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That point was reinforced dramatically by Jennifer Naccarelli,
co-director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Gender-Based
Violence. Directing her comments to students who may be suffering abuse,
she listed multiple warning signs — being intimidated, threatened,
humiliated, isolated, controlled, physically harmed by an abuser — and
repeated emphatically, “We see you, we hear you, and we are here for
you.”
Bonnie Trelease, a junior, shared her own story of being assaulted
and the common perception that the victim must have done something to
cause the incident. “Please know it’s not your fault,” she said.
Too often, women are blamed for the mistreatment that happens to
them, said Audrey Keen, a junior who spoke about the pervasive problem
of gender-based violence. She recalled telling a friend about an awkward
encounter with a man, and the friend responded by saying, “That’s
awful, but what were you wearing?”
“It shouldn’t matter what I was wearing that day, but someone I
considered a friend decided that my outfit was more important than my
basic human rights,” Keen said. “We have to be there for each other. …
Women deserve to feel safe, respected and empowered. Gender-based
violence is preventable, but it takes all of us.”