Tag Archives: Susan Hua

#MeTooNowWhat

Over the past several months, women and men have been coming forward with their own personal stories of sexual harassment. With the help of social media, #MeToo stories are spreading.

“I think we all are having a moment right now,” CSUN Title IX Coordinator Susan Hua said. “Whether a survivor is male or female, I think people are breaking the silence … You’re seeing sports figures, you’re seeing politicians, and men in powerful positions, being held accountable for sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. I think [#MeToo is] really giving not only a voice through social media and technology and how that’s impacting this movement, but also allowing people who might not have spoken up years ago … to feel like now there’s support for them.”

The #MeToo movement has encouraged many people to speak up about sexual harassment, and that lets even more victims know that they are not alone.

“I talked to several women who had kept information to themselves for 40 or 50 years, but now feel like coming out,” said Betsy Butler, Executive Director of the California Women’s Law Center. “More than that, they’re ready to make change happen, and it starts with policing. So many levels of action need to take place now, and mindsets [need to] change here in this country. It’s a different culture we need to look at.”

Bringing conversations about sexual violence into the mainstream helps remove the stigma for survivors, by showing how sexual harassment has affected the lives of many men and women.

“Part of the oppression of women is that we think we’re alone, and we think that our personal difficulties, or our harassment stories or whatever, are individual, and they never are.” CSUN Gender and Women’s Studies Professor Jennifer Berry said. “I think this is what the MeToo movement has done, is [demonstrate] that you are not alone. Not only are you not alone, we’re building an army.”

Despite the numbers of people coming out with their own personal stories, a lot of victims have not come forward, and Hua said some may not know how to bring grievances or talk about their experiences. She said students and faculty at CSUN are able to report any sexual harassment case through the Title IX Office.

“We have done extensive training, with both our students and employees, making sure that students know who they can go to as confidential resources here on campus,” Hua said. “That’s usually our counselors, our mental health advisors, and our victims advocate on campus…. Knowing the different resources [survivors] can access on campus [helps, and] I think we are seeing an increase of survivors who feel that they are ready to talk about their experiences, and as they are continuing to process their experiences, to get help, and to hold individuals accountable.”

But it still may be hard for some victims to come forward with their story, even if they have the resources and people available to them.

“Some women will never come forward,” Butler said. “You know, a lot of these situations [involve people whom] they know, and so they have to grapple with whether they want to bring it all out in the open. These aren’t generally strangers, particularly on campus, who have assaulted them or harassed them.”

Hua said that students’ cultural backgrounds and legal status can also be a factor.

“CSUN is such a diverse community,” she said, “and we have undocumented students who may not want to go above the radar, even though they have been victimized … Or we have cultural differences, in which someone, for example, from an Asian culture, might feel like [they] can’t talk about it, because that’s airing [their] dirty laundry or bringing shame to [their] family.”

Legal experts said movements like #MeToo are only the beginning, and that much more needs to happen in order to prevent sexual harassment.

“I think we can do better,” Berry said. “I think we can have higher expectations of men; I think we can believe women, and work with young people and care deeply about their lives. I think us older people [need] to remember how young and hopeful we all start out, and keep that hope alive.”

Moderator: Heatherann Wagner

Producer: Haley Spellman

Anchor: Lauren Turner Dunn

Social Media Editors: Cammeron Parrish and Jacob Gonzalez

Reporters: Jacob Gonzalez, Katherine Molina, Cammeron Parrish, Haley Spellman, Lauren Turner Dunn and Heatherann Wagner

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Yes Means Yes

The Association of American Universities’ new Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct reports that approximately 23 percent of college students have reported instances of sexual assault.  It should be noted that this percentage does not include students who didn’t report instances of sexual assault.

Susan Hua is the Title IX Coordinator in the CSUN Equity & Diversity Office. Title IX is a federal statute stating that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Because CSUN receives Federal financial assistance, this statute applies to the whole university.

A recent incident of sexual assault during CSUN’s Big Show on October 3rd, has led to growing concerns over the safety of students on and off campus, as well as what should be done to prevent future attacks.

“I think these last couple of years we’ve felt that we really need to take a collective stance and position that these types of behaviors are not tolerated and not acceptable,” Hua said.

Measures are being taken to ensure that CSUN employees and students are informed of the issue at hand.

“CSUN employees are also required, just as our students, to take a training course,” Hua said.  “[The course includes] sexual assault prevention, what consent means, what the laws are that apply, how to speak about rape culture, and recognizing that [students and employees] play an integral part in sustaining a safer campus community.”

As far as dealing with sexual assault when it does happen, there are also resources available on campus to students who need assistance.

“I think our role in that is to help find ways to process that and [allow survivors of sexual assault to] heal on their own timeline,” Hua said. “We have hired, in the university, a campus care advocate, who is housed in our student health center.  She functions and acts as an advocate and confidential resource for survivors who need advice and want to talk to someone who can keep what they talk about confidential.”

Melissa Realegeno is a former member of Project D.A.T.E. and the current coordinator of the Peer Education programs in the University Counseling Services.

Realegeno advised students to “download safety apps, be aware of your surroundings, know your limits of alcohol, walk with confidence, know where you’re going, have your keys ready to go, and walk with someone you know.”

“[Sexual assault] can happen to anyone,” Relegeno said. “People assume that it’s just a women problem, but no, it’s everyone’s issue.  It’s about educating people and trying to understand the situation more, instead of assuming what happened or assuming it’s what they’re thinking, when sometimes it’s really hard to understand the psychological point of it all.”

Hua and Relegeno recommended that discussions of sexual assault should begin within families, before students head off to college, where many experience independence for the first time and struggle to figure out their own identity.

“It would be great to have pipelines in between high schools and higher institutions to have that kind of dialogue,” Hua said, “and those kind of efforts be comprehensive, instead of reactive if something happens.”

Moderator: Sara Vong

Anchor: Stephanie Lopez
Producer: Teresa Barrientos
Reporter: James Lindsay
Social Media Editor: Veronica Perez
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