Start By Believing campaign brings

awareness about reactions to sexual

assault
By Jordan Reding, jordanreding@iowastatedaily.com
When someone tells you theyve been raped, what will your reaction be?
The Ames Police Department wants to be sure that reaction does not
offend sexual assault victims.
Start By Believing is a public awareness campaign focused on the public's
response to sexual assault. The campaign is a program for the End Violence
Against Women International organization. Because a friend or family
member is typically the first person a victim talks to, that persons reaction
is extremely important, members of Ames Police said.
Ames Police and members of the Story County Sexual Assault Response
Team (SART) have partnered together to launch the Start By Believing
Campaign in Story County.
Suzy Owens and Elijah Hansen, detectives, and Brooke Long, intern with
the department, are leaders of the campaign.
We want to encourage the first contacts of a victim to be supportive. We
want the victim to know they are believed and that they will have help in
their healing and recovery, Owens said.
This is the first campaign of its kind focused on the support of the victim,
rather than preventing the actual assault. The simple step of support
without judgment has a huge impact on the victims decision to report the
crime, Owens said. This campaign is a positive asset to a very negative
situation.
As soon as people hear this campaign, they get behind it, Long said.
The campaign team is making the public aware through simple
presentations and social media. Student and service organizations are
some of the groups they present to in order to spread the word.
The mentality of jury members and our overall population is constantly
victim-blaming, and I dont think it's fair to blame the victims for the

trauma theyve been through, Hansen said.

Students responded to the campaign in a positive way, the team said.
I think that with all the sexual assaults in the news recently, this campaign
is an important resource for people on college campuses," said Morgan
Muller, freshman in agriculture business.
Dusty Jentz, junior in communication studies, said he wants to see the
campaign change the public's opinion.
Its a start in the right direction of making the public aware of the impact
their response has on sexual assault victims, Jentz said.
Only 5 percent of sexual assaults will be reported, investigated and
prosecuted. Fewer than 3 percent will result in conviction and
incarceration, Hansen said. If the victims family and friends believe and
support them, they are more likely to report the assault, and stop the
perpetrator from attacking again.
Sexual assault will never stop. While we want to prevent it, we realize that
it wont go away, so lets deal with the aftermath, Owens said.
For more information on the campaign, contact the ISU Police Department
or Ames Police.