In observance of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Office of Sexual Violence Prevention and Advocacy holds a multitude of events to spread awareness and education surrounding sexual assault and violence. Among these events is Speak Out, an opportunity for students to “share poetry, songs, and readings to express their thoughts on interpersonal violence,” as stated by the posters hung up around campus. However, performances are not limited to those about experiences with sexual violence, but instead welcome any pieces that reflect on power, such as women’s empowerment or the unbalanced power dynamic in an act of assault.
Speak Out was held on April 17 in Coffee Grounds, a small space that created an intimate and casual atmosphere. The plush couches and chairs, which were usually set up into circles of 4 to break up the space, were arranged into rows to create a small stage in front of the mosaic wall. “The space that’s chosen is also very intentional,” commented Director of the Office of Sexual Violence Prevention and Advocacy, Heidi Freeland-Trail. “It is not something I would ever see being done in an auditorium, it’s supposed to feel close and casual enough that it feels soft.” There were free baked goods and drinks being served and the crowd, which consisted of mostly women of different class years, waited anxiously for the event to begin. A student assistant at the Office of Sexual Violence Prevention and Advocacy, Emma Riggs ’18, invited anyone to come perform as they wished, without pressure or a structured order.
The event felt disorganized, as anyone could go up and begin reading their piece, even those who had not practiced, and there was no order for performances, which left a lot of pressure on the crowd to decide when to perform. However, Freeland-Trail felt that “you have to be really delicate with how you want to advertise an event like Speak Out. It’s important that people feel like they want to do that and they’re ready to do that.” It is not easy to organize an event like this as, “we put a lot value on the fact that people would be willing to say those things to us. I felt that they would trust us with those experiences and those feelings.” It is important to Freeland-Trail that those participating do not feel forced to do so, and instead feel completely safe in the space to share their experience, whether they had experience in performing or not.
Due to the freedom of coming and going to perform throughout the event, there was a mix of amateur and experienced performers, all of whom read poetry. After a few moments of silence, as no one wanted to be the first to go, an audience member went up—after applause for being brave enough to begin the event—and read a Rupi Kaur poem. The message of the short poem was not related to sexual assault but instead recognized the power of women.
Next, there was an original piece by Kaitlin Reagan ’20, the president of RefleXion, the performance art club on campus. Hers focused on the aftermath of sexual violence on a college campus. She described the feelings of anxiety when seeing a group of men walking towards Harris, when in the past she would not have felt pain but instead excitement. During the reading, the crowd became emotional, as her words were relateable and captured the confusion and fear that many women feel after sexual violence.
The emotional tone continued throughout the night, with the performance of an original poem by Em LaLiberte ’20 about the unconditional love they and their mother share for each other. Their tone was soft as they described how their mother would have wanted to keep them innocent as they were as a baby and to give them the tools to face the horrors in the world, “to ensure that the first word to pass through them would be a resounding ‘NO’—the undeniable kind, so loud and so sure of itself that maybe, just maybe, this time they’d listen.” This line stuck out to me the most as it touches upon the fact that mothers understand what their children will go through and want to teach them how to fight those battles, especially against sexual assault and violence. Em’s mother is full of hope as she teaches her child to fight back, but they realize that “No” sometimes isn’t enough. This narrative seemed to affect Freeland-Trail deeply, since she recently gave birth to a little girl and was brought to tears by the performance.
This annual event is something that students look forward to and remember the impact it has on them each year. One speaker prefaced her performance with the fact that she heard the poem she would read at Speak Out a few years ago. The poem is entitled, “For women who are ‘difficult’ to love” by Warsan Shire. It was touching to see the impact of an event on people that lasts, as a first-year, not truly understanding what this event means to people. Freeland-Trail stated, “That’s what’s really powerful about it, that it’s a space to share experiences it’s a place to have support and it’s a space also to have an outlet to be creative in expressing your experiences.”
Looking forward, Freeland-Trail is excited to work on this event again next year and possibly expand it. Students should be given ne opportunity to express their work and experiences, in order to have the access to resources that allow them to heal.
