Florida State University (FSU), located in Tallahassee, Florida, has a large and diverse college student population, with over 41,000 students. National statistics indicate that sexual assault is a harrowingly common experience among college students, and FSU is no exception. In 2017, the Victim Advocate Program responded to 424 cases of sexual battery, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, relationship violence, or domestic violence. As such, there is a clear need to implement innovative interventions to disrupt these troubling numbers.
The kNOw Team is a collaborative answer to this critical need. Best practice and experience tells us that no one office or program can be the solution to preventing power-based personal violence. We must work together to better understand the complexities of this issue and provide the best possible care for our students, faculty, and staff.
The purpose of the kNOw MORE is to ensure all members of our community, including underserved populations, have a voice and access to resources; while promoting a collective understanding that we are responsible for preventing power-based personal violence. The mission of kNOw MORE is to ensure a trauma informed approach across response, policy/implementation, and prevention through the utilization of the three teams. The effect of this model will decrease barriers for individuals to access services and build trust in our institutional resources. The vision of the kNOw MORE is to gradually decrease the amount of power-based personal violence acts committed in our community, while seeing a culture shift that values bystander intervention and a trauma informed institution.
The kNOw MORE Team acknowledges that the processes of Criminal Justice, Title IX, and Student Rights and Responsibilities are essential to the mission, but are not the only components in the continuum of care. Many survivors of power-based personal violence may not choose to report or access the above mentioned reporting options therefore kNOw MORE must go beyond these structures to truly create a trauma informed institution. In an effort to create a more comprehensive approach kNOw MORE ensures multiple members from spaces across campus and the community are actively collaborating throughout the process.
kNOw MORE Objectives
- Increase communication and transparency among all constituencies.
- Strive for a trauma-informed campus
- Decrease in the cultural acceptance of power based personal violence in our community.