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

["Jacqueline M. Deitch-Stackhouse" <>]

Thanks for reaching out to us!

I wonder if it might help for the school to consider which services are needed for both parties and which services are uniquely designed to serve survivors?  Emotional support from counselors and case managers to answer questions during the process should be available to both complainants and respondents, as you mentioned. But only survivors or potential complainants benefit from an advocate who can help them understand their options so they can make informed decisions about the right option(s) for them, including campus supportive measures and Title IX, as well as off-campus resources like municipal law enforcement, county-based forensic examinations, and state-level restraining orders. Respondents do not require information about the available resources in the same way as complainants because respondents don’t get to initially choose the venue or process. Instead, they are either invited into or compelled to participate in the process(es) subsequent to the complainant/survivor’s choices.

If you think it might be a helpful perspective, please feel free to share.

Best,

Jackie 

Get Outlook for iOS

---

From: <> on behalf of Storm, Rachel <>
Sent: Sunday, June 4, 2023 6:58 PM
To: Juliette Grimmett <>
Cc: <>; <>
Subject: Re: Respondent Support

 

It is beyond unadvisable (not to mention rather impossible) for one position to serve as an supportive advocate for both respondents and survivors in a campus process. Without time at the moment for a far lengthier and nuanced response, at a minimum, these need to be separate positions/resources for the benefit of all involved. 

-Rachel Lauren Storm

On Jun 4, 2023 10:54 AM, Juliette Grimmett <> wrote:

Hello everyone -

A local campus is hiring a confidential survivor advocate - their very first position ever for survivors - yay! However they are getting some pushback from random campus staff saying that to be equitable with TIX regs, this person also needs to provide respondent support.

I understand that a university needs to provide TIX/process services to both parties, which they do. They also have a counseling center that provides services to all, and even case managers who provide some support as well. 

They have never had anyone to solely help survivors and this is an extremely needed position. For MANY reasons, I believe that this position should not have to also serve respondents. I would love your thoughts and advice on this that I could share with them.

And just to be clear, I am not being paid to provide them support on this - I just want to help them figure it out and provide them with some thoughts from you all amazing people out there also doing this work, as they figure out their next steps.

Thank you for your consideration!