Presenter: Hailey Chamberlain
Mentor: Vera Keller
Oral Presentation
Major: Women’s and Gender Studies
My research question is: Based on what we know about sexual assault, is Safe Ride effective in the fight against sexual assault? For my project, I first researched what we know about sexual assault on campuses, and how campuses have been responding to sexual assault. I looked at peer reviewed journals and papers which gave information about the legal process surrounding sexual assault, and talked about how Oregon schools have been responding.
Next, I conducted interviews with activists on campus. I asked what they know about Safe Ride, and what we need to be doing to stop campus assault. I also did archival research to learn more about Safe Ride’s history. Because I am a current member of the core staff at Safe Ride, I had access to the staff for interviews and their records. My archival research included looking at the amount of rides Safe Ride has given in the last few years. I also looked at Safe Ride’s collection of compiled articles about them since 1985. I looked at records of the grievances that were filed against Safe Ride before they became gender inclusive, in addition to articles about Safe Ride on the Emerald website.
Lastly, I conducted research on what schools have been doing to fight sexual assault. I looked at peer reviewed journals and papers through the library databases. I looked for papers that did research on what schools had already been doing and what affect there was. In my research I’ve concluded that schools that focus on three things are the most successful. The first is educating students on how to be effective bystanders, the second is having accessible resources, and the third is having sanctions in place to respond to sexual assault. I used this information to formulate a plan for the university and for Safe Ride, to encourage both to work together to provide the necessary resources to students.