MIT Student Advocates for Survivors

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MIT Student Advocates for Survivors

MIT's undergraduate student group to advocate for better MIT policy supporting survivors and educate students about reporting and support options.

If you would like to help us, have questions, or want to plan an event email us at [email protected]!

06/23/2021

Happy pride month! MIT SAS supports LGBTQ+ survivors and recognizes that LGBTQ+ individuals face higher levels of violence than other folks. SAS has compiled some boston-area and national resources that specifically serve LGBTQ+ folks, including , and ! Comment your favorite LGBTQ+ resources and organizations below that others should know about!

*xualassault *xualharassment

04/22/2021

Tonight at 6pm SAS will be discussing Title IX both nationally and at MIT, and what MIT can do to better protect survivors. We will also be sharing experiences survivors have had going through the Title IX process. Join us at tiny.cc/sas-titleix. Zoom link is also in bio.

Title: IX a Call to Action!
Thurs Apr 22 @ 6pm ET | Zoom: tiny.cc/sas-titleix
Event description:
It has been 49 years since Title IX was established to prevent gender discrimination in educational institutions. But since then, it has been a long struggle to fight against s*xual violence and discrimination. Join Student Advocates for Survivors this Thursday April 22 at 6pm ET to learn about the activism that brought us Title IX and how student and activist efforts continue to fight to protect students today. Zoom link is in bio.

If you are interested in getting involved, email [email protected] or fill out our interest form: tinyurl.com/interestmitsas *xualassault

04/20/2021

Title: IX a Call to Action!
Thurs Apr 22 @ 6pm ET | Zoom: tiny.cc/sas-titleix
Event description:
It has been 49 years since Title IX was established to prevent gender discrimination in educational institutions. But since then, it has been a long struggle to fight against s*xual violence and discrimination. Join Student Advocates for Survivors this Thursday April 22 at 6pm ET to learn about the activism that brought us Title IX and how student and activist efforts continue to fight to protect students today. Zoom link is in bio. Photo is from student protestors at Princeton in 2019 protesting their administrations handling of title ix cases.

04/16/2021

Today is the last day to register for our coping skills event with VPR! It is April 27th from 6:30-7:30ET. Registration link is in our bio. The first 20 registrants will receive a free “coping skills toolbox”!

Event description:
Join VPR and SAS in a workshop designed to increase your coping skills “toolbox” to use in moments of distress. All survivors and allies are welcome! Register for the event here by April 16th. VPR will mail out items for this toolbox to the first 20 students who sign up. Zoom link will be sent prior to the event.

Register at: tinyurl.com/SAAMCopingSkillsEvent

04/14/2021

week 10: “The Title IX investigators mixed up the Respondent’s and my account of what happened in a summary of one of my interviews. When I brought this to their attention, they went back to their notes and agreed they had gotten mixed up, but were reluctant to delete or even amend the incorrect information.” -- Anonymous MIT Student

This is unacceptable. All parties involved in a TIX investigation should be entitled to fair and honest representation of their accounts. Furthermore, investigators should be held to the highest standard to ensure that information is complete, correct, and truly representative of the interviews performed.

SAS is advocating for greater transparency and accountability in the investigative process, with improved training and reporting such that poor conduct like this cannot further harm survivors.

If you would like to share your experience of s*xual misconduct at MIT (including assault, harassment, intimate partner violence, stalking), you can submit anonymous testimonials at https://tinyurl.com/SASTestimonial. If you are interested in getting involved or if you would like to talk to someone, you can email us directly at [email protected]

*xualassault

04/11/2021

SAS is hosting different events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month! Come join us! Swipe through to find descriptions of each event. Links to Zoom and registration links are in our bio. Survivors, we are here to support you through this difficult month.

Grounding Flow Yoga with Zan Barry
Tues Apr 13th @ 5:15pm | Zoom: tiny.cc/sas-yoga

Title IX: A Call to Action
Thurs Apr 22nd @ 6pm | Zoom: tiny.cc/sas-titleix

Coping Skills to Support Healing (w VPR)
Tues Apr 27th @ 6:30pm| Reg by Apr 16th to receive toolbox
Register: tinyurl.com/SAAMCopingSkillsEvent

SAAM Slam (w MITMo + UA Wellcomm)
Fri Apr 30th @ 7pm | Submissions due Mon Apr 23rd
Submissions: tiny.cc/saam-slam-subs
Zoom: tiny.cc/saam-slam21

Support the Survivors in Your Life (w VPR)
Tue May 4th @ 6pm | Zoom: tiny.cc/saam-support

If you have questions or are interested in getting involved, fill out the interest form in our bio or email [email protected].

03/31/2021

“I reported to my program coordinator about my physically abusive partner and she told me she didn't see any bruises so there was nothing to do” - Anonymous MIT Community Member

Reporting abuse should never be met with skepticism - only with support and kindness.
Furthermore, a program coordinator is not an investigator and should not be evaluating whether there is sufficient evidence or whether a situation is serious enough to warrant investigation. We need to increase support and education in how to properly respond to students disclosing harm they have experienced. Program coordinators are responsible employees who should know how to direct students towards appropriate support and resources.

SAS is pushing for staff and faculty to have comprehensive trauma informed training to properly know so that hurtful situations like this can be avoided and MIT community members can be properly supported.

