By: Ally

Ally
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 14:46:42 +0000

In reply to Proud” target=”_blank” title=”/2018/06/ohio-state-shutting-down-sexual-civility-and-empowerment-unit/comment-page-1/#comment-105827″>Proud”>/2018/06/ohio-state-shutting-down-sexual-civility-and-empowerment-unit/comment-page-1/#comment-105827″>Proud SCE student, Angry Alum.

Hi. I am going to post my experience, which I shared in the comment section of another Lantern article. For folks like me who did have horrible experiences, do you feel like what we went through is not valid? It sounds like the university took all the necessary steps to ensure that this investigation was as independent and unbiased as possible. Regardless of office politics, it was found that SCE did not appropriately report offenses to law enforcement, and that puts the safety of our community at stake. I am glad the university is going to try and reinvent these services with the involvement of folks that are professionals in supporting survivors.

Previous comment:

Hi there. Thank you for sharing your story. I am glad you can achieve your dream of grad school and that the support of someone at SCE made a positive impact in your life.
As a fellow student and survivor of sexual assault, I would like to also share my story. I went to the SCE office to talk about being suicidal due to my assault. Instead of having resources provided to me, I was told my outfit was amazing and that I just needed to stay positive and not let other people bring me down. My reason for feeling suicidal were frequent flashbacks, so the completely inappropriate advice I received did not even apply to my chief complaint about suicidal ideation.
I know other people that did not have their needs met or had their assault experience minimized. Unfortunately, every horrible, disappointing story I heard was associated with the same person each time.
I think it’s wonderful that you had a positive experience with the SCE office, but in sharing my experience with others, I have learned of more negative experiences from sexual assault survivors than I could justify, even for a school of our size. I am confident that were serious issues with the way the office was running before it was put on hiatus.
As someone who received services from the office over a lengthy period, I sensed a lack in some of the staff’s knowledge on therapeutic communication and many conflicts of interest.
This department would not be under review unless it was necessary. It is taking up our university’s time, and money. I am not trying to defend Ohio State’s lack of transparency in the investigation process, but I just want to point out that there must have been serious issues with the SCE department for OSU to take this sort of action, and I feel like it probably was not limited to just my experience and the experiences of several other people I know.
As a survivor who had a horrible experience with this department, I am glad OSU is taking the necessary steps to make sure the program is effective, and that our resources are not misused.
SCE should be held to a high standard and should be modified and improved if not meeting those standards. It is unfortunate that students were left in the dark, and it’s a shame the university did not think of a contingency plan. However, I think that the best way we can support future survivors is to support this investigation, and hope SCE comes out better and stronger than it was.