The Center for Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services (SRVSS) is celebrating its 10-year anniversary on November 3, 2023.
An event will be held at the Kent Student Center Ballroom to reflect on the foundation of SRVSS, the previous work, and the people who participated in it. Then, SRVSS’s accomplishments in the past ten years, who they are today, who they serve, and their current work. The event also includes revealing their priorities for the next few years.
“We’re looking at things from three perspectives: the past, the present, and the future,” said Jennifer O’Connell, director of SRVSS.
In 2012, Kent State established a position responsible for responding to sexual assault, helping and supporting individuals impacted by sexual violence, and raising awareness and educating the community to prevent future harm.
O’Connell was hired for the position in September 2012, and initially, she worked at the Women’s Center.
“One of the things that came to light was that sexual and relationship violence doesn’t just happen to women. It happens to men and our trans students as well,” she said. “Having the work be centered in a Women’s Center can be a barrier to men and trans individuals feeling safe and comfortable asking for support.”
She added that most of the conversations at that time were focused on sexual assault. However, students were also experiencing dating violence and stalking.
“We needed to expand the way we were talking about this,” O’Connell said. “We needed to make sure that we weren’t putting more barriers in place in doing this work.”
In 2013, Kent State committed funding to establish SRVSS as its own office. In 2014, O’Connell became its director and brought Green Dot Bystander Intervention to campus as a program of SRVSS. From 2016 to 2019, SRVSS grew through university funding and grants received, such as the Victims of Crime Act grant and the Violence Against Women Women Act grant.
“We institutionalize the work of violence prevention to be part of the culture of Kent State,” O’Connell said. “It feeds into Flashes Take Care of Flashes and that there’s a commitment as an institution that we support our students, that we help prevent harm from happening in our community, and we look out for one another.”
The center offers events such as Take Back the Night March, which includes a name-burning ceremony and a moment for individuals to share their stories to know they are not alone, and workshops for them to learn more about health and unhealthy relationships.
Another event SRVSS offers is the Clothesline Project, where individuals decorate T-shirts to share their stories or pay honor to survivors, as well as to honor those who may not have survived. The center displays the outfits in October for Relationship Awareness Month.
“That display tries to break down that myth that what someone wears causes them to be assaulted,” O’Connell said. “It’s a very powerful display.”
The center also offers an internship program for students who want to learn more about how they can support people or have a better understanding of sexual and relationship violence. SRVSS also provides education for classes or departments about consent, healthy and unhealthy relationships, bystander action, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking.
SRVSS hopes to increase knowledge and awareness on campus, empower individuals, and ensure the work is collaborative.
“We know that culture change and true prevention doesn’t happen because of one office or person,” O’Connell said. “We need to do this as a community to create a safer Kent State and prevent future harm.”