Organizers from Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment hosted a panel Wednesday to provide UW-Madison students with information on resources available to help victims of sexual assault.
Representatives from the Rape Crisis Center, Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, Office of the Dean of Students, University Health Services, UW Police Department and a sexual assault nurse examiner were present to explain how to prevent sexual assault and describe the best ways to help victims.
According to Rosalie Migas, director of services at Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, one major problem facing DAIS is that the shelter for victims is almost always full.
""We have the highest per capita residence ratio in the entire state. In Dane County, we have one bed for approximately every 19,000 residents,"" Migas said. ""The average shelter in the state of Wisconsin is one per every 7,000 residents.""
According to Migas, a drawback with the tight space is when they are at full capacity they must enforce a waiting list and serve those in immediate danger first.
The services provided by DAIS are similar to those in the RCC and UHS. They all provide versions of counseling and support systems for those looking to leave abusive relationships or who have been assaulted.
According to Jennifer Hendrickson, community education coordinator at the RCC, there are always employees available to go to the hospital when a victim of abuse arrives in the emergency room and the hospital contacts the RCC.
Hendrickson attends workshops to speak about consent, and said one of the most important things people can do for a victim of sexual assault is to provide support.
""We talk about how people can be supportive to someone who has gone through sexual assault,"" she said.
According to Jennifer Young, senior psychologist for University Health Services, UHS provides similar services with mental health, individual, group and couple counseling free for any UW-Madison student.
""The main thing is individual therapy to help planning safety, trauma recovery and helping the victim focus and study so they can stay in school,"" she said.
For more information regarding these resources, visit www.uhs.wisc.edu.
