Annual 'It Happens Here' event discusses student experiences with sexual assault

Students packed Cohen Auditorium for the third annual "It Happens Here" event last night, where students gathered to listen to the personal stories of their peers with sexual violence on campus. The program, which was organized by the Consent Culture Network (CCN) at Tufts, began at Middlebury College in 2011, and was first presented at Tufts in April 2014.

The event focused on highlighting the anonymous experiences of survivors of sexual assault through the Middlebury-initiated forum, which allows students who have experienced sexual violence to submit their personal accounts for another student to read on stage.

Last night's event opened with the CCN providing a list of on-campus and off-campus resources for dealing with sexual harassment and assault. A screen inside Cohen listed three different specialists stationed in the Aidekman Arts Center and the Remis Sculpture Court throughout the duration of the event. Nandi Bynoe, sexual misconduct resource specialist, Alexandra Donovan, sexual misconduct prevention specialist, and Humanist-in-Residence Walker Bristol were all available to speak to students.

During the event, which lasted around two hours, students of various genders read aloud 34 stories that had been submitted anonymously to the CCN.

Audience members had varied reactions to hearing submitted stories, sharing hugs, tears and affectionate gestures throughout the event, and reminding one another about the developing support network for survivors of sexual assault at Tufts.

The third iteration of "It Happens Here" provided an outlet for people to discuss their personal experiences with sexual assault on a campus with a recent history of resisting federal allegations about the adequacy of its support for victims of sexual assault. In 2010, a Tufts student filed a report with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on the grounds of discrimination by the university in conducting her sexual assault case, according to an August 2014 article in the Daily. Tufts was then found to be in violation of Title IX because of a determined lack of support for complainants in their sexual assault reports. In the summer of 2014, University President Anthony Monaco and students organized a joint task force to review the university's policies towards sexual assault.

In the wake of this history, the CCN is working to improve the campus atmosphere surrounding sexual assault by trying to foster a more supportive environment on campus, according to Allyson Blackburn, an executive board member of the CCN.

Prior to last night's event, Blackburn explained to the Daily the thought process behind hosting "It Happens Here."

“We wanted to provide a platform for survivors to share their experiences.” Blackburn, a junior, told the Daily in an email. "Survivors have so many obstacles to reporting, reading narratives or talking to their loved ones about their experiences, so we wanted to allow people to anonymously submit narratives.”

Blackburn explained that the CCN was created as a space for survivors to become empowered and have their voices heard through sharing their stories.

“Consent Culture Network felt as though while there was a spirit of activism surrounding sexual violence at Tufts, the movements and groups were not trauma-sensitive or survivor-centric,” Blackburn said.

The Daily has taken notice of the requests of event organizers not to quote or paraphrase individual stories for the sake of protecting their privacy.