SRVP Events

The following organizations are a few of many dedicated to supporting survivors of sexual violence every day:

• Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica (opens in new window)
  24-Hour Rape Hotline: 424-259-6000

• Peace Over Violence (opens in new window)
  24-Hour Rape & Battering Hotline: 301-392-8381

• The National Sexual Assault Online Hotline (RAINN) (opens in new window)
  24-Hour Hotline: 800-656-4673

• Center for Pacific Asian Family Hotline Website (opens in new window)
  888-339-3940

• National Domestic Violence Hotline (opens in new window)
  800-799-7233

• National Human Trafficking Hotline (opens in new window)
  888-373-7888 (TTY: 711) or text them at 233-733

• Suicide Prevention Hotline (opens in new window)
  800-273-8255

If you overhear what might be a domestic violence incident, call 911. You could save a life.

Did You Know?

• Statistically, you know several victims of domestic violence. It affects 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men.

• Over 3 million children every year are exposed to domestic violence.

• Children who are exposed to domestic violence are more likely to suffer long-term health problems.

• Domestic violence costs over $5.8 billion each year.

• Domestic violence knows no boundaries.

• Women ages 20–24 are at greater risk of becoming domestic violence victims.

Videos

• Afraid to Leave, Afraid to Stay. (opens in new window)

• Jackson Katz: Violence Against Women. It's a Men's Issue. (opens in new window)

• Leslie Morgan Steiner: Why Domestic Violence Victims Don't Leave. (opens in new window)

Resources

• Domestic Violence Hotline (opens in new window)
  • 24-hour hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
  • 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
  • Domestic Violence Awareness Month (opens in new window)
• Partners for Peace (opens in new window)
  • 24-hour helpline: 1-800-863-9909
  • 1-800-437-1220 (TTY)
• Community Resources Center (opens in new window)
  • 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-877-633-1112
• Center for the Pacific Asian Family (opens in new window)
• Santa Monica UCLA Rape Treatment Center (opens in new window)
• Peace Over Violence (opens in new window)
• LA LGBT Center
• Bienestar (opens in new window)
• National Network to End Domestic Violence (opens in new window)
• CA Victim Compensation Board Victim Resources
  • 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence. You probably know someone who could use help.
  • Over 60% of domestic violence crimes occur in the family home, but the effects don't stay at home
• Love is Respect: Is it abuse? Find domestic violence warning signs & call or text @loveisrespect for support at any time!

Our effort to eliminate sexual harassment, sexual assault, and domestic violence, has its roots in the justice and liberation movements of the mid-20th Century. Fundamentally, this kind of activism is about asserting the dignity of all people. The movements to address sexual violence such as the #Me Too movement, embodies the same spirit that lives in the fights for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ equity, racial justice, and so many more.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, and rape and sexual violence crisis centers and sexual assault and sexual violence programs adjust to new ways of meeting survivors’ needs, it has never been more important to evaluate work to end sexual violence, and recognize the connections to broader justice movements such as LGBTQ+ equity, racial equity, economic justice, health equity, immigrant justice that seek to create a society where the dignity of every person is valued and respected. 

These resources and tool kit created by ValorUS (opens in new window) (formally California Coalition Against Sexual Assault - CALCASA) reflect the connections  across movements. 

You can explore each of these areas below at your own pace:

• LGBTQ+ Equity and Justice (opens in new window)
• Racial Equity (opens in new window)
• Immigrant Justice (opens in new window)
• Health Equity (opens in new window)
• Disability Justice (opens in new window)
• Economic Justice (opens in new window)

Denim Day: Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Wear Denim!

Workshop: Wednesday, April 24, 2023

Art + Empowerment

Time: 4 – 6 p.m.

Location: SMC Art Department Complex (RM 118)

Join Art Therapist and SMC Alumni Saba Harouni alongside SMC’s Art department for an evening of food and art making. To commemorate Denim Day we invite you to explore your inner voice and healing strategies through embroidery in making and building art. Everyone participating will work on their own art pieces and can contribute to a larger dialogue as a group building a quilt of denim swatches. Denim, Materials, Food, Refreshments & More will be provided.  

For more information contact Emily Silver, Art faculty Silver_Emily@smc.edu 

If you need an accommodation due to a disability to participate, please contact the Center for Students with Disabilities at dsps@smc.edu or 310-434-4265 at least 5 business days prior to the event. 

Community Clothesline Project & Resource Fair, Thursday, April 14th
Time: 12 – 5 p.m.

Screen Printing, Ice Cream and More

Location: USC Village Great Lawn 3301 S Hoover St

Register for the Community Clothesline Project (opens in new window)

Consent Quiz (opens in new window)

Test your knowledge. If you are not sure of all the answer read the Consent Guide (opens in new window) .

