HJAR Sep/Oct 2024

you wearing?" says so much and speaks volumes to people because I can't tell you how many victims, survivors that I've worked with over the years, victims, sur- vivors for whom that was one of the first things people would ask. What does it mat- ter? I remember one student from 20 some years ago. She'll reach back to me now and then. She was sexually assaulted after a bas- ketball game by the person that she was dat- ing at the time. Two days later, she went to work and told her boss, "I'm sorry I missed work yesterday, but this is what happened to me the night before." And the first thing her boss asked her was, "Well, what were you wearing?" And I'll never forget, she said, "Well, T-shirt and jeans," with an explicit word after T-shirt and jeans. What would you wear to a basketball game? What does it matter what kind of thing? But our society re-victimizes individuals over and over again as well because of all the victim-blaming myths out there. They place the onus of the victimization on the victim and then, by default, they minimize, overlook, if not excuse, or, in some cases, even validate the offender's behaviors and actions. We see revictimization on a three- fold front from an increased risk of sexual assault occurring again, to systemic revic- timization because of the processes in place, to our cultural aspects as well. Editor "You had it coming." Wyandt-Hiebert Yeah. Editor Gosh, that's just awful. Tell us about your center and, if you will, how you got involved with this. Wyandt-Hiebert Way back when, when I took my first health education position as a community health educator in a small, rural farming town in Pennsylvania, there wasn't a whole lot to do in that community. So, I decided to engage in community service, and the local domestic violence and rape crisis center was looking for volunteers. That seemed worthy to me. I did the extensive, 120-hour training program to be a victim advocate. There was a need at the domestic violence shelter in that particular community for advocates who could stay overnight. I was single and young at the time and thought, "I can sleep here on the couch just as easily as I can sleep in my bed and then get up in the morning and go to work; but if there's an intake, I can do the intake in the middle of the night, get folks settled in, and go back to sleep on the couch and go to work." So, I did a lot of overnight shifts volunteering at the domestic violence shelter. I always knew I wanted to work in college health. This position came open at the Uni- versity of Arkansas, and it was of interest to me. Part of it was dealing with sexual assault risk reduction and prevention education, and the other part was to deal with HIV/AIDS risk reduction education. That was 26 years ago. We had more of a need to do some very inten- sive programming in the area of HIV/AIDS. So much is done now in the schools and every- where else; it's become so endemic that peo- ple don't have the same stigmas and hang- ups that they had 26 years ago about HIV/ AIDS. It’s still an important issue to address but doesn't need to be addressed in the same way. But the position of sexual violence con- tinues to plague not only college campuses, but the nation, the world as a whole because we don't talk about it enough and recognize how prevalent it is. From there, the charge that I was also given by the director back then was to cre- ate a programunlike anything they had here before. From there, we grew to where we're at today with the Sexual and Relationship Violence Center. It started out with a part- time, dedicated position toward addressing sexual assault and relationship violence to creating the Sexual and Relationship Vio- lence Center that we have on campus today, Suggestions for creating a trauma-informed space include: • Variable lighting options. • Softening elements like throwpillows, throwblankets, upholstery, and rugs. • Wood or simulated wood furnishings kept to natural colors. • Emulation of windows with mirrors when in an interior room. • Elements of nature inside through artwork and high- quality faux plants. • Neutral wall colors with white and grey trim, accented with blues and teals that elicit calmness and warmth. “Part of being trauma informed is being sensitive to the fact that this individual is telling [their story] over again and creating an environment that feels a little bit safer and giving them choices...”