chose the title Reclaiming Power: Survivors’ Stories because through submitting an artistic piece, we wanted those individuals to feel a sense of reclaiming their identity, their bodies, their lives and their power after experiencing sexual assault. It can even be hard to put a name or label to what someone has experienced, and that is OK. Each survivor’s story is different and everyone's healing journey is unique.
We wanted to publish this zine at University of Portland because, like many colleges and universities across the country, survivors are silenced and their stories and experiences are often dismissed. Rape culture is very prevalent in our society, which leads to the normalization of sexual assault. We wanted to provide survivors with a platform to have their voices and stories finally be heard, respected and taken seriously.
There are so many reasons and factors that prevent survivors from feeling comfortable coming forward with their experience of sexual assault, whether that involves making a report, telling a friend or family member or even just seeking advocacy and care afterwards, such as therapy or other support mechanisms. Some of those reasons include the fear of not being believed, the low likelihood of justice, fear of retaliation, coming to terms subconsciously about what happened and fear of the justice system or reporting process.
One of the main reasons why people don’t feel comfortable or safe coming forward is because of the shame and stigma that is associated with sexual assault. Again, there is fear of not being believed by your friends, family and the communities you belong to. This often stems from rape culture and victim blaming.
Victim blaming consists of blaming the person that was harmed rather than the person who caused that harm. This often looks like asking “what were they wearing,” “why/how much were they drinking,” “why were they talking to or flirting with that person,” etc. These statements and language can be extremely harmful to anyone who has experienced sexual violence. It does not matter what they were wearing, how much they were drinking or even if they were flirting: Sexual assault is never OK nor justified.
We need to start shifting our language and how we view sexual violence and those who have been impacted by it. This is why we wanted to provide individuals the option to submit something anonymously. The campus at UP is very small, which makes that fear of retaliation or being treated differently by your peers and being labeled a victim very real. Often, the perpetrator who harmed that person goes to UP as well and they often have to see them at school or social events. Allowing anonymous submissions provides survivors an opportunity to protect their anonymity and privacy. We also wanted to allow survivors to heal in their own unique ways by allowing them to still submit something anonymously if they felt more comfortable doing that.
We are very proud of this zine and we are so grateful to every single person that contributed something. These art pieces, stories, poems and more are so powerful and beautiful. We hope that when students read this zine, they can feel a sense of community with survivors of sexual assault at UP and know that they are not alone in their experiences.
We also want students to reflect on their own attitudes and behaviors around this issue, educate themselves and work to make any necessary changes to best support survivors and those impacted. At the end of the zine there is a list of resources at University of Portland, in the Portland metro-area and nationally for those who may be looking for support and resources. Please reach out to our executive board or Erin Currie (master’s level clinician & interpersonal violence prevention coordinator, SASA’s faculty advisor and a confidential advocate) if you would like help accessing any of these resources.
SASA holds monthly meetings that are welcome to anyone in the UP community. SASA meetings usually consist of self-care nights, educational events around the topics of consent, healthy relationships, dating apps and dating in general, contraceptives, displays related to sexual assault, rallies and demonstrations and meetings to talk about recent events related to sexual violence, gender inequity, etc. Our next meeting is a collaboration with the Pre-Law Club where we will have a panel of multiple guest speakers from various positions related to the legal field and sexual assault. This will be on Thursday, March 21 from 7 - 8 p.m. in the DB auditorium. Lastly, our Spring Week of Action will be held Monday, April 8 - Friday, April 12, and we will have events every single day of that week!
We believe you. We support you. We stand with you, always.
Sincerely,
Students Against Sexual Assault Club Executive Board.
Brooke Welter is the Co-President of SASA. She can be reached at welter24@up.edu.
Isabella Hull is the Co-President of SASA. She can be reached at hulli25@up.edu.
Alea Sonnon is the Secretary of SASA. She can be reached at sonnon24@up.edu.
Reese Baker is the Treasurer of SASA. She can be reached at bakerr25@up.edu.
Miriam Hamtil is the Social Media Coordinator of SASA. She can be reached at hamtil25@up.edu.
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