During the event, students made art through crafts and interactive activities. Their creations, which ranged from colorful drawings to inspiring messages, will be hung in the Mental Health Services (7^th floor) waiting area on the to brighten the space and create a welcoming atmosphere for those seeking mental health support.

In addition to contributing artwork, attendees also explored UHS services by connecting with providers in Primary Care, Sexual Health, Mental Health, Nutrition, Psychiatry, and Survivor Services. Snacks were savored, games were played, and mindfulness workshops took place. Bucky Badger made an appearance, adding extra fun to the evening.

The event not only highlighted the importance of student wellbeing but also gave participants a chance to leave a lasting impact on UHS spaces. The artwork will serve as a reminder of the creative and supportive environment that UHS strives to foster for all students.

If you missed the event, make sure to stay up to date with UHS on our event calendar!

Strength for Survivors: Wednesday, October 9 from 5:30 – 7 PM at the Red Gym, On Wisconsin Room

Join UHS Survivor Services and Rec Well for a transformative trauma embodiment workshop centered on strength training. This event is designed for student survivors of sexual and interpersonal violence and their allies. Led by Rec Well personal trainers, the workshop will guide participants through strength training exercises that emphasize personal choice and empowerment. Survivor Services staff will also lead discussions on setting intentions for movement practices, breathwork, and exploring how trauma impacts the body. This event will be co-hosted by the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center.

Rewriting the Love Languages: Tuesday, October 22 from 4 – 6 PM at the University Club

Join Annie Bruns and Gaonue Vang from UHS Survivor Services to reimagine the concept of “love languages.” Facilitators will support a group discussing using 18 Languages for Modern Love, developed by certified sex educator Anne Hodder-Shipp, as a central theme. The group will explore why expanding love languages is necessary and how we might use these in all of our close relationships (not just romantic ones). This event will be co-hosted with Fraternity & Sorority Life and PAVE

Drop-In Virtual Support for Survivors: Each Monday from 1 – 2:30 PM virtually. Sign up online

This is a drop-in space for student survivors to connect with peers and offer mutual support in a confidential and safe environment. The group facilitators, Kayla Eggen and Kendall Ferguson are mental health professionals who foster an open space, affirming, and connecting for all members. The group will focus on the impact of having experienced trauma and skills/supports to support post-traumatic growth, with some boundaries placed around sharing narratives about traumatic experiences. This group is specifically designed for UW-Madison students who have experienced sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and/or childhood sexual abuse.

Drop-In Crafty Coping Community for Survivors: Each Wednesday from 2:30 – 4:00 PM at 333 East Campus Mall, Room 7001

This is a drop-in space for student survivors to connect with peers and offer mutual support in a confidential and safe environment. The group facilitators, UHS providers Alex Little, will foster an open and affirming space for all members while guiding members through sensory- and movement-based coping skills. The community will focus on navigating the impact of trauma experiences through connection and skills to support post-traumatic growth. It is specifically for students who experienced sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and/or childhood sexual abuse. Sign up online for this in-person community. Registration is not required but will provide a reminder email.

Expanding Campus Violence Prevention Efforts through GetWIse

Education plays a crucial role in preventing violence on campus. UHS offers violence prevention programs to help students understand, address, and avoid violence. All new undergraduate and graduate students are required to participate in these programs to learn how to make healthy decisions, handle tough situations, and access support resources.

The GetWIse@Home program, mandatory for first year and transfer students, covers topics related to violence prevention and support for survivors. This program is also available annually to all undergraduates as a refresher to reinforce their knowledge and skills.

“These topics are not only a concern for first-year students,” says Sam Bowen, assistant director of violence prevention. “In fact, the risk of experiencing some form of sexual or relationship violence increases the longer a student has been on campus. Repeated opportunities for education on violence prevention will increase the effectiveness of our violence prevention strategy.”

