Sexual Assault
1 in 5 women have experienced completed or attempted sexual assault since starting college
1 in 5 women have been raped in their lifetime
1 in 71 men have been raped in their lifetime
Source: Center for Disease Control
If students were to witness someone being sexually assaulted and don't know what to do, they can now access information through a mobile application created by the Office of Student Affairs.
The "Step In. Speak Up." app gives information on definitions of sexual assault, dating violence and stalking, as well as guidance on what to do if students experience any of those things.
It also gives bystander interference tips, reporting options and resources available on campus and in the community. The app includes direct lines to university police and victim advocate services.
Kay Bales, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, said the purpose of the app is to provide information to students at a moment's notice if they need it.
“I think what makes this particular initiative different is that it’s very easy to carry with you, and if you think about what is the one thing students always carry with them, it’s their phone,” Bales said. “And so we think that’s a very convenient way to have important information with them.”
The "Step In. Speak Up." campaign began at Ball State in late October as an adaption of the federal "It’s On Us" program.
The program focuses on bystander intervention, since most people are bystanders, not victims.
“That’s where I think we can be most helpful to folks: when they serve as bystanders,” Thomas Gibson, associate vice president for student affairs, said in October. “They have that opportunity to step in, speak up and do something.”
Bales said she hopes students will use this app to help.
“I think all of us at one time or another in our lives have witnessed something that didn’t seem right, but we weren’t sure what to do,” Bales said. “So if students are … trying to figure out how to intervene and remain safe, we hope that these are things they can use.”
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