Sexual wellness is not typically a main point of discussion on college campuses and having a young man on the front line encouraging open lines of communication regarding sex is Keaton Kell, member of the University of Oregon’s Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team. Kells participation in SWAT is fueled by his own ideals of equality and openness in his relationships.

“Sex is awkward or not sexy to talk about, but communication is important,” said Kell. “My message is to everyone is to start communicating and respect people’s ‘no’s.’ Everyone should know it is okay to say ‘no’ or ‘not right now.’”

SWAT’s presence on the UO campus encourages open communication about sexual assault and dating violence.  Their buttons, banners, and t-shirts can be seen around campus reading “Got Consent?” or “Consent is Sexy” to promote positive and consensual relationships. 

SWATs appearances around campus in workshops, Women and Gender studies courses, and community events vocalizes the importance of communication and advocating for one’s own sexual health. Members hold workshops that imitate sexual violence scenarios and teach bystander intervention to various communities on campus, such as fraternities, classes, academic departments, and anyone willing to listen.  

Kell describes workshops as a forum to open the discussion on sensitive topics, such as sex and sexual assaults, and help people understand the importance of consenting verbally.

In a workshop exercise called sexperience, Kell explains, A SWAT workshop leader asks participants to close their eyes and imagine their most positive sexual experience, including all of the sensory details: smell, sights, taste, sounds, and touch.

“The point of the exercise is you were thinking of a very positive sexual experience and you wouldn’t want to describe that to anyone, unless it was your best friend,” explained Kell. “You wouldn’t want to describe it to a complete stranger or the police.”

Following this exercise, SWAT prompts them to think about if their experience was not a positive one at all, but in fact a rape. Sexperience helps others begin to understand the conflict victims of sexual assaults go through when dealing with reporting the assault.  “There’s a lot of research right now that says its not just fight or flight, there’s also freeze,” said Kell. Many victims of sexual or domestic violence will not report the crimes to police and many cases go unnoticed. Through SWAT, Kell wants to voice the importance of communication regarding sex because it is an issue that many are uncomfortable discussing.

Current social norms, sometimes unrecognizable to society, make itsocially acceptable for a man to have numerous and frequent sexual encounters, Kell explains. “If a girl won’t have sex she is considered a prude, but if she has too much sex she’s considered a slut,” Kell explains. “That’s sexism, and sexism leads to violence in various ways.”  Addressing these issues, like sexism in this example, and making others aware of the dangers of these social norms can help reduce sexual violence.

SWAT uses community events including Take Back the Night, an event dedicated to protesting sexual violence, to engage the community and spread their message. Even though he would not use the word “fun,” Kell recalls hearing people’s personal stories and the impact it had on people during Take Back the Night as his most rewarding experience working with SWAT.

As a 19-year-old student, Kell joined SWAT to learn how to talk to his younger brother and sister about sex. He wanted to learn how to teach them that it is okay to say no and that there should not be any pressure in relationships, but he did not have the words until he joined SWAT.

 “While I was growing up, I was never taught consent and saying no is okay,” said Kell.  “I would like to make sex something that our culture is okay talking about.”