Q&A: Cassie Hurley answers questions about sexual assault education
Cassie Hurley is the Larimer County Victim Services and Outreach Coordinator for SAVA, a Sexual Assault Victim Advocacy in Northern Colorado. She attended college at Colorado State University where she is pursuing her Master’s in Social Work. I reached out to Hurley to discuss the topic of sexual assault education and how it may affect victim’s response to assault.
Hattie Williams: Many times after an assault occurs, victims are confused, scared, and don’t know where to turn to find their way to healing. After a sexual assault occurs, what is the next steps that the individual should take?
Cassie Hurley: We always recommend survivors to reach out to an advocacy center to learn about their options… We want to provide the survivor with all of the options for support, and give them the power to decide what will be best for their healing process. Allowing the survivor to make these decisions can be incredibly empowering.
Williams: When assault happens people respond in different ways. How do most individuals respond to sexual assault? Report? Stay quiet?
Hurley: No two people react exactly the same after an assault. It often takes time to process what happened, and to remember what happened (some never remember all of what occurred due to protective factors our bodies/brains use during an assault). Many survivors don’t recognize that they experienced sexual assault because of what society has taught us to understand about sexual violence. The majority of survivors are victimized by someone they know and trust, while society prepares us to primarily worry about strangers attacking. This can make it extremely confusing and hard to process when it is someone the survivor cares about.
Williams: How soon do most victims report their assault, if ever?
Hurley: It really varies. Some survivors report the day of, and some may not be ready to for months, even years. Some choose never to report for reasons mentioned above.
Williams: Sex education in high schools are extremely important to young individual’s understanding of topics like drugs, sex, and healthy relationships. When it comes to education on assault in schools the main focus is on prevention and the topic of post-assault is not covered in depth. Do you feel young individuals (high school aged) are educated well enough on the post-assault process?
Hurley: A lot more prevention work is happening within schools. Young people are becoming educated around sexual violence at an earlier age than in the past. SAVA works with middle and high school students in Larimer and Weld County teaching about topics such as, healthy relationships, boundaries, consent, and how to support survivors. Through these trainings, students learn how to provide options for individuals after an assault. This includes who they can report to and information about community resources
Williams: Do you feel if school’s sexual education programs taught students how to report/what to do after an assault, then it would make a difference? How?
Hurley: I do think it is helpful for students to know who they can report to, and to know what resources are available to support them. Our prevention team provides this information to students. As our team creates a safe space for students, they sometimes receive disclosures of sexual violence that lead to a report.
Williams: How would a sexual assault aftermath education help students that are assaulted or could possibly be assaulted in the future?
Hurley: Education about options after an assault can be helpful in terms of survivors getting connected to support sooner.
For more information on sexual assault and to stay educated about the steps that can be taken after assault please visit these links:
