Don’t Just Stand There; Intervene

The Women's Center and the VOICE Center are located at 411 Normal Street. Photo Credit / Eric Kump
The Women's Center and the VOICE Center are located at 411 Normal Street. Photo Credit / Eric Kump
The Women’s Center and the VOICE Center are located at 411 Normal Street.
Photo Credit / Eric Kump

By Madison Petro
SC Contributing Writer

How would you react if you thought your friend was about to be sexually assaulted? In a dangerous situation like this, would you intervene to prevent it by being an active bystander? How?

These are a few of the questions that will be addressed during Thought Talk: Bystander Intervention.

This event, held at the Women’s Center located on 411 Normal Street, will be on April 16 at 2:00 PM and will last about an hour. It will be an informal, open discussion in a relaxed atmosphere, unlike a lecture.

Alyson Patascher, the Health Education and Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs Prevention Coordinator at East Stroudsburg University will be the facilitator. She works with peer educators on campus for the Step Up program, which will be discussed at the Talk.

Also up for discussion will be the topic of bystander intervention, like being an active bystander and knowing when and how to intervene. The focus of this Thought Talk will be sexual assault and the discussion is open to anyone who’s interested.

Events like this are being held to “try to get more activity at the Women’s Center,” said Patricia Kashner, the Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs at East Stroudsburg University.

The Women’s Center, which is co-located with the VOICE center (Victim’s Options In the Campus Environment), hopes more faculty, staff, students, and groups will visit.

Thanks to a suggestion by Dr. Heather Garrison, an education professor here at East Stroudsburg University, the Women’s Center is open for any faculty member who wants to hold a class there.

The Women’s Center’s mission, as stated on the ESU website, is to provide “a supportive environment for discussion, knowledge, and programming that celebrates, empowers, and recognizes women and equality for all.”

One of the many services provided at the Women’s Center, along with an information center on women’s issues, is support for victims of sexual assault.

A victim’s advocate named Jessie Boe from Women’s Resources of Monroe County meets with victims of sexual assault as a support system.

She can be found at 411 Normal Street all day every Monday and Thursday.

Email Madison at:
mpetro3@live.esu.edu