Roundtable participants pictured, from left to right: Tre'Andre Valentine (The Network la Red), Skye Brown (Multicultural Efforts to End Sexual Assault), Stephanie Hausen (ALSO), Lisa Gilmore (Illinois Accountability Initiative), and Emily Waters (New York City Anti-Violence Project).  

At the end of June, I attended a two-day OVW roundtable focused on “Addressing Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, and Stalking in LGBT Communities on Campus” after OVW asked ALSO for recommendations on a facilitator as well as an official note taker, a role I assumed. Policy makers and LGBT campus advocates chosen by OVW joined forces to 1) discuss and review current support services, advocacy, and resources for LGBT students on campuses, 2) identify training gaps and needs to improve sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, and stalking prevention and response efforts for LGBT students, 3) discuss the impact of policies on campus culture for LGBT students, and 4) identify frameworks, best practices, and policy recommendations that support LGBT communities on campus. The roundtable was facilitated by consultant Lisa Gilmore of the Illinois Accountability Initiative.

For me, this was a powerful and impactful meeting. Just two weeks earlier, the tragic Orlando mass shooting at “Pulse” night club occurred.  Although this was a heartbreaking time for all of us, being surrounded by advocates who exuded so much passion and love for their work with the LGBT community was exceptionally heartwarming and meaningful to me. I came into this conversation as a clean slate, fairly new to issues of LGBT domestic and sexual violence on campus. Not only did this roundtable educate me about the inadequacies of current policies and the struggle for LGBT students to remain safe on college campuses, it allowed me to recognize my own privilege and my place in all of this. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to help raise this awareness.

Throughout the two days, participants identified college and university campus lack of understanding and knowledge around LGBT issues as a substantial reason why LGBT students on campus do not feel safe or supported. Participants discussed how campus policy and culture, administration, and bureaucracy create a barrier in providing support to LGBT students and stressed that the institutions need a cultural transformation. In order to reach this transformation, participants urged institutions to practice within a human rights framework and to be inclusive and intentional when incorporating policies for LGBT students, especially LGBT students of color. As various cultures view safety differently, campuses need to be aware of how privilege plays out in the concept of safety.

Participants also shared their experiences with federal campus policies such as Title IX, VAWA (Violence Against Women Act), Clery Act, and disclosure, reporting, and confidentiality procedures and outcomes. Participants explained why some of these policies do not fully support LGBT students - many students do not think these policies apply to them, fear mandated reporting because they lack trust in the system, and are confused by policies that can be overwhelming, inaccessible, and inconsistent across college campuses.

Together, the policy makers and LGBT advocates participating generated ideas to combat these gaps such as using gender inclusive language, power restructuring, more transparent policy definitions, institutional accountability, ongoing and intentional training, and victim- and survivor-centered approaches. These changes will hopefully help reframe campus communities and make them safer and more inclusive for LGBT students.

OVW will be generating a report on this roundtable and using the information internally to guide them on next steps with their work on campuses.

Written by Stephanie Hausen, MSW
ALSO Program Coordinator

District of Columbia