Grapevine

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The term sexual assault refers to sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the victim. Some forms of sexual assault include:
- Attempted rape
- Fondling or unwanted sexual touching
- Forcing a victim to perform sexual acts, such as oral sex or penetrating the perpetrator’s body
- Penetration of the victim’s body, also known as rape

None of these behaviors are ok. Nor are the actions of the assulter the victims fault. In high pressure moments here are some general guides to getting out of a situation before or durring it partakes:
- Have an exit strategy. Find the nearest doors, windows, or other means of exitting the current area. Be alert
- Make a code word. Having a code word to tell surrounding friends or giving a nonverbal look to a bystander can be your best exit strategy. An example of this can be the phrase “We need to go on more vacations” given with direct eye contact.
- Trust your gut. Don’t do anything you feel you don’t want to do. If you need to make a lie to get out of a situation, do it. Getting into a situation that is tough is never your fault.

Most importantly, after an event like an assult, learning how to take care of yourself is important. Whether that means contacting friends or family for support, or reaching out to local authorities here are some things to do.
- Changing housing or schedules. If the event happened in a certain scheduled time frame changing yourobligations of going there again may help with the healing process.
- Make use of on-campus resources. Like the student health center for psycholgical and physical health, Campus Police, and supporting staff members like professors or TAs that are there to support you.

About Grapevine

Grapevine came to fruition by two women who were sick of hearing “well that problem doesn’t happen here” when they heard events of sexual harassment and microaggressions happening everyday in their community. Grapevine takes the initiative to connect victims through their tragedies and start a conversation about the problem in their community. This application also provides a visual representation of people’s experiences in the community they live in.