The Brandeis Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA) hosted its third annual Sexual Violence Awareness Week (SVAW) with various events to educate students on the serious issue.

“This week will include events focused on beginning a discussion on sexual violence on college campuses, educating each other about sex and consent, and making steps to create a positive culture around consent in order to fight against rape culture on campuses and a safer campus for all students,” stated FMLA in their event description on Facebook.

“[Sexual violence] is a really big problem, and it’s not talked about enough,” FMLA President Zuri Gordon ’15 said, describing how confusion about what resources exist contributes to an unsafe campus culture. “As I continue to learn about what it means to be a victim of sexual violence on a college campus, I think its so important to educate other students … I think we need to be there for each other,” she said. She believes Brandeis has made some improvements recently, introducing resources like Sheila McMahon’s Office of Prevention Services and the Rape Crisis Center, which can become a part of SVAW as well.

Throughout the week, FMLA members tabled in Usdan or the SCC to encourage students to take the Empowered Consent Pledge. Students who signed received stickers and pins. Gordon explains that when the FMLA began SVAW, there was not much information about empowered consent during orientation, and though that has improved, she still believes it is important to educate students.

On Monday, April 13, Brandeis’ Sexual Assault Services and Prevention Specialist Sheila McMahon and the Office of Prevention Services led a workshop titled Know Your Title IX. Title IX is the title prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational settings. A lack of Title IX understanding among students has been a major concern of various groups. The final report of the University Advisory Subcommittee on Sexual Violence noted this is a major issue, stating the university’s Title IX Coordinator and her duties ought to be widely publicized. McMahon sought to educate students on the choices and resources they have including the Special Examiners process, a formal investigation which can lead to sanctions from the Dean of Students Office and a Title IX investigation, which will not result in sanctions.

In an email to The Brandeis Hoot, McMahon said, “The students who attended asked excellent questions and we had a fruitful discussion.” She said her goal was to “demystify the reporting options,” at the disposal of victims of sexual misconduct. McMahon explained she also wanted to understand more about the “barriers” which keep survivors from filing complaints.

McMahon wrote, “I’m very appreciative of [the students’] insights and am eager to work together to find ways to address these barriers to create a safer campus climate in which students feel able to come forward when they have concerns about possible sexual misconduct by peers and/or other members of the Brandeis community,”

Gordon discussed the importance of Title IX. “It is your school’s job to keep you safe, to make sure you can still go to classes, to make sure people don’t retaliate against you,” she said, listing mean tweets and vandalized dorm rooms as examples of retaliation.

“It’s an important law that people understand, because we do have rights,” said McMahon.

On Wednesday night, the FMLA hosted a screening of “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary film which examines sexual violence on college campuses. The film highlights incidents on several campuses and gets at the severity of a pervasive “rape culture.”

Gordon believes “The Hunting Ground” is an important movie, very “intense” and “triggering.” Though she believes there are some problematic aspects and neglected issues, Gordon said the film taught her a lot about how processes work on other campuses.

The following evening, the FMLA invited students to attend a talkback on the film. This event allowed students to respond to the film, to discuss and to ask questions. This event allowed the FMLA to bring up issues the film did not. Gordon discussed how many in-depth cases from the documentary did not feature victims who were familiar with their attackers. Also according to Gordon, it did not focus on gender or sexual orientation. She noted FMLA would like to discuss how capitalism plays into a university’s decision to expel or not expel rapists, explaining they are likely to sue universities and noting that Greek life is “a huge money-giving system.”

Today, Friday, April 17 the FMLA invites students to participate in The Clothesline Project. The “interactive art project” began in 1990 according to the Clothesline Project’s website. Brandeis students will decorate shirts which express the issue of sexual violence and rape culture. The shirts will be displayed in the SCC.

Moving forward, Gordon hopes the FMLA will continue to host SVAW. In regards to the university’s handling of sexual violence in the future, Gordon stated, “I hope we expel rapists, so people who are victims of sexual violence won’t see their attackers.” Next week, FMLA will co-sponsor the event Take Back the Night with the Rape Crisis Center and Students Talking About Relationships (STAR).