“There is hope in a healing journey”

Students found community before the Oct. 29, 2023 “Slut Walk” while making signs denouncing rape culture. Photo by Faith Delamarter.

Ana Dollard | STAFF REPORTER | adollard@butler.edu

Content warning — explicit references to sexual assault, sexual violence and rape.

For many who have experienced sexual assault or sexual violence, fear is a burden of everyday life. Whether it is the fear that they will not be believed, that they will be victims again or that they will come into contact with their attacker, fear is a tiring, daily constant. However, there are many organizations on and off Butler’s campus that are working to make this fear less prevalent and help victims and survivors alike heal from their experiences.

The Butler Survivor’s Alliance (BSA) is one of these organizations. Senior sociology-criminology major Sophie Knue, BSA founder and president, said the club is a resource and safe space for survivors and their allies to collaborate.

“The experiences that everyone has at Butler are different,” Knue said in a speech for a recent event, titled “Slut Walk”. “But many of us share one painful truth — being blamed for violence that was never our fault.”

The goal of Slut Walk was to destigmatize the word “slut”, which has commonly been used to shame victims of sexual assault and violence. Members dressed in their best Halloween costumes and walked around campus, proudly displaying signs with slogans such as: “I’m tired of planning my escape route every time I feel pretty” and “The way we dress ≠ yes!” Slut walk is part of many events the BSA is hosting, which can be found on their Instagram or on Engage.

According to its members, the BSA started two years ago as a much smaller student organization.

Knue described watching the organization grow.

“I remember in the very beginning, we had five people interested in being a part of it, and they were all on the board,” Knue said. “Now we have almost 200 people that have signed up for the email list or [are connected] on Engage or on Instagram. Now faculty are joining in more. And we have the amazing support of Dr. Ross, [and Jules Grable talks] about us to everyone that she meets.”

The quick growth of the organization speaks to the necessity of having a space on campus that promotes activism and healing. Many feel as if they have nobody to turn to when they first experience an incident as horrific as being sexually assaulted, which is part of why the BSA was founded. It acts as a space for victims and allies to build community with each other, educating themselves and finding healing along the way. However, the BSA is not the only comforting presence for victims and survivors.

Jules Grable, the director of student advocacy and the faculty advisor for the BSA, has been a vital resource for students.

“There is hope in a healing journey,” Grable said. “There is hope in creating a campus community where these things don’t have a space anymore. In my job and various avenues of Butler’s Survivor Alliance and Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment (PAVE), all the work that we do collectively works towards building up that hope and creating a place where everyone can feel safe and loved.”

Grable is not a mandatory reporter, making her a confidential resource for students. She works with a range of student concerns, including food insecurity, homelessness and family issues. She said her favorite part of her job is seeing students thrive despite the hardships they have experienced.

“My absolute favorite thing is when a survivor that I’ve worked with comes back months, years later and says, ‘I’m doing really well,’” Grable said. “Occasionally, I’ll get students [who] come back with little thank you notes, and I save every single one of those, and keep them close to my heart because we don’t always see the happy ending.”

Grable’s efforts at making campus a safer place are coupled with the BSA’s dedication to helping victims thrive. The safe nature of the club allows students to take as much or as little as they need from each event.

Gabi Mathus, a senior criminology-psychology major and vice president of the BSA, shared her experience with another event the BSA hosted, Coloring and Critical Conversations.

“My favorite part about that is you can just sit in the middle of the room, fill out your coloring sheet and not say a word and that’s just a space for you to do it,” Mathus said. “Or you can be like, ‘Hey, this is what happened to me. This is how I’m feeling about it. I feel like I need to reclaim my power in this way.’”

A strong community has been formed within the two-year time span of the BSA’s existence. For Butler students who have been survivors of sexual assault themselves or for allies of those who have, the BSA is a warm and welcoming place to exhale, reflect, make friends or learn more about advocacy.

Mathus is one of the few members who have been with the organization since its inception. However, according to Mathus, the journey hasn’t always been smooth.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs in terms of our events and our club’s foundation, where people have questioned whether we even need to exist as an organization,” Mathus said.

While some may believe that sexual assault is rare or uncommon, the uncomfortable truth is that one in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives, and more than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault. With these statistics in mind, the BSA and other organizations like it are imperative to the well-being of students on campus.

For the annual “Slut Walk” event last year, the BSA had requested a grant from the Student Government Association (SGA) for Insomnia Cookies. Mathus described how, ultimately, the SGA did not approve the funding.

“There was a lot of pushback regarding the naming of the event, which was not in their purview to decide,” Mathus said. “So, we had a bit of dialogue back and forth, and, ultimately, they decided to not give us the grant for the event. But, the Student Activities Office was charitable enough to fund our cookie buying.”

Despite challenges, the BSA has flourished and become an integral group on Butler’s campus. As graduating seniors place the organization in the hands of their younger peers, the BSA will continue its efforts in advocacy and community, marking its place as a vital group at Butler.

Additionally, if someone feels they could be better served with different resources, there are plenty of off-campus organizations dedicated to helping victims and survivors of sexual assault.

Some of the off-campus organizations that Butler partners with include the Julian Center and Firefly Children and Family Alliance. The Julian Center offers services such as emergency shelter, legal services, advocacy, crisis intervention, self-sufficiency and youth enrichment. In addition, the Firefly Children and Family Alliance offers sexual assault survivor resources.

Sexual assault is an uncomfortable topic for many, which is part of the reason why it is so difficult to get help. Stigma, shame and fear often block the path to a healing journey. While it can be scary to self-advocate, the Butler-Indianapolis community has a plethora of people working tirelessly to help those who need it.

Butler Resources

Butler University Title IX Resources

Jules Grable — Atherton Union 316 — jearthur@butler.edu

Office of Student Advocacy Cell Phone — 317-910-5572

Office of Student Advocacy Office Phone — 317-940-2047

BUPD — 317-940-9999

Counseling & Consultation Services — Health & Recreation Complex 120

Counseling & Consultation Services Office Phone: 317-940-9385

Local Resources

Indiana Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program — 317-247-3172

The Julian Center — 317-941-2200 (24 hour crisis line)

Firefly Children and Family Alliance — 317-264-2700