Rebels Against Sexual Assault wrote an open letter to the university in the hopes of gaining new staff members and 24/7 sexual assault nurse examiners at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford.
Former RASA President Sydney Green wrote the open letter last semester at the end of the “It’s On Us” campaign, which is a national week of action that campaigns for awareness of sexual assault on college campuses.
Sydney Green Photo by: Devna Bose
“The letter focused on maintaining existing services for sexual assault survivors and increasing resources allocated to the offices whose services are rapidly becoming overburdened due to the rising number of reports, mainly the violence prevention office and Title IX,” Green said. “The letter also requests that the university find a way to provide 24/7 medical services administered by a sexual assault nurse examiner.”
There is only one full-time employee in each office right now.
In the letter, RASA also asked for more employees to help in the violence prevention efforts. RASA has been working closely with the Violence Prevention Office to help meet the needs of all the students seeking services.
“I hope that more survivors will feel comfortable seeking the medical services that they need,” Green said. “Empowering survivors with a safe and confidential way to receive expert medical care and have evidence collected is the best way to encourage them to seek help.”
The university has responded very positively to RASA’s letter. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Brandi Hephner LaBanc met RASA representatives on the steps of the Lyceum to receive their open letter, and she gave a brief speech about the university’s commitment to providing Ole Miss student survivors with the best support services possible. She is helping RASA figure out what steps need to be taken in the future so that more support can be given to survivors.
Ole Miss currently has SANE-certified nurses working at the health center on campus, but they are only available during posted hours for students, faculty and staff. After the health center has closed, after-hours care is supposed to be taken care of by the hospital, which does not have any SANE-certified nurses on staff.
Green said it is not feasible for the health center on campus to be turned into a 24/7 medical facility, so there needs to be another safe place for survivors of sexual assaults to go where they feel comfortable.
Current RASA President Corbin Smith said they are hoping to get more SANE-certified nurses in the emergency room so everyone has access to medical care after having been sexually assaulted.
“Even if a member of the community who doesn’t have access to the health center goes to the hospital and is like, ‘I have been sexually assaulted,’ can get treated, and the emergency room is open 24/7,” Smith said. “So having a SANE nurse there 24/7 would be ideal for us because we want to make sure that the person who was assaulted is treated with dignity and respect and with someone who is trained in knowing how to handle a person who was just assaulted.”
Sophomore integrated marketing communications major Mary Albert said she would feel more comfortable going to a female nurse who is specially trained for sexual assault cases.
“If there were nurses specially trained and were … trained to handle sexual assault, I would definitely go or have my friends go if they were assaulted,” Albert said. “I’m not sure how we would pay for 24/7 nurses, but it would definitely be helpful because most cases of assault happen after closing hours.”
