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S.O.S. gives rape victims somewhere to turn

Angela Sequin (right), S.O.S. coordinator, conducts a training session for several students, including Leslie (left).
2:31 p.m., April 4, 2005--April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and UD’s Sexual Offense Support group (S.O.S.) is planning a month of events designed to raise consciousness about the problem of unwanted sexual contact and its ramifications.

Activities include a speech on Thursday, April 14, by Debra Puglisi Sharp, the Delaware woman who survived captivity and rape by the man who murdered her husband. Sharp is the author of Shattered, the story of her ordeal.

Angela Seguin, S.O.S. coordinator, said “There will be nationally known speakers and events for survivors of rape and for a general audience throughout the month.“

Sequin said S.O.S. is also in the process of developing a performance group, similar to SCREAM (Students Challenging Reality and Educating Against Myths) Theatre at Rutgers University. SCREAM is a peer-interactive theater program, written and acted by undergraduate students, that educates groups and initiates dialogue about issues of interpersonal violence.

S.O.S. has been a part of the University of Delaware for more than 30 years. It is a volunteer organization, serving survivors of all forms of sexual assault, dedicated to educating the UD community about the issues.

Under the aegis of Wellspring, a program of the Center for Counseling and Student Development, S.O.S. empowers individuals and groups to respond to survivors of sexual assault in ways that are confidential, empathic and nonjudgmental, Sequin said. It is primarily made up of student members with some community volunteers.

In the years S.O.S. has been in existence, more than 540 members have shared in its work. The group has grown, and its emphasis has broadened from stranger rape to date and acquaintance rape to childhood sexual abuse and the role of alcohol and other drugs in facilitating rape.

S.O.S. began in 1976 with the help of the late Marjorie McKusick, then director of UD’s Student Health Services and Marge Kingdon, at that time with the Counseling Center. The group consisted of two coordinators and six members and was under the administrative umbrella of the Division of Student Affairs.

S.O.S. transferred to UD’s Student Health Services in 1977. Men became members two years later when Paul Ferguson joined the organization, serving as coordinator from 1986-92.

With the addition of men, S.O.S. was able to broaden its services and include programs for male victims and victimizers.

S.O.S. student volunteers Ashley (left) and Susan
In the ‘80s, S.O.S. developed a brochure focusing on date rape, entitled "Sex and Aggression in Relationships,” designed a survey on gender relationships and campus sexual assault and served on key committees of the UD President's Solutions to Sexual Violence Task Force. It also became involved in the planning and presentation of the University's annual Sexual Assault Awareness Week activities.

In 1994, it was awarded a grant from the Delaware Women's Fund to expand its services into community high schools.

Later, when the administration of Wellspring was transferred to the Center for Counseling and Student Development, S.O.S. became more directly linked to the center.

Today, S.O.S. provides:

  • 24-hour support for sexual assault survivors, as well as survivors' friends, roommates, significant others, family members and colleagues;
  • A supportive discussion series for survivors of sexual assault, scheduled based on interest and need; and
  • Educational programs about sexual assault that can be presented in residence halls, for sororities and fraternities, for class presentations or before any group.

Volunteers carry beepers, Sequin said, to quickly respond to those who call the hotline for help. When someone calls the hotline, a nurse answers the call and beeps a volunteer, who counsels the caller over the phone.

“We respond within five minutes after the initial call. If a person needs a physical exam, we will accompany them to the hospital or to the police department and even stay with them through part of the judicial process,” Seguin said. “The hotline is credible to victims because of its complete confidentiality.”

Seguin said most of the hotline calls are from people who were raped, but they also receive calls from those who are just starting to remember they were sexually abused in childhood, inquiries about sexually transmitted diseases and calls from parents seeking guidance and emotional support when their child has been assaulted.

For more information, visit [www.udel.edu/wellspring/SOS/SOSmain.htm].

Article by Barbara Garrison
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson

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