SHAW’s Sexual and Relationship Violence Prevention unit works to build the capacity of the campus community to prevent violence, support survivors, and support our community culture of care, consent, and respect. We do this through educational and skill-building programs, helping students, staff, and faculty who are working to create change on campus, and building campus coalitions for violence prevention.
In a 2021 survey of UWM students, 11.6% of students reported being called names, insulted, or put down by a romantic partner (ACHA UWM, 2021). In this same study, nearly 4% of students also reported that they have been touched sexually without their consent.
Sexual, relationship, and domestic violence affects all of us. At UWM, we believe in the importance of creating a safe and healthy environment for all of our community members. Although we are making progress, there is much work to do. You can help prevent violence in our community and support our mission to create a culture of consent at UWM.
Wellness Workshops
Student, staff, and faculty groups can request one of the workshops described below to be delivered by Sexual and Relationship Violence Prevention staff and adapted to your group/audience. If you are interested in booking a workshop, you can do so through the form below. If you are interested in a workshop or program topic that is not listed below, please contact the Sexual and Relationship Violence Prevention Coordinator at uwm-violenceprevention@uwm.edu.
🕐 50 Minutes
Facilitator: Professional Staff
Audience: Students
Description: This presentation dives deep and expands understanding of boundaries. By the end, participants will have a deeper understanding of the different types of boundaries, common barriers to boundaries, how to make a boundary most effective, and steps to take if you see a boundary being violated. This workshop will help participants to feel confident saying yes, no, and everything in between!
🕐 50 Minutes
Facilitator: Professional Staff
Audience: Students
This workshop emphasizes the importance of communication in consensual situations. Through interactive demonstrations, we will highlight the impact that open, direct, and consistent communication can have when seeking or giving consent. Participants will leave this program with increased confidence in understanding consent, and something to satisfy their sweet tooth!
You Can Help! Prevent Sexual and Relationship Violence
🕐 75-90 Minutes
Facilitator: Professional Staff
Audience: Students/Staff
With this bystander intervention training, participants will learn the important role they can play as an active bystander in preventing sexual and relationship violence by learning safe and effective ways to intervene. Participants will learn how to identify potentially harmful situations, understand behaviors and attitudes that contribute to a culture of violence, and practice new intervention techniques.
Panthers Against Sexual Assault
PASA is an organization made up of undergraduate and graduate students dedicated to ending all forms of sexual violence on campus. PASA advocates for survivors and works to educate students on sexual violence prevention through open discussions, workshops, and campus-wide events. If you are interested in getting more information about PASA membership and events, please fill out this form.
If someone you know has experienced violence, here’s some tips on how you can best support them:
- Listen empathetically to what they are telling you.
- Acknowledge what has happened to them.
- Thank them for sharing with you and for trusting you.
- Understand that no matter the circumstances of the assault, what the survivor experienced is not their fault.
- Offer your support and helpful resources that they can lean on as they navigate through their options.
- Keep in mind that everyone’s experience with violence is unique and that there is no “right” way for a survivor to respond to or heal from their experience.
- Know that a survivor’s first concerns may include: physical and emotional safety, seeking medical assistance, seeking police intervention, or calling a hotline to speak to someone.
If you are feeling the impact of someone in your life experiencing violence, know that you are not alone. Vicarious trauma can occur when we are exposed to traumatic stories and experiences in our lives. The Student Health and Wellness Center’s Counseling Services are available support to all students, including students who are impacted by vicarious trauma, stress, anxiety, or other concerns that can occur when someone we care for is impacted by violence. Request an appointment for counseling or a Let’s Talk consultation to see if you could benefit from receiving support.
Be A Prosocial Bystander
As a member of the UWM community, you have the power to help others and create a culture of care and respect. If you see something that could become a harmful situation, it can be hard to step up and help – especially if no one else is. Here are some different strategies you can use to intervene:
Derail the situation by interrupting it. Ignore the perpetrator, or start an unrelated conversation with the person who is potentially being harmed
- Example: “Jane, wasn’t that assignment for stats super tough?! How do you think you did?”
Name the problematic behavior and address it with the perpetrator in the moment
- Example: “Rachel, saying things like that can be off putting and offensive to other people. I think we should change the topic to something more appropriate”
Record important information about the incident – who, what, where, when, how.
- Example: “Hey Jason – I couldn’t help but notice that some of the things Tom was saying and doing were super weird. I was able to jot down some quotes and details – if you think they would be helpful I can send them to you.”
Recruit help. This could be an authority figure, someone familiar with the situation, gathering a group, etc.
- Example: “Hey RA Rose – I think that my neighbors are having a bad fight. I have been hearing yelling and some other loud noises, and I am worried about Jessica. I am not sure how to address it – can you help?”
Follow up with the person victimized by a situation. Check in with them, connect them with resources, and provide support
- Example: “Bobby, I am so sorry that happened. That was not okay. Do you need anything? I remember learning about some offices on campus that can help – do you want me to send you some information”
Although your help can make a huge difference, your safety should always take priority. Before intervening, assess the situation and make sure that you are not putting yourself in danger when/if you intervene. If you witness a situation and there is an immediate threat to your safety or those around you, call 911.
If you want to learn more and practice these intervention strategies, sign up for a You Can Help! Prevent Sexual and Relationship Violence session! Additionally, you can read more about the 5 D’s of Bystander Intervention.
Definitions
Words or overt actions by a person who is competent to give informed consent, indicating a freely given agreement to engage in sexual activity or other activity referenced in the definition of sexual assault and sexual exploitation. A person is unable to give consent if the person is in a state of incapacitation because of drugs, alcohol, physical or intellectual disability, or unconsciousness.
