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There is no place to protect people from sexual assault, stalking and domestic violence if no one stands up. These controversial issues are nationwide and worldwide and have been for a long time. It is not easy to resolve the problems, for many victims cannot express what they have undergone and they are often afraid of retribution and harm to their reputations.

How can they get safety from these dreadful circumstances? Even in a small scholastic community, the PCC Feminist Club provides a place to address painful experiences and accounts of unspeakable acts by sharing with others before a day of Thanksgiving.

The purpose of the meeting was “to provide a safe space for sexual assault survivors to share their experiences and get support,” said Mimi Li, ICC representative for the PCC Feminist Club. The meeting was held at Jameson Amphitheatre on campus to bring attention to “rape culture and victim blaming.”

Since the definition of feminism is that all genders must be treated equally, these issues are not unique to women and the event was open to all genders.

At the beginning of the meeting, Li started to read quotes from an Asian woman who suffered as a sex slave during World War II. Her reading out the cruel story about comfort women linked with recent sexual abuse victims’ accounts.

Attendees came up to the front of audience to speak out about harassment in their life. Some said they were so tired of these social issues in the life and there was no place for them to get counseling.

Hanna Bushman, psychology, said she has a friend who was sexually assaulted by a relative. After Bushman told her friend’s account, she discovered that talking about sexual assaults can stigmatize the victim.

Miriani Cervantes of Planned Parenthood discussed how women were treated in current society. She said she was offended to the unbalanced authority men have over women. She “realized she hated being female” because women are considered to have less power than men.

During the discussion, more people talked about their own issues and those of others. These expressions made many audiences get involved to find out a solution for the social problem.

Although they shared their accounts and discussed how they could evade harassment, many women still feel unsafe in this society. Further action such as workshops, meetings, and reexamination towards college policy on sexual assault will continue to help address the problem.

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