Most students will encounter someone affected by sexual assault or dating violence during their college years. At UW-Madison, about 1 in 10 students face dating violence, and 1 in 6 experience sexual assault. GetWIse@Home aims to promote a safer campus by teaching about consent, bystander intervention, and recognizing harmful behaviors.

The program includes four modules: DatingWIse (healthy relationships), SexWIse (healthy sex), ListenWIse (support for survivors), and ActWIse (bystander intervention). Students taking GetWIse as a refresher can choose to redo a previous module or explore a new one.

Learn more about GetWIse@Home and the four modules on the UHS website. Students can access the modules through the GetWIse@Home page on Canvas.

Year-Round Survivor Support and Resources through UHS

UHS supports student survivors through coordinated advocacy, mental health, and medical services—including forensic nurse exams on-site—that are no-cost and confidential. Our survivor services team will validate your experience and care, while also sharing information and resources you might need, like referrals, accommodations, and reporting options.

Students can schedule an appointment to talk with an advocate and learn about their options by emailing survivorservices@uhs.wisc.edu, calling 608-265-5600 (option 3), or self-scheduling via the MyUHS portal.

Learn more about UHS Survivor Services on our website.

Sexual violence affects every person in our community. Keeping our community safe is made possible through shared responsibility for creating safe, equitable spaces in which sexual violence is not acceptable.   

This spring, UHS Survivor Services and Violence Prevention invite student survivors, allies, and campus partners to join us in continuing our work toward a safe, supportive, and survivor-centered campus community.  

Connect & Reflect  

Throughout the spring semester, UHS Survivor Services and Violence Prevention will host a series of “Connect & Reflect” events, which invite student survivors and allies to reclaim campus, find community with other survivors and allies, and reduce the stigma around survivorship.  

The “Connect” events will provide spaces for shared healing, growth, and self-expression for student survivors and allies to grow together. The series will culminate in April with the “Reflect” exhibit, featuring a historical review of significant moments in campus sexual assault advocacy, alongside art created by student survivors.   

Preview upcoming Connect & Reflect events below, and visit the Connect & Reflect webpage for more information.​​ 

• Crafty Coping Community
  Wednesdays, February 7 – May 1, 3 – 4:30pm
  333 East Campus Mall, Room 7001
• Art Evening with Wheelhouse Studios and UHS Survivor Services
  Thursday, March 14, 3 – 6pm
  Wheelhouse Studios
• Embodied Resilience with UHS Survivor Services: A Survivor-Centered Dance/Movement Therapy Workshop  
  Friday, April 5, 1 – 3pm
  Bakke, Serenity Studio (Second Floor)
• Trauma-informed Yoga with UHS Survivor Services and Insight Counseling
  Friday, April 19, 1 – 3 pm
  Bakke, Serenity Studio (Second Floor) 
• Collective ARTivism Project: Denim Day
  Wednesday, April 24, 2 – 5pm
  Library Mall
• Reflect: Art and History Gallery
  April 1 – 30
  Discovery Building Hub Central and Image Lab Galleries (First Floor) 

Other ways you can get involved to support violence prevention on campus 

Join a student organization working to prevent violence and support student survivors on campus: 

• PAVE is dedicated to preventing sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking through education and activism. 
• Sex Out Loud promotes healthy sexuality through sex-positive education and activism. 
• EmBark unites survivors of sexual assault and dating violence with the shelter animal of their choice. 

Build skills to prevent violence before it occurs:

• GetWIse@Home offers four online violence prevention programs to choose from, including DatingWIse (healthy relationships and dating violence), SexWIse (healthy sex and sexual violence), ListenWIse (trauma and survivor support), and ActWIse (recognizing violence and bystander intervention). 
• Safer Bar is a bystander intervention education program for campus students and staff who work at alcohol-serving establishments. Anyone who works at an alcohol-serving establishment is welcome to attend. Thursday, April 11, 5 – 7pm | PAVE Office at 333 E. Campus Mall, Suite 3147.  

