Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention
Location:
Student Center 217A
Hours:
Monday-Friday
8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Contact:
vavp@aquasystematique.com
Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention
The Regis University Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention (VAVP) department serves students, staff, and faculty at Regis University by providing advocacy support services as well as training and education regarding preventing and addressing interpersonal violence (sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking).
- Advocacy support services include assistance reporting to the school and/or police at the survivor's request, safety planning, court accompaniment, emotional support, and more.
- Violence Prevention efforts include trainings, presentations, and peer-led educational campus-wide programming.
VAVP seeks to create a campus culture that celebrates and normalizes healthy relationships by providing education, support, and healing to students, faculty, and staff.
Get to a safe location. If the situation is serious enough that you are concerned about your physical safety, dial 911 or Campus Safety at 303.458.4122. Contact someone you trust for support. Be aware that some staff members, faculty, and your RA will need to report some information you share with them.
If you would like confidential support, please contact:- The Assistant Director of Victim Advocacy & Violence Prevention (arriving December 2022): vavp@aquasystematique.com
- The Office of Counseling and Personal Development: 303.458.3507
- University Ministry: 303.458.4153
- The Blue Bench 24-Hour Hotline: 303.322.7273 (off-campus resource)
If you would like medical assistance or are interested in collecting evidence, it is best to seek out a hospital or emergency room with a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program. The following hospital is available:
Denver Health Medical Center:
777 Bannock Street, Denver, CO 80204
303. 436.6000 or 303.602.3007
Sexual assault medical care is available at Denver Health 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. No appointment is necessary. Just go to the main desk and say you’d like to see a SANE nurse – that will allow you to be seen quickly and wait more privately.
Preserving evidence, such as clothing, sheets, text messages, or other contact is helpful if you are considering an investigation or criminal case. Though your first thought may be to dispose of these items or to shower, try to hold onto the evidence and wait to shower until after the SANE exam.
If you would like a confidential advocate to accompany you to the hospital, contact Blue Bench at 303.322.7273 (available 24/7). If you'd like to discuss your options and receive confidential support on campus, contact the Office of Counseling and Personal Development at 303.458.3507, or University Ministry staff at 303.458.4153.
Even if you do not want to pursue an investigation or criminal case, it may be important to seek out medical attention. This can help you identify and treat injuries, address the possibility of STIs, and possibly test for date rape drugs.
Dating violence or stalking is never the fault of the survivor. Trust your instincts. If you feel you are unsafe, you probably are.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you are on campus, you can call Campus Safety at 303.458.4122.
If you would like confidential support, please contact:
- The Assistant Director of Victim Advocacy & Violence Prevention (arriving December 2022): vavp@aquasystematique.com
- The Office of Counseling and Personal Development 303.458.3507
- University Ministry 303.458.4153.
You can also contact the Safehouse Denver 24-hour information and crisis line at 303.318.9989. Staff will help you devise a safety plan, give you information about local laws, weigh options such as seeking a protection order, and refer you to other services.
Do not respond to or try to communicate with the stalker or abusive person. If you are in private and they are making you uncomfortable, try to make your way to a public place.
Consent is agreement between partners to specific acts. Consent must be clear, mutual, and attained without harassment or coercion. Consent can also be revoked at any time, in any activity, regardless of whether or not you or your partner have participated in the same activity on previous occasions. Consent cannot be given when someone is intoxicated, passed out, or asleep. The clearest form of consent is verbal. As a responsible partner, don't assume. Just ask.
Keep a record of the frequency, type, and content of the stalker’s or abusive person’s actions.
You can request escorts to and from class as well as other support services to help you feel safe on campus. Contact Kassandra Alberico, Equal Opportunity and Title IX Coordinator, at 303.964.6435 to discuss your options.
If you have experienced sexual assault, harassment, stalking or domestic violence - support is available. At Regis University, you’ll find resources all around you. We are committed to cultivating a safe and respectful community where gender- and power-based behaviors are not tolerated; survivors have the support they deserve.
What is Consent?
In order for individuals to engage in sexual activity of any type with each other, there must be consent prior to and during each stage of sexual activity. Consent is defined as the affirmative, actively given, unambiguous and voluntary agreement to engage in a specific sexual activity during a sexual encounter. To obtain consent, a clear "yes," verbal or otherwise, is necessary. Consent cannot be inferred from the absence of a "no."
A current or previous relationship is not sufficient to constitute consent. A person under the influence of fear cannot give consent. Consent may never be given by a minor under the age of 15, or by a minor under the age of 18 in certain situations depending on the ages of both parties or in instances where the adult is in a position of trust. Consent cannot be given by an individual who is asleep, or by an individual who is mentally or physically incapacitated either through the effect of drugs or alcohol or for any other reason. Consent may also not be given by an individual who was under duress, threat, coercion or force.
