Victim-Centric Spaces for Muslim Survivors of Sexual Assault on College Campuses

(2017 - 2022)

CURL performed research and evaluation for HEART’s 2017 initiative.  The initiative is composed of a series of trainings for Muslim college students and student leaders on up to five college campuses.  The students came come together to understand sexual violence, learn how to support victims, and develop victim-centric approaches, policies, and best practices that address and prevent sexual violence in student organizations.  The project began in April/May 2017, on campuses in Southern California, Chicago, and Washington DC.

CURL assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and skills around sexual violence in Muslim college communities that students gained through participation in the workshops and, for a subset of students who became student leaders, through sustained leadership in their campus communities. CURL also helped HEART evaluate the program implementation process in order to identify strengths and areas of improvement.

All the research and evaluation have been completed and the research team disseminated findings through community webinars, a visual report, and a published journal article in Religions. 

Reports:

• Visual Report

• Webinars:  

• And the Survey Says Ep 1. Sexual Violence Beliefs among Muslim Students--A Gendered Analysis

• And the Survey Says Ep 2. Creating Victim-Centered Spaces on Campus: An Analysis on Power & Privilege

• Journal Article: 

  • Azmat, A., Khayr, Y., Mohajir, N., Reyna, M., & Spitz, G. (2023). “They sit with the discomfort, they sit with the pain instead of coming forward”: Muslim students’ awareness, attitudes, and challenges mobilizing sexual violence education on campus. Religions. 

Research Team:

• G. Spitz, CURL

• D. Van Zytveld, CURL

• Y. Khayr, CURL 

• M. Reyna, CURL Graduate Fellow 

• Nadiah Mohajir, HEART 

• Alia Azmat, HEART 

Community Partner:

• HEART