Network Public as Catharsis for Sexual Assault Survivors
By Shawna Stewart
According to the CDC, nearly one in five women (Fedina, Holmes, and Backes 2016) report experiencing sexual assault at some point in their life. However, because it’s estimated that 54% of rapes in the U.S. go unreported, the chances of a woman experiencing rape in her lifetime are closer to one in three. What’s more is that an estimated 97% of perpetrators will walk free (RAINN 2017). Project Callisto aims to put a dent in these statistic with it’s innovative online sexual assault reporting system. It’s self-declared mission is to create a more empowering reporting experience for survivors, provide authorities with better evidence and data on sexual assault, and facilitate the identification of repeat perpetrators. Through my research of Callisto, various digital sexual assault survivor resources, and previous work on the topic of campus sexual assault survivors, I analyze how creating a digital space for catharsis might best be the best approach for survivors of sexual assault to combat the epidemic head on. My analyses dissects the ways in which a sexual assault resource like Callisto might better empower sexual-assault survivors by building a network public that encourages them to explore their options and journal their experiences, thoughts, and feelings to initiate catharsis. I propose this can be accomplished on the current Callisto website by creating a stronger survivor-centered rhetoric conducive to victim-empowerment via communication.
About Callisto
Project Callisto is the brainchild of epidemiologist and sexual health activist Jessica Ladd. In 2011, while Ladd was still a student at John Hopkins University, she founded the nonprofit Sexual Health Innovations(SHI) with the goal of creating technology to address and improve sexual health issues in the United States (Ladd 2013). SHI’s first initiative focused on creating a sexually transmitted infection partner notification and test result delivery system. Three years later, Ladd and her team began formative research on a project with college sexual assault survivors in mind. They formally announced the initiative which would eventually become Callisto at The White House Data Jam on Campus Sexual Assault in 2014 (Rosenthal and Graubard 2017). As stated on the Callisto blog, Callisto enables survivors to go online, fill out a form documenting their assault and, respond to questions similar to those a law enforcement or campus official would ask. The site would then provide them with reporting options. At that point, they can choose to file a report or save it for later. They also have a third option: to have their report submitted automatically if another person reports sexual violence at the hands of the same assailant (Ladd 2013).
According to Ladd who herself is a sexual assault survivor, "A lot of people who do report right now often do it because they heard through the rumor mill somehow or from a college administrator that their assailants have assaulted someone else" (NPR 2014). Between her own personal experiences and extensive research (Kingkade 2014), Ladd has been able to create a product that intends to communicate with sexual assault survivors and college campuses alike. However, as George Bernard Shaw once said, “The greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place”.
The Problem: Communication Breakdown
The problem with Callisto lies in the barrier it’s created for survivors to access the resources they claim to provide on their website. Callisto focuses on tackling sexual assault on college campuses, where a large amount of sexual assaults take place. However, imbued in dilogy is the fact that their reporting system is only available through a handful of colleges and universities. That is — victims must still go through their Callisto affiliated school to report their sexual assault. There is no direct resource for sexual assault survivors on Callisto’s website, which leads one to believe that Callisto’s main audience isn’t in fact the victim but actually colleges and universities. This is a direct contradiction to its discourse on being victim-centered. As research has shown, the victim/survivor audience isn’t exactly motivated to jump through hoops to report sexual assault or obtain help. A study on Barriers To Reporting Sexual Victimization: Prevalence And Correlates Among Undergraduate Women (Zinzow 2017) concludes that the highest reported barriers for victims are: "I handled it myself" and "I didn't think it was serious enough”. Analysis of the barriers reported revealed two factors: shame/not wanting others involved and not wanting to positively acknowledge the event as a crime/handled it myself. Findings from this research on sexual assault reporting suggest that intervention efforts should focus on increasing acknowledgment, decreasing negative reactions to disclosure, and minimizing victims' self-blame (Zinzow 2017). The model for Callisto is inherently flawed and works against the very problem it’s trying to solve. Because of the barriers to reporting sexual assault, there are no negative consequences for rapists. Thus, they are left with the notion that what they did was okay—in turn perpetuating rape culture on college campuses and creating an epidemic of repeat offenders. This epidemic is further strengthened by the injudicious outcomes and sentencing of rape trials in the U.S. justice system. In fact, by the time a rapist is actually convicted for a crime, he’s more likely than not already violated multiple victims(Lisak 2002).