- Dating Violence: Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the complainant; and where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of the following factors: the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
- Domestic Violence: Felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the complainant, by a person with whom the complainant shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the complainant as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the complainant under the domestic or family violence laws of Wisconsin, or by any other person against an adult or youth complainant who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of Wisconsin.
Sexual Violence: The phrase, as used in this policy, refers to incidents involving sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, and sexual exploitation.
Unwanted sexual activity that happens when you are pressured, tricked, threatened, or forced in a nonphysical way. Coercion can make you think you owe sex to someone. It might be from someone who has power over you, like a teacher, landlord, or a boss. No person is ever required to have sex with someone else.
Sexual harassment happens when someone in your workplace, home, or school makes unwelcome sexual advances to you or requests sexual favors. It also includes verbal or physical behaviors that may affect your job, home, or education. These acts are sexual harassment when they are without your consent, or are unwanted, and interfere with your work or school performance or create a hostile or offensive environment. UWM also defines sexual harassment specific to employees.
An offense that meets any of the following definitions:
- Rape: The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of the complainant, without the consent of the complainant.
- Fondling: The touching of the private body parts of the complainant for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the complainant, including instances where the complainant is incapable of giving consent because of the complainant’s age or because of the complainant’s temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
- Incest: Sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law as per s. 944.06, Stats.
- Statutory Rape: Sexual intercourse with a complainant who is under the statutory age of consent as per s. 948.02, Stats.
Attempting, taking, or threatening to take nonconsensual sexual advantage of another person. Examples include:
- Engaging in the following conduct without the knowledge and consent of all participants:
- Observing, recording, or photographing private body parts or sexual activity of the complainant(s).
- Allowing another person to observe, record, or photograph sexual activity or private body parts of the complainant(s).
- Otherwise distributing recordings, photographs, or other images of the same of the complainant(s).
- Masturbating, touching one’s genitals, or exposing one’s genitals in the complainant’s presence without the consent of the complainant, or inducing the complainant to do the same.
- Dishonesty or deception regarding the use of contraceptives or condoms during the course of sexual contact or sexual intercourse
- Inducing incapacitation through deception for the purpose of making the complainant vulnerable to non-consensual sexual activity
- Coercing the complainant to engage in sexual activity for money or anything of value
- Threatening distribution of any of the following, to coerce someone into sexual activity or providing money or anything of value:
- Photos, videos, or recordings depicting private body parts or sexual activity of the complainant, or
- Other information of a sexual nature involving the complaint, including sexual history or sexual orientation.
The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion;
- The term “commercial sex act” means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.
- If the person is under 18 years of age, any commercial sex act, whether or not force, fraud, or coercion is involved.
Engaging in a course of conduct directed at the complainant that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or the safety of others; or suffer substantial emotional distress.
Resources
- On Campus
- Off Campus
Sources
Office on Women’s Health. (2021, February). Sexual coercion: Office on women’s health. OASH | Office on Women’s Health. https://womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/other-types/sexual-coercion
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. (2021, February). Sexual violence and sexual harassment policy. https://apps.uwm.edu/secu-policies/storage/other/SAAP%205-2.%20Sexual%20Violence%20and%20Sexual%20Harassment%20Policy.pdf
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. (2025, January 28). What is sex trafficking?. USCRI. https://refugees.org/what-is-sex-trafficking/#:~:text=If%20the%20person%20is%20under,fraud%2C%20or%20coercion%20is%20involved.
We recognize that sexual and relationship violence impact our students differently depending on their identities. We want all of our students to see themselves reflected in our research, efforts, and initiatives at UWM. Click below to learn more about different identities and how they, as a group, are impacted by various forms of sexual, dating, and/or domestic violence.
Black Students
- One of the leading causes of death for black women aged 15-35 is intimate partner violence (1)
- Black women are almost three times more likely than white women to be killed by an intimate partner (1)
- More than 20 percent of Black women are raped during their lifetimes (2)
- 45% of Black women experienced stalking, physical and sexual violence in their lifetimes, and an estimated 51% of Black female adult homicides were related to intimate partner violence (3)
- “Black students reported experiencing more emotional IPV than Whites and had more experiences with physical IPV than their non-Black counterparts” (4)
- In 2019-2020, Wisconsin had the highest disparity in the country between black and white women, with black women being 20x more likely to be murdered than white women (5)
Resources
- UWM Student Health and Wellness Center
- Sojourner Family Peace Center
- Asha Family Services, Inc.
Sources
- The Intersectionality of Intimate Partner Violence in the Black Community (PDF)
- Violence Against Black Women – Many Types, Far Reaching Effects
- NBC: Black Women are Six Times More Likely to Be Killed Than White Women
- Black College Students’ Perceptions and Conceptualizations of Intimate Partner Violence (PDF)
- End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin: Homicide Report 2024
Ways to Get Involved!
- Attend a SHAW program and improve your bystander intervention, boundary setting, and healthy relationship skills.
- Talk to your friends! Don’t be afraid to call out problematic behavior or comments. The more we talk openly about these things, the less “taboo” it becomes.
- Continue learning about this topic through your own research.
- Participate in awareness campaigns like Denim Day.
Have more time on your hands? You could…
- Enroll in a class with a cultural focus (ex. AFRIC 215 or ETHNIC 265).
- Volunteer or intern with the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault (WCASA) or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC).
- Start a fundraiser or awareness campaign in your student organization.
- Volunteer or intern at a local women’s shelter.
- Join Panthers Against Sexual Assault (PASA)!
- Fill out the Panthers Against Sexual Assault interest form to learn more.