Close
Close
Search this website

Sexual Violence Prevention & Awareness

Stop sexual assault

Universities across the country are grappling with the issue of sexual assault on their campuses and FIU is no exception. While reports of sexual violence at FIU are low, the safety of students is our top priority and we are committed to being proactive to prevent and stop sexual violence on our campuses.

Preventing sexual assault at our university and in our society requires FIU students, staff, and faculty to act, collaborate, and speak out against sexual violence. Together we can educate our community about sexual violence, empower our peers to be active bystanders, and prevent sexual assault at FIU. We all play a role in prevention.

 

Supporting survivors of sexual violence

  • Listen and believe them
  • Validate their feelings about the assault
  • Respect their decision to report or not report their assault
  • Ask if they want help finding different options and resources available to them for support
  • Let them know they can talk to you for help
  • Encourage them to have patience when trying to process their trauma
  • Understand that people react to trauma differently and there is no right or wrong way to behave after experiencing sexual violence
  • Remind them that they aren’t alone and have people in their life to support them
  • Practice self-care and know your limits to avoid second-hand trauma
  • Ask if they'd like you to call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673, the Police, or other resources for support

Understanding Title IX

The Department of Access, Compliance, and Equal Opportunity strives to maintain an inclusive environment free from discrimination and harassment at FIU. They are responsible for advancing, upholding, reaffirming, and monitoring policies and procedures that ensure that FIU complies with all applicable federal, state, local, and internal mandates.

Jacqueline Moise Gibbs, Interim Director
Office of Civil Rights Compliance and Accessibility
Charles Perry Building / Primera Casa (PC) 220
305-348-2785
ocrca@fiu.edu

What is consent?

Consent is a clear, knowing, and voluntary agreement to engage in specific sexual activity at the time of the activity. Consent can be communicated by words or actions as long as those words or actions establish mutually understandable permission regarding willingness to engage in sexual activity.

Consent must be ongoing throughout the sexual activity and can be withdrawn at any time. Sexual contact must cease immediately once consent is withdrawn.

  • Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent has been granted, nor does silence mean consent has been granted.
  • Within each sexual encounter, there may be separate individual sexual acts involved, and consent to one act and/or person(s) by itself does not constitute consent to another act and/or person(s).
  • The existence of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the fact of past sexual relations, should never, by itself, be assumed to be an indicator of consent for any current or future sexual encounter even in the context of a relationship, there must be mutual consent.
  • If coercion or force is used, there is no consent.
  • If a person is incapacitated so that the person cannot understand the fact, nature or extent of the sexual situation, there is no consent. This may be affected by conditions due to age, alcohol or drug consumption, unconsciousness, being asleep, physical or developmental disabilities.
  • Whether one has taken advantage of a position of influence over another can be a factor in determining whether there was consent. In order to give consent, one must be of legal age.
  • The question of what the charged student should have known as to whether the complainant was incapacitated is objectively based on what a reasonable person, sober and/or exercising good judgment, would have known about the condition of the complainant.

Watch this helpful video on consent