If you would like to share your experience of s*xual misconduct at MIT (including assault, harassment, intimate partner violence, stalking), you can submit anonymous testimonials at https://tinyurl.com/SASTestimonial. If you are interested in getting involved or if you would like to talk to someone, you can email us directly at [email protected]

*xualassault *xualmisconduct *xualviolence *xualabuse

03/18/2021

CW: Sexual Assault
“In their report, the Title IX investigators said that a conversation about birth control could be a form of effective consent.” - Anonymous MIT Student

“Effective Consent” is informed; freely and voluntarily given; mutually understandable words or actions which indicate willing participation in mutually agreed upon s*xual activity. This definition is weaponized against survivors by scrutinizing minor details of assaults to accuse them of consenting when they, in fact, did not. But consent isn’t a willingness to participate, it is clear, it is ongoing, and conversations about birth control, or any other conversation, cannot imply clear ongoing consent. This is why we are calling for MIT to change their policy to Affirmative Consent — an informed, affirmative, conscious, voluntary, and mutual agreement to engage in s*xual activity given by words or actions, as long as those words or actions create clear permission regarding willingness to engage in the s*xual activity. This definition recognizes how outrageous it is to stretch details to give perpetrators the benefit of the doubt, when they should have clear permission from others when they engage in s*xual activity.

If you would like to share your experience of s*xual violence at MIT (including assault, harassment, IPV, stalking), you can submit an anonymous testimonial at https://tinyurl.com/SASTestimonial. Or you can email us directly at [email protected]

*xualassault

03/12/2021

SAS has written an op ed about MIT’s ties with child s*x trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein.
Earlier this school year, MIT released their disciplinary decisions on Seth Lloyd, the professor who repeatedly accepted money from Jeffrey Epstein without disclosing Epstein’s status as a s*x offender to the Institute. MIT chose not to fire Lloyd, but to lower his pay, restrict his responsibility to advise first years for a period of five years, and participate in ‘training on professional conduct.’ MIT determined that Lloyd had not broken any MIT policy through his friendship with Epstein nor his solicitation of donations, but only by not disclosing Epstein’s status to MIT before accepting the first donation. That is because donations from Epstein to Lloyd and other MIT professors and organizations were approved and hidden from the public by MIT’s top administration.

The judgement from the Goodwin Proctor Report, which was requested by MIT, and MIT reduces the enabling of a predator and the normalization of his interactions with the rich and powerful to ‘errors in judgement.’ Further, MIT’s administration and Senior Council neglected to create any criteria to determine who MIT leaders should associate with and accept donations from. This is not leadership. This is a risk to our community. Students should not live in fear because we allow global child s*x traffickers with enough money to roam our halls with the legitimacy of our leaders. Students should not be forced to associate with morally bankrupt professors in order to complete their education. MIT’s failure to properly punish those at the very core of this scandal illustrates its lack of commitment to its community and the survivors of s*xual violence among it.

Read the full article at https://thetech.com/2021/02/25/mit-administration-epstein-op-ed or by clicking the link in our bio.

*xualassault

03/10/2021

“When I told a professor I didn’t feel safe in the department because they gave my ra**st a slap on the wrist, she told me I had to find safety within myself.”

This response is unacceptable. It is not acceptable to invalidate and dictate how survivors should feel about inadequate support. Survivors who express that they feel unsafe should be supported and given the resources they need. Furthermore, MIT should protect survivors rather than force them to protect themselves after they have already been violated.

This is why we are pushing for comprehensive trauma-informed training about how to respond to s*xual harassment and assault for all members of the MIT community.

If you would like to share your experience of s*xual violence at MIT (including assault, harassment, IPV, stalking), you can submit an anonymous testimonial at https://tinyurl.com/SASTestimonial. Or you can email us directly at [email protected]

*xualassault

02/24/2021

“After my assault, I took a medical leave. As a graduate student, I depend on my health insurance from MIT. During my leave, my health insurance was no longer covered by the institute at a time in my life when my medical bills were at their highest. Ultimately I had to return from medical leave prematurely because I simply couldn’t afford it.” - Anonymous MIT Student

No student should be prevented from taking or forced to return from medical leave due to financial burden. As an institution with an 18 billion dollar endowment, MIT’s lack of financial support for survivors is astonishing when it would merely be a drop in the bucket. Graduate students often have no other source of income or health insurance outside of MIT and are dependent upon MIT for their livelihood.

To be denied these benefits due to medical leave makes students feel unvalued as members of the MIT community and disempowers them from taking the recovery they might need. Students on temporary leave are still members of the MIT community, and should be supported as such. This is why we are pushing for better support for survivors at MIT.

If you would like to share your experience of s*xual violence at MIT (including assault, harassment, IPV, stalking), you can submit an anonymous testimonial at https://tinyurl.com/SASTestimonial. Or you can email us directly at [email protected]. *xualassault

02/02/2021

“After my s*xual assault, I sent my professor an email asking for a test to be moved. I stressed the fact that I was dealing with things outside of academics—if I had to take this test, I would fail. I didn’t want to explain the weeks of VPR appointments, the Title IX meeting that didn’t go the way I wanted, all of the doubts that were swirling around in my mind.

My professor emailed me back saying that life was unfair for everyone, and I didn’t deserve special treatment because I was homesick. I had never mentioned being homesick in my email. He assumed I was a freshman. I failed the exam.”

After a student has gone through a traumatic incident, they should not have to explain their need for academic accommodations. It is difficult enough to go through s*xual assault, professors need to be open and helpful—not damaging to their students.

While on campus resources exist (like S^3 for undergrads), they should not be necessary for students to be treated with decency and respect. This is why we’re pushing for trauma-informed comprehensive training about how to respond to s*xual harassment and assault for all members of the MIT community.

If you would like to share your experience of s*xual violence at MIT (including assault, harassment, IPV, stalking), you can submit an anonymous testimonial at https://tinyurl.com/SASTestimonial or the link in our bio. Or you can email us directly at [email protected]

*xualharassment *xualassault *xualmisconduct

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Website

https://tinyurl.com/interestsas

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