Survivor Advocacy Services

OUR MISSION

Survivor Advocacy Services strives to reduce the impact of gender-based violence at UTC and in the community through advocacy to support survivors of relationship violence, sexual assault, stalking and sexual harassment.

For limited confidential help, contact Emily Rosenquist, primary victim advocate, at 423-425-5648 or [email protected]. For after hours concerns, please contact UTC's CARE Line at 423-425-2273 and press "5". 

If there is an immediate threat: 

call 911 (off-campus) or 423-425-4357 (on-campus)

WHAT IS GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE?

A type of violence committed by an offender who uses the assertion of power, control, and/or intimidation to harm another. These acts may be committed by strangers, friends, acquaintances, intimates or other persons.

Gender-based violence traditionally has been known as violence against women, but as we strive to understand these crimes we must acknowledge that the terminology "violence against women" diminishes the experiences of male survivors and those not included in the gender binary. While these crimes are overwhelmingly committed by men, the overriding similarities in these crimes are not the gender of the perpetrator or the victim, but the desire to assert power and control over another person. Often this assertion of power and control manifests in feminizing the victim regardless of the gender or sex of the victim. Because we devalue the feminine within our culture, this "violence against the feminine" is often about either demonstrating the perceived weakness and helplessness of the victim and/or the assumed strength and superiority of the perpetrator.

MYTH VS. REALITY

Only women can be victims.

Danger is from strangers, not those we know. 

Only "those kind of people" are victimized.

We can make ourselves safe from violence if we just (fill in the blank).

One in four COLLEGE WOMEN will be sexually assaulted during her time on campus.

85% of sexual violence is committed by someone the victim knows.

Nine out of ten women in college who are raped never report.

One in six women and one in thirty-three men have experienced an attempted or completed rape.

57% of students who have reported being in an abusive dating relationship said it occurred in college. 

OUR OFFICE

Survivor Advocacy Services is located in the Center for Women and Gender Equity within Lupton Hall. Appointments are encouraged but walk-in appointments are available. You can also contact us directly by email, [email protected].