A group of individuals from diverse racial, gender and socio-economic backgrounds at the University of Memphis has come together not only to initiate the conversation about sexual assault between the student body and the faculty, but also to keep it going among students.
Safety Net is an organization founded by students for students who have either been victims of sexual assault themselves or want to learn to be a better ally. Courtney Harrough, a junior psychology major, started the group after her own assault on campus in 2011.
“I had known this peer (who assaulted me), so it fell under dating violence, and I was not well educated and not well informed as to what that looked like,” Harrough said. “So it took a while for me to report what happened. Once I did, the climate on campus became very uninhabitable and very toxic for me academically and socially, and I did not have a place to belong and no one there to guide me.”
Following her assault Harrough made the decision to leave campus. She returned last semester, and in her absence, she said nothing changed. At the time of her return in the fall of 2017, The Daily Helmsman was reporting about “Caroline,” a student who claimed she was assaulted by other students.
“It struck a nerve,” Harrough said. “I felt that there were gaps in the university that needed to be filled, and outreach needed to be done.”
Harrough attended an open discussion hosted by university President M. David Rudd and the administration in October 2017 and shared her story with them and the audience at the discussion. Harrough talked to Rudd about the need for a place for students to confide in each other. After her speech, she handed out copies of her proposal for her idea for the organization of Safety Net to everyone in the room.
“It showed that not only was I serious but also that something needed to be done,” Harrough said.
In the following weeks, Harrough met with Rudd, the dean of students and the dean of student involvement to discuss how having an organization of this nature would look on campus to faculty and students. After being approved, she was given contact information for other student-leaders who were interested in being a part of a group who intended on providing support to peers whether they had been assaulted themselves or wanted to know how to aid someone who had been.
Safety Net executive board and the members want to provide a resource to all students who will support them in any decision they choose to make.
“Students want a place where they can be seen and seen fully,” Harrough said.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics released a research study conducted at nine universities in 2016 and reported about 21 percent of undergraduate women have experienced sexual assault since entering college. They also reported an average of 6.4 percent of the college women who participated in the study were victims of intimate partner violence.
Sexual assault on a college campus typically goes unreported, especially when students and administration are unsure of how to hold the conversation. Only 7 percent of victims report incidents to school officials, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Nikkino Wesson, the vice president of Safety Net, joined Harrough because she thought there was a lack of understanding among students as to what openly talking about sexual assault looked like in a neutral setting.
“I often hear ‘that’s not going to change anything,’ but people forget that by shying away from a problem or telling others to be silent, you are actually feeding into silence,” Wesson said. “And sometimes silence is the same as being a part of the problem.”
Wesson describes the organization’s mission and “safe haven” meet-ups as “peer-to-peer guidance.” She said the group aims to be inclusive and wants everyone to join in on a conversation about understanding what consent and sexual heath look like.
“Our safe haven meet-ups are for students who are survivors of sexual violence as well as their allies,” Wesson said. “I want them (when students leave meetings) to know that regardless of their encounters or experiences, they have the power to control their life.”
Safety Net holds safe haven meetings biweekly from 6 to 8 p.m. They currently have 75 students on their email list, and it is continuing to grow, Harrough said.
Any student who becomes a victim of sexual assault on or near the U of M campus should report the incident to campus police or the Memphis Police Department as soon as possible.
