Breaking Stigmas and Busting Myths

BREAKING STIGMAS AND BUSTING MYTHS: FACILITATING PEER-LED SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION IN THE CORPS

By Cadet Kalista Luzanta, regimental public information officer and SVP leader

Through its partnership with Hokie Wellness, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets has proudly installed its Sexual Violence Prevention (SVP) program for its second year.

Since its start-up from President Tim Sands in 2021, the Virginia Tech Sexual Violence Prevention Initiative, formerly known as Virginia Tech’s Sexual Violence Culture and Climate Work Group, has been an advancement of the university’s commitment to addressing and preventing sexual violence. From providing resources, programs, and assessment tools for sexual violence, the initiative has made vast strides to ensure the university is a safer, responsible, and more educated place for its students and faculty.

Lt. Col. Don Russell, deputy commandant of Second Battalion, knew sexual violence was a severe issue in military settings, and wanted a preventative measure to be implemented in the Corps of Cadets.

"I've seen too many tragedies with sexual violence. The military, the service academies, and virtually all college campuses struggle with effective sexual violence prevention programming. The Corps is no different, but we are uniquely positioned to at least try to increase effectiveness," said Lt. Col. Russell.

The SVP workshop sessions were incorporated into second-year cadets' training and were facilitated by upperclassmen in the Corps. Sophomore cadets have the opportunity to step into leadership roles after Red Phase, and the SVP training provided during this period gives them the knowledge to successfully take care of their peers and subordinates.

Hokie Wellness is a program at Virginia Tech that educates its students on ways to uphold their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Its workshop "Deconstructing Sexual Violence" focuses on defining different forms of violence subsumed under sexual violence. It also addresses proactive bystander intervention strategies. The Corps had the privilege of working with Hokie Wellness's Chelsea Cleary, Virginia Tech's first sexual violence prevention specialist.

Cleary came to Virginia Tech in February 2022. Her primary role focuses on formulating preventive measures for sexual violence. Through her expertise, Cleary adapted the workshop material to take into account the unique experiences of military members. 

“This leadership initiative is so important, especially given how prevalent sexual and interpersonal violence is in our military and civilian communities. This initiative not only provided education on sexual violence prevention and active intervention for 285 sophomores but also provided the facilitators with the opportunity to develop their leadership around difficult and sensitive topics,” said Cleary.

SVP training started right after New Cadet Week. Cleary and her graduate student, Sarah Supplee, led six hours of training in one day for 12 cadets to become facilitators of SVP conversations. During the training, cadet facilitators walked through the workshop curriculum and what they would teach: knowledge checks, key terminology, and active intervention. All SVP leaders have expressed that they learned something new when being trained in workshop facilitation.

Knowledge checks consisted of threequestion quizzes concerning statistics and true or false statements regarding sexual violence. Many cadet facilitators were surprised by what the knowledge check revealed.

"One thing I learned during the SVP leaders training is just how many misconceptions there are regarding sexual violence," said facilitator Cadet Barrett Ferguson. A junior in 2nd Battalion, Ferguson said, "As cadets who will one day be leading others, it's important to be aware of the truths behind the misconceptions so we can protect ourselves and stand up for those we are responsible for."

SVP leaders also emphasized the value of the key terminology section and how it identifies the numerous terms related to sexual violence that are not widely recognized by college students.

Active intervention and its scenarios were the last portions of the curriculum. SVP leaders described how gender stigma and an individual's thoughts and feelings towards intervention can change how a person approaches a situation. One of the questions asked at the end of each scenario was, "Would your intervention have changed if the genders were reversed?"

"During our guided conversations on one of three scenarios during facilitation, many individuals expressed that their intervention strategies with sexual violence would change because the gender roles were reversed (male victim and female perpetrator)," said Yollande Djossou, a cadet in 2nd Battalion. "As future leaders, we are responsible for acknowledging the stigmas around male victims, preventing the norm around that stigma in our community, and treating every victim of sexual violence equally, no matter the gender of the victim."

The SVP program continued after Thursday Corps Lab for five weeks, starting at the beginning of the fall semester.

Through feedback surveys provided at the end of each training session, the second year of the SVP program seems to be successful, as many sophomore cadets have praised the importance of the SVP program and how beneficial it is for the program to be cadet-led. Many are also interested in being SVP leaders for next year's installment.

"I think that it's important that the SVP program is cadet-led because they are our leadership of the Corps, and it's important that other cadets feel safe around their leaders. I have been inspired to be an SVP leader because I want everyone around me, not just cadets, to know that I am a safe place for them as well," said Cadet Leilani Uribe, a sophomore in 2nd Battalion.

The Corps of Cadets intends to continue the SVP program for its fight against sexual assault at service academies and senior military colleges.