Project Proposal

Katie Smith

10/9/09

Violence Intervention Assistant (VIA) Training Audio Slideshow

I’m going to profile the process it takes to become trained as a Violence Intervention Assistant or VIA. VIA is a program offered by the Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Program (SARPP) of the Health Center that trains people to become “safe” people victims of sexual assault and domestic violence can talk to. The Health Center is holding three separate 12-hour training sessions this fall; I am participating in one. I’m going to talk to other people who have been trained and see what they view as the merits and downfalls of the program. I’m also going to attend and document the Clothesline Project, an endeavor by the Health Center that allows victims to “vent” their experiences with domestic violence and/or rape on t-shirts that are displayed on campus.

Viewers/listeners at the University of Maryland might be interested in this program that they might not know exists. It could open up the process to those who might want to be trained or it could show people that might be able to use a “safe” person that people are here and willing to listen.

The UMD Health Center’s Web site has a brochure about sexual assault and relationship violence. The large majority of sexual assault is carried out by a person the victim knows. The brochure states that “an individual incapacitated by alcohol or drugs cannot legally give consent; the legal responsibility for sexual or physical assault rests completely with the assailant.” Oftentimes, sexual assault goes unreported because the victim blames his or herself. Reactions from victims include fear, anger, shame, numbness, flashbacks, changes in eating habits, anger, depression, mood swings, and withdrawal from relationships. These symptoms constitute PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It becomes very important that a victim has an outlet and person to help them with the crisis and its aftermath.

I will take pictures of people who have been trained, pictures of the training session itself, and images of the Clothesline Project.

Shawnee Cohn is a senior who is the coordinator of recruitment for VIA. I will talk to both males and females who have been trained and get their experiences. Some names include Pat Cravath, Rachel Vistica, Kate Brownstein, and Ryan McBride.

The story will occur at the training session and at the Clothesline project.

I will obviously have to communicate with the coordinators ahead of time to ensure I am able to photograph the event and the “safe” people.

I think most college students would be interested, as sexual assault is a prominent problem that often gets brushed aside or doesn’t get addressed. Whether they know it or not, most people probably know a victim of some sort of abuse.

I will need a few days to gather material. The training session I’m attending is on November 21 and 22. The Clothesline Project is still accepting t-shirts; I will find out when it is and attend. Once I have the material, I will need approximately two days to log, organize, and narrate the story.

This story should be published at the end of the semester so as to act as a retrospective of the progress made by the VIA program this semester. Also, by airing at the end of the semester, it could encourage others to get involved during the spring semester.

This project should come without any costs or extra requirements.

No word reporter will be needed.

I will need my camera and my audio recorder for this project. I will also use the audio slideshow program we used in the audio slice.