Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["Angela Seguin" <>]

At the University of Delaware, our organization is called Sexual Offense 
Support (S.O.S.).  Most students know the group by the acronym, but we have 
talked about changing the formal name because our victim advocates assist 
survivors of both sexual assault and intimate partner violence.  We also 
sometimes get "other" calls that we end up referring to the psychologist on 
call or another relevant resource.

Our system sounds very similar to yours, except that students wishing to 
reach us call the Student Health Service to access our advocates.  The 
office staff or night nurse on duty answer the phone, and when a caller asks 
to access SOS, the office staff/nurse takes down a first name and phone 
number.   Then they page the victim advocate, who calls in to retrieve the 
name and number.  The advocate phones the caller back directly.

The local rape crisis service in Delaware functions in a similar way - 
callers phone into the rape crisis number and a name & number are taken 
down.  The call center then contacts the advocate on duty via their personal 
cell phone number.  (They used to provide beepers but find it less expensive 
and more effective to call the advocate's cell phone instead.)

We have had similar thoughts about removing the "middle man" and taking 
Student Health out of the loop in hopes of making the service more 
approachable for students who do not wish to involve another agency.  But we 
have not found an affordable alternative.  Also students who need our 
service often show up at Student Health for medical services, so it has been 
useful to continue functioning this way.  I hope others reply to the whole 
list with their info because we are always open to newer, more effective 
approaches!

Angela

Angela DiNunzio Seguin
Program Coordinator
S.O.S. (Sexual Offense Support)
Wellspring: Student Wellness Program
University of Delaware
(302) 831-3457
http://www.udel.edu/wellspring



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Linder,Chris" <>
To: 
<>;
 
<>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 2:22 PM
Subject: Seuxal Assault Advocate Programs Questions


> Hi all - At Colorado State University we have a 24-hour on-call system for 
> sexual assault survivors to speak with a peer advocate (called the Victim 
> Assistance Team). Currently, survivors call CSUPD dispatch and give a name 
> and number, and the advocate calls back. Even though this is a separate 
> process from reporting to the police, we have become concerned that simply 
> having the police answer the calls creates a barrier to services (since 
> many survivors may not want to have any contact with the police at all).
>
> We would appreciate if those if you who have 24-hour on-call advocacy 
> programs would be willing to share how you handle this on your campus. Do 
> the calls go to the advocate directly? Do you use pagers? Cell phones? 
> Some type of answering service?
>
> Also, for anyone who has a peer advocacy service, what do you call your 
> group? We are also considering a name change because we have been getting 
> calls unrelated to sexual assault.
>
> We'd appreciate any feedback  you can provide.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Chris
>
> Chris Linder
> Director, Women's Programs & Studies
> Instructor, Department of Ethnic Studies
> 112  Student Services
> Fort Collins, CO 80523-8200
> Phone: (970) 491-6384
> Fax: (970) 491-4922
>
> wps.colostate.edu
>
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