Carrie Benson, MEd
Director of Sexual Violence Prevention and Education, University of Pittsburgh
The 2024 Higher Education Sexual Misconduct and Awareness (HESMA) survey found that almost 19% of undergraduate women from participating institutions reported experiencing campus sexual violence.
The impact of sexual misconduct on our campuses is much broader than any primary incident. The consequences of victimization are far-reaching and can include social isolation, academic challenges, and increased substance use.
Survivors on our campuses need and deserve support. This webinar will provide tools for building supportive programs on your campus by working in collaboration with campus and community partners. Specifically, we will provide an overview of the University of Pittsburgh’s Survivor Support Network, a community of trauma-informed faculty and staff who are trained to support survivors of sexual misconduct, as well as other programs developed to support community members impacted by sexual violence.
Learning Objectives
In this webinar, attendees will:
- Learn about recent data trends related to campus sexual misconduct and how they impact the learning environment.
- Examine the consequences of sexual violence on college students and on the campus environment.
- Explore ways to leverage campus and community resources to create a culture of support on campus.
Presenters
Carrie Benson, MEd (she/her) currently serves as the inaugural director of the sexual violence prevention and education office at the University of Pittsburgh. She is responsible for ensuring that faculty, staff and students are engaged in dialogue around identifying, preventing, and responding to sexual misconduct. She also serves as the principle-investigator of a $500,000 seed grant, Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Survivor Support on Campus. Carrie was recognized by Pittsburgh Magazine as one of Pittsburgh’s 40 under 40 young leaders in 2024. In May of 2024 her team was recognized as a Community Champion by Pittsburgh Action Against Rape. Carrie joined Pitt as a Title IX Specialist in May 2015. Previously, she was the Assistant Director of Campus Life at Carlow University. She has experience working in diversity and inclusion, student affairs and service-learning. She earned her master’s degree in education from Pitt in 2012.
Willa Campbell, MPH
Lead Prevention Educator, University of Pittsburgh
Willa Campbell, MPH (she/her) is currently the Lead Prevention Educator with the University of Pittsburgh’s Office for Sexual Violence Prevention and Education. As a part of her role, Willa manages their new dialogue-based sexual misconduct prevention program, Circle Up. In 2023, she graduated with her master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health where she studied in the department of Behavioral & Community Health Sciences. Before starting her graduate studies, she worked in the non-profit sector first as a Young Adult Case Manager with the 412 Youth Zone, a drop-in center for system-involved and homeless youth, and most recently as a Legal Advocate with Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, Allegheny County’s rape crisis center.
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