Creating A Community with Innate Ethos
Delivery of a digital safe space within Callisto is a challenge. This digital safe space by nature would need to be a place where the ethos of the survivors narrative prevails above all. Creating a network of survivors without the colleges interference, would be ideal in creating this built in ethos, as many colleges and universities have a reputation of challenging the legitimacy of sexual assault allegations in favor of protecting their top athletic talent (Abdul-Jabbar, 2015). Studies suggest that only about 17% of women who experience sexual assault report the incident to the campus police, campus security, or other campus agency (Sloan, Fisher, & Cullen 1997). The injudicious discourse of victim-blaming that schools and law enforcement have brought to the surface has only intensified victims concerns about privacy and safety. Therefore, creating a network public specifically for survivors, while re-assuring them of their privacy and anonymity, and sustaining easy access are the challenges in creating a product like Callisto. To address this problem we must look at who survivors of sexual assault turn to disclose their story and or look to for support after their experience. Studies have shown that women disclose experiences of sexual victimization to an informal support provider (Orchowski 2012).
My prototype analysis and user survey revealed that my initial iteration of the Callisto website header (pictured right)
didn't appeal to the victim audience. This insight shifted my focus from pathos to innate ethos.
According to the National College Women Sexual Victimization Study that informal support usually comes in the form of a peer. 88% of college women disclosed experiences of sexual victimization to peers, 10% disclosed to family members, 4% disclosed to a campus authority, and 1% disclosed to a counselor (Fisher 2003). Therefor it’s fair to say that establishing rapport between user and product, isn’t easy to do when it’s so networked into college administration. However, users might be more motivated by shared experience to share their story and to help someone else--stopping a rape before it happens. This will only prove effective if Callisto becomes accessible by EVERY college student--not just a few at select schools. This severely impedes Callisto’s ability to create an effective network public for survivors. The exclusivity of the current Callisto product will only serve to fuel sexual assault survivor’s pre-existing confirmation biases that “What happened to them wasn’t important” and that “they need to take care of it themselves”. Aesthetically speaking, my research revealed that displaying a header image that shows empowered women standing together, rather than a fearful victim, would be a good design choice to make if the website is to create a strong ethos for the benefit of survivor/victim empowerment.
“The image is a little strange to me. It doesn’t give me a good sense of who the site is for and its purpose. It’s better than seeing a crying woman balled up in a corner for sure, but it doesn’t feel empowering either.”
Initiating Catharsis Through Collective Experience
If we can empower survivors to empower themselves to heal and express what happened to them in a healthy way -- to feel safe about unmasking these perpetrators, perhaps we can shift the victim blaming paradigm. Delivering a message of “You are not alone” within the header of the Callisto website not only communicates the safety and comfort of having support but perhaps reminds the victim-user of their part in a larger network of people who have shared similar experiences. This is what sociologist Kate Drazner Hoyte calls the “network subject”. In her piece Ethics of Network Subjectivity, she points out that in order for a work of activism to be successful, there must be an action that the collective subject takes to alter the conditions that afford the continuation of the injustice at hand. That action, she argues, “is what we may call a collective witnessing; as alluded to above, the materialization of a collective gaze dismantles the secrecy of the perpetrator or injustice.” Therefore by reading and witnessing other survivor’s stories, the user within the network is prompted to realize her own complicity (Hoyt 2016) towards endangering others by not reporting her rapist and/or sharing her story and realizes the impact she can make by reclaiming her power through helping others. Therefore by reading and witnessing other survivor’s stories, the user within the network is prompted to realize her own complicity (Hoyt 2016) towards endangering others by not reporting her rapist and/or sharing her story and realizes the impact she can make by reclaiming her power through helping others.
In the case of Callisto, the potential for catharsis is two fold. In addition to empowering oneself through helping others and thereby empowering others, the exercise of writing out one’s experience is a cathartic experience in and of itself. The American Psychological Association in fact acknowledges the positive health benefits of journaling about traumatic experiences. Benefits of releasing the trauma through writing it down include strengthening the immune system and reducing stress (APA 2003).
The practice of using the internet to throw perpetrators into the conscious eye of the public sphere has only just begun. This rising statistic from my networked public analysis gives me hope that perhaps the war against sexual predators by their victims has only just begun.
February 2017 saw a monumental spike in searches for the term “rape survivor”.
Arrangement and Delivery
The most important aesthetic element of the website is the header. The delivery of the main message will largely depend on the image and text in the header. If the delivery of the header is effective in that it is perceived positively by the user, the user would next choose a call to action. Because the subject matter is such a sensitive one and the victim may need more information before they are confident enough to proceed, I’ve provided three options for the victim audience: Write It Down, Explore Your Options, and Find Resources.
No matter their choice, the user should be prompted to read a privacy disclosure statement, informing them of what happens to their information and assuring them of their anonymity and safety. Another element that might be effective in engaging with the survivor/victim audience would be an interactive feature that walks them through the steps of some deciding factors on whether they want to report or not, helping them weigh the pros and cons and confirming that what happened to them was indeed sexual assault.