April 24, 2024

Wear your jeans to take a stand against sexual violence. Join millions across the world as we wear denim on April 24 in observance of Denim Day.

Background

Italy, 1990s

An 18-year old girl is picked up by her married 45-year old driving instructor for her very first lesson. He takes her to an isolated road, pulls her out of the car, wrestles her out of one leg of her jeans and forcefully rapes her. Threatened with death if she tells anyone, he makes her drive the car home. Later that night she tells her parents, and they help and support her to press charges. The perpetrator is arrested and prosecuted. He is convicted of rape and sentenced to jail.

He appeals the sentence. The case makes it all the way to the Italian Supreme Court. Within a matter of days the case against the driving instructor is overturned, dismissed, and the perpetrator released. In a statement by the Chief Judge, he argued, “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex.”

Enraged by the verdict, within a matter of hours the women in the Italian Parliament launched into immediate action and protested by wearing jeans to work. This call to action motivated and emboldened the California Senate and Assembly to do the same, which in turn spread to Patricia Giggans, Executive Director of Peace Over Violence, and Denim Day in LA was born. The first Denim Day in LA was in April 1999, and has continued every year since.

Click on the images below to download a full sized image.

Workshop: April 25, 2024
Time: 11:15 a.m. to 12:35 p.m.
Location: Student Equity Center, Multi-purpose Room

Description: In this workshop we identify and understand our body’s reactions to trauma and stress as a sacred teaching; a love language. We will learn how herbs and herbal remedies can be practical tools to support you and your body through feelings of anxiety, depression, uneasiness, and stress as you navigate the world.

Presenter
Laura Hasbun is the Founder of Maracuya Botanicals LLC. She produces herbal wellness products and facilitates workshops designed to help uplift and guide people along their journey through life. Thanks to her grandmother's love for plants, Laura has always been surrounded by the healing power of plants and herbal remedies. Her work ranges from helping people manage physical pain, anxiety, healing from childhood and ancestral traumas, and much more. Her intention through Maracuya Botanicals, and as a survivor, is to support the health, healing, and connection between people and their bodies.

If you need an accommodation due to a disability to participate, please contact the Center for Students with Disabilities at dsps@smc.edu or 310-434-4265 at least 5 business days prior to the event.

Not offered in 2024.

Not offered in 2024.

Workshop: April 16, 2024
Time: 11:15 a.m. to 12:35 p.m.
Location: Student Equity Center, Multi-purpose Room

Poetry workshop inviting you to pay attention to your body and to write guided by your somatic sensations. Sexual trauma disconnects us from our bodies, and our healing journey often involves re-engaging with this part of ourselves, specifically with our emotions. If emotions aren’t processed and released, they’ll stagnate and resurface. The workshop will focus on how you can use poetry to start befriending your feelings and see them as helpful guides, not something to resist. 

Presenter
Karo Ska (she/they) is a South Asian and Eastern European gender-fluid writer living on unceded Tongva land. Their writing focuses on identity, mental health, survivorship, and the intersections of trauma and politics. They are a teaching artist for Community Literature Initiative’s Poetry Publishing class, author of loving my salt-drenched bones (World Stage Press, 2022), and are currently working on a memoir. They believe that writing is a craft and a restorative tool for well-being. Their classes focus on utilizing poetry to rejuvenate ourselves while improving our practice of language through the use of lyrical and literary elements.

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) is offering a variety of events that you can choose from

Check out the NSVRC website (opens in new window)

Browse at your own pace for many other activities and events

SMC has student clubs

Find out about the student clubs (opens in new window) .

Break the Silence (opens in new window)

Gender Sexuality Alliance

Period Club

Join one of the Student Equity Center Advisory Groups

• Gender Equity Center
• Racial Justice Center
• Pride Center
• Dream resource Center

For more information contact Thomas Bui, Associate Dean, Student Life at Bui_Thomas@smc.edu

Not offered in 2024.

Host a SAAM Event: Choose an event to host or create your own.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) (opens in new window) is offering a variety of events that you can choose from

Spread the word on social media: Check out social media guidance, graphics, and gifs to help make your voice heard.

Donate to your local rape crisis center or an organization that provide services to survivors in your area. You can also consider supporting NSVRC’s work to create safer communities and help survivors.

Check out the NSVRC website (opens in new window)

Browse at your own pace for many other activities and events

Peace over Violence’s messaging will center around what this solidarity can look like and what community members have observed or done to build this. They will highlight experiences from survivors as well as some of their POV staff and volunteers.  