Attend other events and programs for Sexual Assault Awareness Month: 

• Keep an eye out for other events throughout the month hosted by student organizations and campus partners, including a Self-Care Night and Survivor Love Letters (hosted by PAVE).  

Year-Round Survivor Support and Resources through UHS 

UHS supports student survivors through coordinated advocacy, mental health, and medical services—including forensic nurse exams on-site—that are no-cost and confidential. It is not uncommon for survivors to be unsure how to label their experience or identify what they need. Our Survivor Services team is prepared to validate your experience, to share information and resources available to you—like referrals, accommodations, and reporting options—and empower the decisions you make about your care. 

Students can schedule an appointment to talk with an advocate and learn about their options by emailing  survivorservices@uhs.wisc.edu, calling 608-265-5600 (option 3), or self-scheduling via the MyUHS portal.  

Learn more about UHS Survivor Services on our website. 

Modern Love Languages Workshop: October 19 from 2 – 4 PM at Memorial Union

Join UHS Survivor Services and Sex Out Loud to talk about modern love languages. Advocates and providers will facilitate a group dialogue using 18 Languages for Modern Love, developed by certified sex educator Anne Hodder-Shipp, as a central theme. In community, students will understand why an expansion of love languages is important and explore how we might use these in all of our close relationships (not just romantic ones).

Drop-In Crafty Coping Community for Survivors: Each Wednesday from 3 – 4:30 PM at 333 East Campus Mall, Room 8808

This is a drop-in space for student survivors to connect with peers and offer mutual support in a confidential and safe environment. The group facilitators, UHS providers Carol Heins-Daniels and Alex Little, will foster a space that is open and affirming for all members while guiding members through sensory- and movement-based coping skills. The community will focus on navigating the impact of trauma experiences through connection and skills to support post-traumatic growth. It is specifically for students who experienced sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and/or childhood sexual abuse. Sign up online for this in-person community.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month Information & Resource Panel: Tuesday, October 24 from 5:30 – 7 PM at Eagle Heights Community Center, Room 139

Learn more about dynamics of relationship violence, available support resources, and bystander intervention prevention strategies from a panel of campus experts. Event is open to all but designed with Eagle Heights community members, graduate students, post doctoral researchers, and their family members in mind. Dinner provided with RSVP. Register online.

Expanding Campus Violence Prevention Efforts through GetWIse

Education is a key part of violence prevention efforts on campus. UHS’s violence prevention programs aim to increase the campus community’s knowledge, shape attitudes, and build the necessary skills to prevent violence before it occurs. All incoming undergraduate, transfer, and graduate students participate in required violence prevention programming, which empowers students to make healthy decisions, intervene in difficult situations, and learn about resources available to survivors on campus. 

GetWIse@Home, an online program required for incoming first-year undergraduate and transfer students, helps students explore violence prevention and survivor support topics. New in 2023, GetWIse@Home will be offered to all undergraduate students as an annual refresher course to reinforce violence prevention knowledge, awareness, and skills.

“These topics are not only a concern for first-year students,” says Sam Bowen, assistant director of violence prevention. “In fact, the risk of experiencing some form of sexual or relationship violence increases the longer a student has been on campus. Repeated opportunities for education on violence prevention will increase the effectiveness of our violence prevention strategy.” 

During their time in college, most students will know someone who has experienced sexual assault or dating violence. About 1 in 10 students at UW-Madison experiences some form of dating violence while in college, and around 1 in 6 experiences sexual assault. GetWIse@Home provides strategies for students to support a safer campus community by normalizing consent and bystander intervention and calling out entitlement, objectification, and boundary-crossing behavior.

GetWIse@Home offers four programs to choose from, including DatingWIse (healthy relationships and dating violence), SexWIse (healthy sex and sexual violence), ListenWIse (trauma and survivor support), and ActWIse (recognizing violence and bystander intervention). Students who are completing GetWIse as a refresher course can choose to retake a module they have previously taken or complete a new module.  

