Personal Narrative: An Interview With A Boyfriend
Although Sarah’s only a junior in college, she’s been advocating for friends and other for over four years now.
Her first time advocating was outside a Starbucks.
It was the beginning of spring her junior year of high school, and the weather was just warm enough for her and her friend to sit outside under the giant green umbrellas near the cafe.
Being outdoors let the girls enjoy the weather, but more importantly, it gave them a secluded area to talk.
It was there that Sarah’s friend revealed what her relationship with her boyfriend was truly like: she said she was often pressured and forced into sexual situations by her long-term boyfriend.
“I didn't know how to deal with it,” Sarah said. “It wasn't even something on my radar at that point… I didn't think that that could happen basically anywhere …show more content…
Some she met on her dorm floor, others in clubs.
“When they're first starting to open up, it's almost easier to talk to someone who's not directly in contact with you all the time,” she said. “Since I knew these people but didn't really know them well, I think it was easier for them (to talk).”
She said she helps when she can by talking through their problems and offering resources: since joining PREVENT, she makes sure to carry around a sexual assault advocacy packet.
After these conversations, Sarah said she often suggests they visit the women’s center.
“That was really helpful because I'm not qualified to go through therapy with them or anything like that,” she said.
She said her job is mostly being there when others need her, offering a shoulder to cry on and pointing them in the right direction for resources.
"I hope that just I gave them a choice, I gave them an option,” she said. “Whether they take it or not, that is entirely in their control.”
Sarah said that through these advocacy roles, she hopes that she gives these women back some sense of power that they may have lost in their
Her first time advocating was outside a Starbucks.
It was the beginning of spring her junior year of high school, and the weather was just warm enough for her and her friend to sit outside under the giant green umbrellas near the cafe.
Being outdoors let the girls enjoy the weather, but more importantly, it gave them a secluded area to talk.
It was there that Sarah’s friend revealed what her relationship with her boyfriend was truly like: she said she was often pressured and forced into sexual situations by her long-term boyfriend.
“I didn't know how to deal with it,” Sarah said. “It wasn't even something on my radar at that point… I didn't think that that could happen basically anywhere …show more content…
Some she met on her dorm floor, others in clubs.
“When they're first starting to open up, it's almost easier to talk to someone who's not directly in contact with you all the time,” she said. “Since I knew these people but didn't really know them well, I think it was easier for them (to talk).”
She said she helps when she can by talking through their problems and offering resources: since joining PREVENT, she makes sure to carry around a sexual assault advocacy packet.
After these conversations, Sarah said she often suggests they visit the women’s center.
“That was really helpful because I'm not qualified to go through therapy with them or anything like that,” she said.
She said her job is mostly being there when others need her, offering a shoulder to cry on and pointing them in the right direction for resources.
"I hope that just I gave them a choice, I gave them an option,” she said. “Whether they take it or not, that is entirely in their control.”
Sarah said that through these advocacy roles, she hopes that she gives these women back some sense of power that they may have lost in their