Part of the Wellness Empowerment Center, VOICE seeks to promote a safe campus culture and to help survivors of sexual violence heal. The Technique sat down with Ariel Jester, a VOICE advocate, to discuss VOICE and its role on campus.
“As an advocate, the role of VOICE and our role is to support students, any student, any gender and any race that have experienced victimization due to any form of sexual or relationship harm,” Jester said.
All people, regardless of demographics, are at a higher risk of facing sexual violence on a college campus, with about 50 percent of those assaults occurring within the first four months of the school year. After a crime takes place, victims often do not know where to go or what to do. Many want help but do not know where to find it. VOICE is here for those victims.
VOICE provides emotional support services and can connect students with mental health services most expect for victims of sexual crime to need, but services expand far beyond mental health. VOICE provides students numerous services, many of which could be unsuspected to some but greatly important to victims.
“We can support a student, whether that’s financially, through the VOICE emergency fund that we have. If a student has experienced any sexual victimization and they come to us and they need financial assistance,” Jester said.
Advocates can accompany students to medical appointments and police station visits, which helps students through the complicated emotions and often scary aftermath of victimization.
“Even if a student wants to meet with their professors … just so they can talk about what is going on and why they have fallen behind in class. They still need that emotional support, and that’s where we come in with the academic side,” Jester said.
While both can handle victimizations, VOICE operates separately from the Title IX office which focuses more on sex-based discrimination in education programs.
“We don’t work with Title IX, so what goes on in their office is in their office, and what goes on in our office is in our office. We don’t share any data, or if a student fills out the Title Nine form, for example, it doesn’t come to our office,” Jester said.
VOICE operates completely confidentially, and students do not have to reveal anything they are not comfortable with.
“Students don’t really have to disclose anything if they want to talk to somebody,” Jester said.
Students can make an appointment to talk with VOICE advocates online ahead of time or can walk to the Wellness Center for walk-in appointments if available.
Jester repeatedly emphasized VOICE’s mission of providing care and a safe space for all students who have experienced victimization.
“The main thing is for students to know that voice is here to serve all students. Sometimes we get the notion that certain populations don’t think that voice is equipped for them,” Jester said. “Doesn’t matter your gender, your race or anything. We’re here for all students.”
VOICE advocates do not just talk to survivors. People who are the support system of survivors, such as friends, can also talk to advocates.
“A lot of times, a friend may know that this survivor is being abused, but the survivor is not ready to come forward. They just want to know what they can do as a friend to better support the survivor, and so we do work with those students as well,” Jester said.
Jester has spent years working with victims and learned many lessons during her time in her career. Every person is different, and so is the help they need to receive after being victimized.
“We want to do everything. And that can be overwhelming for anybody [who] has gone through a traumatic experience. You try to throw everything at them at one time can be very overwhelming,” Jester said. “So I think sometimes, in the state of wanting to help, being mindful that you know you don’t have to bombard them with everything all at once.
After victimization, it can be hard for someone to open up and trust again, making the empathy and delicacy of the advocates a priority.
“We’re very intentional about building relationships because we want students to be able to trust us, and so I also think that is a big thing that we’re working on,” Jester said.
For students who want to become involved with VOICE, check out the BRAVE peer educators. Educators are students who bring VOICE and sexual violence education and prevention to their peers through educational presentations and outreach events.
If you or someone you know has been victimized, you can set an appointment with a VOICE advocate at wellnesscenter.gatech.edu/voice/get-support. Booking appointments is not the only way to get in contact with VOICE. VOICE has a 24/7 crisis hotline that students can call at any time: 404-894-9000. Students can also email advocates directly using [email protected] or [email protected].