Incapacitation: Incapacitation is a state where a person lacks the ability to make rational reasonable decisions including an inability to understand the who, what, when, where, why or how of sexual activity, or an inability to fully understand the details of sexual interaction. Incapacity can result from alcohol or drug consumption, illness, unconsciousness, blackout, sleep, mental disability and other circumstances.
Supporting a Survivor
If you think someone is going down the road of disclosing you may try to gently interrupt and remind them. This gives them the choice to disclose, or to speak to a confidential resource instead.
If someone discloses that they have experienced sexual misconduct (sexual assault, relationship violence, or stalking), let them know that you believe what they are telling you.
Know your reporting structure. Unless you are a confidential resource, you will need to report the information shared with you. If you are unsure who to report to, contact the EO & Title IX coordinator at 303.964.6435
Remind the person that information they share with you can be kept private but not confidential. Although you have to make a report, they still have a lot of choice – they can come with you to make the report, they can choose to not engage when someone reaches out, etc. A report does not automatically mean a Title IX investigation will occur.
Refer the person to confidential resources:
- Office of Counseling and Personal Development, 303.458.3507
- University Ministry and Jesuits, 303.458.4153
If the survivor feels ashamed or guilty, reassure them that the incident was not their fault and that their feelings are understandable. Often survivors feel that others will question or minimize what happened to them. Let them know that you believe them. Limit the number of questions that you ask as this can make a person feel you doubt them or that they need to prove what happened.
Avoid questions that could imply blame or question the survivor’s actions, such as, “Why did you go back to their room?” or “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” or “Why didn’t you fight back?” You can be supportive without knowing the details of the assault. Use open-ended questions such as “How are you feeling?” or “What can I do to help?” Give them time and space to share with you as they are ready to do so and understand that they may never choose to share detailed information with you.
One of the most helpful things you can do is listen. Let them know you are available to listen when and if they want to talk with you. Avoid judgment, giving advice, and sharing your opinions. Just listen. Allow the survivor to make their own decisions. If they ask for your advice, offer several options and let them choose.
Even the smallest choices can begin to restore their sense of power, which was taken away from them during the assault. For example, offer the choice of where they would like to talk with you, whether or not they would like to call a crisis line, etc.
While hugging someone or holding their hand may be a natural inclination, it is important to ask them if they want that type of support. Physical intimacy that may have been fine before the assault may not be fine for awhile after the assault. The right for the survivor to choose the type and timing of physical intimacy is integral to their feeling of safety.
When someone you know is hurt, it is understandable to feel a myriad of emotions (angry, sad, powerless). If the survivor is someone close to you, it is also common to experience many of the same reactions as they do. Talking about your feelings with the person who has been assaulted can be overwhelming to them and exacerbate how they are feeling. Consider getting your own support.
Counselors in the Office of Counseling and Personal Development (303.458.3507) are here to help and can provide a confidential place for you to talk about your own experience.
The Blue Bench, Denver’s community resource for those affected by sexual assault, also provides a confidential 24-hour hotline staffed by advocates who are there to help at 303.322.7273.
Let them know that you believe that they have the strength and the capacity to heal. People are resilient; they can and do recover from the trauma of sexual assault.
Regis University prohibits any dating, romantic, or sexual relationship between an employee/faculty/affiliate faculty and any student over whom that employee has any instructional, supervisory, advising, or evaluative responsibility. Employees who violate this policy are subject to disciplinary action. The policy strives to provide an environment that is free from sexual harassment. This policy is rooted in the recognition that faculty or staff-student relationships may be inherently unequal and contain an element of superiority or power.
Consensual romantic or sexual relationships between employees in which one party maintains a leadership, direct supervisory or evaluative role over the other party must be reported. This applies to relationships between employees and relationships between employees and contractors. This applies to students in a supervisory role, such as Resident and Graduate Assistants and students they supervise. Persons with direct supervisory or evaluative responsibilities who are involved in such relationships must bring those relationships to the timely attention of the EO & Title IX Coordinator, or the Director of Human Resources.
Involvement in consensual relationships will likely result in the removal of the employee from supervisory or evaluative responsibilities, or removal of the other party from being supervised or evaluated by the individual with whom they have established a consensual relationship. Reports may be made directly to one of the individuals noted above, or through the online reporting form (located on the EO & Title IX website). Failure to self-report such relationships can result in disciplinary action for an employee. Employees are prohibited from making, participating in, or otherwise influencing decisions affecting an employee’s progress or standing or which may reward or penalize an employee, with whom the employee has a current or former sexual or romantic relationship.