‘Reach Out Editions’ app provides support for sexual assault survivors
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and a new app called Reach Out Editions is helping college students who have been affected by sexual misconduct access important support and education resources both on- and off-campus.
The app was introduced by a company called Capptivation and is free to use. It features a campus specific homepage for each college or university, including schools outside of the United States.
From the homepage, users can access information about campus resources, medical care, how to report an incident, prevention, advocacy, and hotlines. The app also includes a link to Capptivation’s website for those who wish to get involved with the project.
“We believe that the cost of college tuition for a young student should not implicitly include, on top of room and board and a meal plan, a significant chance of being sexually assaulted,” said Billy Sadik-Khan, co-founder of Capptivation.
Jack Zandi, Racquel Giner, and Zach Csillag, and Sadik-Khan got the idea for Capptivation after graduating college in 2014. According to Sadik-Kahn, sexual misconduct on college campuses was frequently in the media around this time and kept coming up in their discussions about post-graduate plans.
“We identified a need for students to have all this crucial, hard-to-find, often difficult to understand information in an easy, intuitive and accessible format,” he said.
To access York College’s homepage, download the app in the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store, then search for “York College of PA.”
Over the last year, York College has introduced new efforts to prevent on-campus sexual assault as well as provide support for those who have been assaulted. Efforts include hiring Elizabeth Grubb as the school’s first coordinator of sexual assault education and programs at York College, as well as introducing mandatory Title IX training for all faculty. Reach Out Editions provides students with a simple way to learn about the support available anonymously.
Sadik Khan said that many colleges have made great strides in providing resources for survivors of sexual assault, as well as educating students on prevention strategies.
However, he added that, “many survivors do not know where to turn when they most need help, and feel that they are without choices — or alternatively, faced with far too many choices.”
The college will continue to hold various events on campus April 4 through April 7 for the school’s “It’s On Us” week of action against sexual assault.
