How I Started Advocacy Work

After being raped during my freshman year of college I reported my assault to Title IX hoping to receive justice. Once I reported many people in the dorms victim blamed me, telling me the assault was my fault, and that I deserved it.

I fought hard and had difficulty navigating the Title IX system, nothing about reporting felt easy. I became too scared to report to the police after retaliation from reporting to Title IX. A male student followed me to my dorm room after hearing rumors that I was "easy". I was terrified of living on campus but wanted to stand my ground and continue college life like nothing happened. That was impossible because my entire world was turned upside down.

It wasn't until eight months after my rape that I decided I wanted to use my story to help other survivors and fix the system in any way I could. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I was extremely determined. I started by reaching out to other survivors and listening to their stories, which made my determination to make a difference even stronger.

Here's a list of the steps I took when I began advocating for policy change to Title IX on my college campus:

1. I made a list of changes to policies that I believed would help survivors and not cause any re-traumatization.
2. I talked to students on my campus who also experienced a sexual assault or the experience of going through a Title IX case.
3. I reached out to the staff at my university asking for help.
4. I reached out to different media outlets asking for help to raise awareness.
5. I gave interviews through the media, trying to get my university's attention.
6. With help, I organized an on-campus demonstration.
7. I restarted a student organization entitled "RAVE: Roos Against Violence Everywhere".
8. I heard from the chancellor of my university who asked to have a meeting with me. He was very helpful and listened as I told him my story. The chancellor provided me with resources and other people I could talk to to create policy changes.
9. I contacted the UM System Title IX operator and provided my requests for policy changes.
10. I held more events to raise awareness on campus and spoke at rallies, demonstrations, and more.

Advocacy helped me gain my power back, I lost so much when I was raped. I lost the chance to start over, have a normal college experience, and much more. Through advocacy, I took my voice back.

I worked tirelessly to make a difference and made a petition through change.org. I used social media to spread the message and was able to get more than 1,500 signatures on the petition.

I share all of this to remind people that one person can make a difference, being victimized is a horrendous experience. I was able to heal and transform something horrible that happened to me into empowerment and action.

Remember that you have a voice and using your voice can make a world of difference!

Thank you,

Sky