Upon seeing the recent news of the Cornell 7 and other cases of sexual assault on college campuses, a law student at Harvard University is using music to help survivors of sexual violence in Massachusetts.
Josette Huang is herself a survivor of sexual assault, and turned to music during what she describes as one of the most difficult periods of her life.
“Music became a way for me to process things that I couldn’t put into words,” she said.
This inspired Huang to combine both her passions for music and for sexual assault survivor advocacy and organize a benefit concert on Saturday in Cambridge to raise money for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, or BARCC.
“I went through my own sexual assault case, and I had an advocate like the ones at BARCC,” she said. “Even though we won my case, what was really important to me was just knowing that I had someone beside me … and I wanted to be able to provide that for other people, like BARCC does through their services.”
The concert, named The Sound of Resilience, comes as more details surrounding a sexual assault case at a fraternity house near the University of Chicago have emerged.
The concert will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Holden Chapel located on the Harvard campus.
Casey Corcoran, the director of outreach and prevention at BARCC, said the problem at colleges has been known for years.
“Sexual violence on campus has been in the news recently, but we know that this isn’t a new issue,” said Corcoran. “We need to be paying attention to and listening to survivors even when it’s not in the news.”
Corcoran said there needs to be more awareness and training for people on how to be active bystanders, especially on college campuses.
“We know that while a survivor of sexual violence on campus specifically may not tell the school and may not tell law enforcement, we know that they will tell a friend or loved one,” he said. “They are the first responders, and so we need to make sure that we are raising awareness and increasing education around bystander intervention.”
Huang said the concert is intended to bring more awareness around sexual assault. She adds that she thinks it’s “a really good thing” that people are sharing their stories of sexual assault online.
“I think that by advocating for ourselves and sharing these stories, then we not only bring this to attention to show how pervasive this problem is, but we also show people how they can show up for other people,” she said. “I think that this is a time when we should be getting angry … I want that anger to motivate us to act, rather than leaving us feeling helpless or feeling like all we can do is share anger online.”
Huang said organizations like BARCC are facing deep federal funding cuts.
“These are the things that they want to be doing in this community,” she said. “I think that if we can provide them these resources, they can provide help.”
BARCC provides free, confidential support and services to survivors of sexual violence for those aged 12 and up, and their family and friends, according to their website. The center’s services include immediate crisis intervention to long-term assistance, helping survivors navigate health care, legal, social service and educational systems.
Huang said the workers at BARCC remind her of the victim advocate she had.
“She would sit with me on the phone at 1 or 2 a.m. while I was talking about what I was upset about in my case,” she said. “She would explain to me why she still believed in justice even after seeing many people in this field not get justice. I think these people really truly care about the community.”
Corcoran said the concert will support critical resources for survivors on their pathway to healing.
“These resources support the counselors that work with survivors, the case managers, the legal advocates and the hotline that is staffed and available 24 hours a day,” he said.
