Jewish Campus Groups Address Sexual Assault
New initiatives to help victims and respond to troubling college trend
February 05, 2015
(Bryan Pollard / Shutterstock.com)
There’s no question sexual assault on college campuses is a major issue, a troubling epidemic that demands not only activism but institutionalized responses from universities across the country. While universities have begun implementing preventative programming and reevaluating their methods of handling rapes and assaults, what the campus sexual assault culture pervasive today also requires is a reliable, stable support system for victims.
The Jewish Week’s Amy Sara Clark reports on several new initiatives within the Jewish community both to help victims and change how colleges campuses address and deal with sexual assault. Clark cites Hillel initiatives like the sexual assault workshop offered through its Ask Big Questions program, as well as a partnership with the San Francisco-based non-profit Shalom Bayit, which addresses domestic violence within the Jewish community.
“Rape doesn’t discriminate based on religion, and many of our students are impacted personally every single year,” said Sheila Katz, vice president for social entrepreneurship at Hillel International. “This is happening and we must respond.”
Amen.
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Related: Non-Jewish College Students Find an Unexpected Home on Campus—at Hillel
Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.