Learn more about GetWIse@Home and the four modules on the UHS website. Students can access the modules through the GetWIse@Home page on Canvas. 

Year-Round Survivor Support and Resources through UHS

UHS supports student survivors through coordinated advocacy, mental health, and medical services—including forensic nurse exams on-site—that are no-cost and confidential. You don’t have to label your experience to seek help from Survivor Services. Our survivor services team will validate your experience and care, while also sharing information and resources you might need, like referrals, accommodations, and reporting options.

Students can schedule an appointment to talk with an advocate and learn about their options by emailing survivorservices@uhs.wisc.edu, calling 608-265-5600 (option 3), or self-scheduling via the MyUHS portal. 

Learn more about UHS Survivor Services on our website.

It’s exciting to be back on campus after years of hybrid and remote learning. In-person events and gatherings mean more opportunities to spend time with friends and meet new people. As we engage in more social situations, however, there may be circumstances we see or experience that are uncomfortable and potentially harmful. These situations could include sexual harassment – any unwanted attention about sex, gender, sexuality, dating, body, or appearance. At UW-Madison, nearly half of all students have experienced sexually harassing behavior. As Badgers, we must keep ourselves and others accountable for their actions, especially when this behavior can cause harm to others. We are all accountable for creating spaces free from sexual violence for everyone. 

A bystander is someone who observes behavior that could lead to harm. Bystanders are not directly involved in a harmful situation but can intervene, speak up, or do something to challenge or interrupt the behavior. When there are lots of people around, we assume someone else will take it upon themselves to intervene; this is known as the diffusion of responsibility, or better known as the bystander effect. Situations that are harmful or potentially harmful can feel awkward, especially when it includes someone you know. It is difficult to find the right time, words, or actions to help intervene, but everyone can step up.    

You have options when intervening – remember the three D’s.

Direct: Speak up to the people involved directly and check in with the people being harmed or who seem to be in an uncomfortable situation.     

Distract: Create a diversion to diffuse the situation. This can help give the person an “out.”  

Delegate: If it feels unsafe for you to intervene personally, or you don’t know the people involved very well, find someone else who can help diffuse the situation – like a staff member or friend. 

Intervening may seem intimidating, especially when there are power dynamics at play. Make sure you are not putting yourself in danger by intervening. If you have concerns about how your identity or the identities of those involved in the situation may harm others, utilize the ‘distract’ or ‘delegate’ options. What is most important is to hold people accountable for their actions and create a safe environment for everyone.   

Bystander intervention in context 

Situation: A person from your residence hall is touching another person you don’t know, who appears to be heavily intoxicated, inappropriately at a house party. 

Direct: “Hey, what are you doing? They seem pretty out of it.” 

Depending on your relationship with the person from your residence hall, you might feel comfortable speaking to them directly about their behavior. If this does not feel comfortable, you may choose to ask, “Are you okay?” to the person who appears intoxicated. 

Distract: “Your friends are looking for you – let’s go catch up with them in the kitchen!” 

Delegate: “I think your friend isn’t treating that person right – I’m worried. Could you pull them away from that situation?” 

You can ask someone else to help, especially if the situation feels unsafe or you may not know the person in the situation that well, for you to get directly involved with. Make sure you follow up with the person who might have been harmed to make sure they are safe.  

The three Ds are easy to remember: Direct, Distract, and Delegate. We all can provide help, whether we personally do it, or if we get another person to help us do it.  

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, please consider connecting with UHS Survivor Services or with Violence Prevention to get help. Survivor Services provide free, confidential support services to UW-Madison students survivors of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and/or stalking.   

If you would like to connect with Violence Prevention specifically, you can contact them at their confidential violence prevention email: violenceprevention@uhs.wisc.edu. They provide workshops about bystander intervention and other prevention topics to any interested campus group.