The staff of The Cottage.
The Cottage Sexual Assault Center and Children’s Advocacy Center—which recently criticized Athens and UGA officials for not attending a documentary screening on campus rape—has posted an online survey to “assess opinions on local response to sexual assault.”
The survey is available in both English and Spanish versions on The Cottage’s website through Sunday, June 19.
According to a news release from the nonprofit:
The intention of the survey is to assess whether the community believes sexual assault is a problem, and in what areas our community’s response to sexual assault could be improved, including medical care for survivors, mental health care for survivors, arrests and prosecution of sexual assault crimes, improved community awareness, policy and advocacy. Respondents are asked to provide demographic information including their role in the community (parent, elected official, student, etc), association with an agency, age, gender and ethnic identity.
Executive Director of The Cottage, Sally Sheppard said, “We hear from a lot of people in our community that they agree sexual assault is a problem and that they want to be a part of the solution. We want to get the opinions of as many people in as many communities and agencies as possible, to know where they think our community needs to work most in addressing sexual assault and rape. We believe this survey is the next step so that we can continue the conversation and move towards solutions. We’re asking for individuals to participate and to encourage others to participate so that we have results that most accurately reflect the sentiments of the community. Every opinion counts, and we’re anxious to hear what the community has to say.”
Respondents must be 18 to participate and are asked if they would be interested in participating in a community conversation with other community members to identify possible solutions and next steps towards addressing sexual assault in Athens.
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