More information and services (opens in new window) .

Podcasts and YouTube Videos

• Unlocking Us with Brene Brown (opens in new window)
• Encyclopedia Womannica (opens in new window)
• LGBTQ&A (opens in new window)
• Cup of Tea (opens in new window)
• Bystander Intervention (opens in new window)
• Supporting Survivors of Sexual Assault (opens in new window)
• Why Do We Silence Black Girls and Women Who are Survivors of Sexual Violence? (opens in new window)
• Sexual Assault in the Black Community (opens in new window)

Music Playlists

• Stress Free from COVID19 Spotify Playlist (opens in new window)

Join a Blog

SAAM Blogs (opens in new window)

Check out some of the blogs below:

• Preventing Online Sexual Victimization of People with Developmental Disabilities (opens in new window)
• Bystander Intervention Online (opens in new window)
• Don't be a Noob - Talk to Boys About Online Safety (opens in new window)
• We Can Build Healthy Social Norms Online (opens in new window)
• Reentry into a Digital World (opens in new window)
• We Can End Digital Victim-Blaming: How to Support Survivors of Sexual Violence Online (opens in new window)
• Five Offline Strategies to Build ‘Sexual Citizenship’ Online (opens in new window)
• Five Takeaways from the First-Ever Completely Virtual SAAM (opens in new window)
• Six Ways You Can Support Survivors Online During SAAM (opens in new window)
• Start at Home: Modeling Healthy Behaviors Keeps Kids Safe (opens in new window)
• This Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Remember Incarcerated Survivors (opens in new window)
• Sexual Violence: We Know How to Stop It (opens in new window)

This is not offered in 2024

Podcasts and YouTube Videos

• Encyclopedia Womannica (opens in new window)

• LGBTQ&A (opens in new window)

• Cup of Tea (opens in new window)

• Bystander Intervention (opens in new window)

• Supporting Survivors of Sexual Assault (opens in new window)

• Why Do We Silence Black Girls and Women Who are Survivors of Sexual Violence? (opens in new window)

• Sexual Assault in the Black Community (opens in new window)

• Voices of Hope

Meditation, Yoga and Mindfulness

• Meditation Minis with Chel Hamilton (opens in new window)

• Yoga: Exhale to Inhale "A Space to Breathe (opens in new window) "
  This is a free offering and they explore different themes each week.
  Three Exhale to Inhale classes are below:
  • 30 minute Yoga Class (opens in new window)
  • Exhale to Inhale 10 minute Chair Yoga (opens in new window)

  • 12 minuto video de Exhale to Inhale Yoga en español (opens in new window)

• Yoga with Adriene (opens in new window)
  Adriene focuses on PTSD

• Setu Yoga (opens in new window)
  Setu Yoga teachers are sensitive and trauma informed
  They also have short and sweet 15 minute sessions (opens in new window)

Music Playlists

• Stress Free from COVID19 Spotify Playlist (opens in new window)

Visit the SMC Sexual Violence Response and Prevention website and learn more about how the Title IX office can support you with experiences of sexual assault, discrimination, harassment, and more.

Sexual Violence Response and Prevention

(opens in new window)

Workshop: April 23, 2024
Time: 11:15 a.m. to 12:35 p.m.

This is part one of a two-part series related to Understanding Unconscious and Conscious Bias. Our brains are wired to recognize patterns and make generalizations that often bias our judgements that can often result in subtle forms of prejudice and microaggressions. It is important we address these biases and become more self-aware, especially when they can negatively affect our views about other people because of their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, weight, level of ability, etc.

Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Time: 11:15 a.m. to 12:35 p.m.

This workshop will provide you tools to apply a “trauma-informed” framework when responding to survivors, including what to say and how to actively seek to decrease re-traumatization with students and colleagues and prevent secondary trauma. With a special presenter. Hosted by the Office of Human Resources. HRInquiries@smc.edu

Presenter
Marisa Faynsod Clinical Social Worker & Community Outreach Coordinator Marisa is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, National certified Sexual Abuse Counselor, and certified training the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma. She provides therapy for sexually abused children and their families and is a crisis counselor. Her primary focus is on education prevention for college students, camp staff, and the Los Angeles community. She trains law enforcement and agencies in best practices for reporting and referring victims of sexual abuse.

Workshop: Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Time: 11:15 a.m. to 12:35 p.m.

This is part two of a series related to Understanding Unconscious and Conscious Bias. This workshop will provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of the various forms of biases, and how they can evolve into behaviors that may violate the law. You will be provided with knowledge and tools to be more self-aware, and with information and resources regarding your rights and how to report inappropriate and/or unlawful conduct.