Listen. This is most important!

• Be non-judgmental. Don’t criticize your friend’s decisions or actions.
• Believe them. Survivors of violence need to validate their experience.
• Don't blame the survivor. No one deserves to be sexually assaulted, abused, or stalked, and it was not the survivor’s fault.
• Let the survivor control the situation. Offer options, but let the survivor make their own decisions. Don’t touch or hug them unless they say it’s OK.
• Don't be afraid to get outside help. Offer to help your friend report the violence to campus authorities if they have not already done so, but let it be their decision. Call for help if your friend is in immediate danger.
• Help your friend access resources. Don’t try to be their only source of support. You might suggest they seek counseling, medical attention, or other resources, especially if they seem to be in distress.

Domestic / Dating Violence and Stalking:

• Let your friend know you are concerned about their safety. Let them know they deserve a healthy, non-violent relationship.
• Acknowledge that your friend is in a scary and possibly confusing situation. Understand that leaving a relationship is not always easy and doing so can be dangerous.
• Take your friend’s concerns seriously. Stalking is serious and dangerous. It is not a joke.
• If a sexual assault has just occurred, respond to the survivor’s safety and medical needs:
• Find a safe place away from the assailant.
• Encourage the survivor to get medical attention at a hospital emergency room, but let it be the survivor’s decision. The hospital will treat injuries and test for STIs and pregnancy. Evidence collection is most viable right away, but can be done up to a week after the assault.
• The survivor can decide later whether to press charges.

Loyola University Chicago’s Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT) brings together students, staff and faculty to create a campus culture where gender-based violence of any kind, specifically domestic/dating violence, sexual assault and stalking (DVSAS) is not tolerated. Through our commitment to education, training, increased accessibility to services, and promotion of accountability and justice – our diverse campus community is safer and more supportive of survivors.

Learn more at www.luc.edu/ccrt.