Want to effectively address gender-based violence on your campus? Avoid these three common mistakes. 

Over the past two decades I’ve had the honor of working with colleges and universities all over the country. Every school has unique strengths and challenges. In my work, I am struck by how often I see universities struggle with the same three pitfalls. 

1. Advocate island: Over the past decade, more universities have created positions to address sexual and domestic violence through confidential advocacy. These positions may have been created due to external pressures (community demand) or mandates (like the incredible legislative advocacy of the Every Voice Coalition in Massachusetts).  However the position came to be created, having a confidential resource on campus can be transformative for the campus culture and even life-saving for students who have experienced sexual or domestic violence. But simply creating a position isn’t enough. Too often these positions are created to be one person departments and do not share confidentiality with other colleagues. If that staff member becomes ill or needs to take time off, there aren’t structures to continuously offer confidential support and advocacy services. This often leads to burnout and “revolving door” positions. This is not a failure of the advocate but rather of the system. We should not expect one person to be able to hold the trauma of so many students in isolation. It doesn’t serve the advocate and it doesn’t serve the community in the long-term. Advocates need to have a team of colleagues that can support their work and the survivors they serve. Rather than creating a system like spokes on a wheel where everyone funnels survivors to one person or office, we need to work to create safety net systems where all professional staff (including faculty) are trained to gain the skills and knowledge to be able to offer trauma-informed support when receiving a disclosure of gender-based violence.

2. Overdependence on a person rather than the position: Whether or not a university has a staff member dedicated to supporting survivors of gender-based violence, every campus has employees- both staff and faculty members- who become the de facto support system for many students and colleagues. It is often because of who they are (the way they relate to people, their identity, their caring demeanor) and not the position they hold that they gain the trust of so many and receive numerous disclosures from students and staff about all forms of trauma. While their job title may not sound like someone on the front lines, these employees are exposed to trauma in their work every day. Employees need and deserve to be recognized for the incredible resources they are, and given the ongoing training and support to ensure that they have what they need to be sustainable and avoid burnout. If you find yourself or others in leadership continuously saying, “I don’t know what we’d do without so and so,” make sure that everything possible is being done to ensure that this colleague knows they are valued and supported. 

3. One and Done Communication: If your university has launched a new initiative, created new offices or support resources, and/or rolled out a new prevention strategy, we cannot send one community-wide email and expect the community-especially the student body- to know about it. To enable our success, how we communicate these changes is just as- if not more so- important as what we are communicating. This is where having a safety net structure can be so beneficial. We can leverage our relationships with employees across divisions and student leaders to bring these messages to students in multiple formats and settings. Identify the employees and students who everyone knows and knows everyone. If you can recruit and engage them to bring this message to their colleagues and peers, you can deepen and expand your reach. We often need repeated dosage and exposure to information before it can become more fully integrated. If you find yourself frustrated by the lack of awareness of all that’s being done to prevent and respond to gender-based violence on your campus, we can help you evaluate and strengthen your communication strategy. 

If you are facing any of the challenges listed above, you are not alone. Check out our colleges and universities page to learn how we can partner together to create lasting and meaningful change on your campus.