Other elements to inform & engage the survivor audience:
A snippet from survivor story/testimony
Read more about Callisto etc. in blog posts
Emergency hotline clearly displayed
Reading about the positive health benefits of writing it down
Info about what happens when a match in the database is made (FAQs)
Conclusion
There is no better way to put a dent in rape culture and minimize the impact of repeat rape than to empower the victims of these injustices. Although Callisto is plagued with a slew of barriers, within it lies the very powerful potential for systemic change. Callisto might better empower sexual-assault survivors by building a network public that encourages them to explore their options and journal their experiences, thoughts, and feelings to initiate catharsis. This can be accomplished on the current Callisto website by creating a stronger victim-centered rhetoric conducive to victim-empowerment via communicatio. Within Callisto, lies a very powerful uniquely digital tool for victims of sexual assault to mobilize, create a network public all their own, and initiate catharsis and justice for themselves and others with their shared experiences.
The new improved Callisto website
Bibliography
Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem. 2015. “Colleges Need To Stop Protecting Sexual Predators". Time.Com. Accessed March 9 2017. http://time.com/3689368/campus-sexual-assault-athletes-yes-means-yes/. APA. 2003. "Open Up! Writing About Trauma Reduces Stress, Aids Immunity". http://www.Apa.Org. Accessed March 9 2017. http://www.apa.org/research/action/writing.aspx. Callisto Blog. 2016. "The Benefits Of Writing It Down: Giving Survivors A Place To Record Their Story".Accessed March 9 2017. http://blog.projectcallisto.org/2016/03/28/the-benefits-of-writing-it-down-giving-survivors-a-place-to-record-their-story/. Chemaly, Soraya. 2012. "50 Actual Facts About Rape".The Huffington Post. Accessed March 15 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/50-facts-rape_b_2019338.html. CDC. 2009. “Sexual and Reproductive Health of Persons Aged 10-24 years —United States, 2002-2007.” MMWR 2009; 58(ss06):1-58. Available from: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5806a1.htm Fisher B. S., Daigle L. E., Cullen F. T., Turner M. G. 2003. "Reporting sexual victimization to the police and others: Results from a national-level study of college women". Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30, 6-38. doi:10.1177/009385480223916110.1177/0093854802239161 Hoyt, Kate Drazner. 2017. "Ethics Of Network Subjectivity | Technoculture". Tcjournal.Org. Accessed March 8 2017. https://tcjournal.org/drupal/vol4/hoyt. Kingkade, Tyler. 2014. "Group Builds Novel Sexual Assault Reporting System -- by Talking to Survivors." Huffington Post, -10-21T21:35:34Z. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/21/college-sexual-assault-reporting-callisto_n_6021952.html Ladd, Jessica. "Sexual Health Innovations." Sexual Health Innovations., accessed Jan 23, 2017, https://www.sexualhealthinnovations.org/ Lisak, David, and Paul M. Miller. 2002. “Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending among Undetected Rapists.” Violence and Victims 17 (1). ingentaconnect.com: 73–84. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11991158. Orchowski, Lindsay M., and Christine A. Gidycz. 2012. “To Whom Do College Women Confide Following Sexual Assault? A Prospective Study of Predictors of Sexual Assault Disclosure and Social Reactions.” Violence against Women 18 (3): 264–88. doi:10.1177/1077801212442917. Powers, Anastasia. 2016 “Unpacking Rape Culture After Stanford and Beyond” Social Justice Journal, accessed Feb 3, 2017. http://www.socialjusticejournal.org/unpacking-rape-culture-after-stanford-and-beyond/ RAINN. 2017. "The Criminal Justice System: Statistics”.Rainn.Org. Accessed March 15 2017. https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system. Rosenthal, Lynn and Graubard, Vivian. "Protecting Students from Sexual Assault: Building Tools to Keep Students Safe and Informed." whitehouse.gov., last modified -04-18T16:22:25-04:00, accessed Jan 23, 2017, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/04/18/protecting-students-sexual-assault-building-tools-keep-students-safe-and-informed-0 Sloan J. J., Fisher B. S., Cullen F. T. 1997. "Assessing the student right-to-know and Campus Security Act of 1990: An analysis of the victim reporting practices of college and university students. Crime and Delinquency", 43, 148-168. doi:10.1177/001112879704300200210.1177/0011128797043002002 Summers, Juana. 2014. "Smartphone Apps Help to Battle Campus Sexual Assaults." NPR.org., last modified August 13, accessed Jan 23, 2017, http://www.npr.org/2014/08/13/339888170/smartphone-apps-help-to-battle-campus-sexual-assaults. Zinzow, Heidi M. and Thompson, Martie. 2017. "Barriers To Reporting Sexual Victimization: Prevalence And Correlates Among Undergraduate Women". Journal Of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 20 (5-8): 711-725. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=25785655.