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Survivor-Centered Classrooms: Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence at PCC
Posted by anne.grey
Presenters: Hayley Hayes, Darlene Munoz, and Heather Hagelberger.
Summary
In this presentation, PCC’s Outreach and Advocacy Project shares practical ways faculty and staff can create learning environments that better support students affected by gender-based violence. Presenters explain that gender-based violence can include stalking, dating or domestic violence, sexual violence, sexual harassment, and other forms of physical, emotional, financial, technological, reproductive, verbal, and cultural abuse.
The session emphasizes that students may first disclose an experience of harm when they are seeking help with another need, such as missed coursework, financial challenges, or difficulty attending class. Faculty can help create survivor-centered classrooms by sharing support resources throughout the term, offering flexibility or alternate assignments when appropriate, responding to disclosures in a trauma-informed way, and partnering with PCC advocates when students need academic support.
Participants are introduced to the 4 D’s of bystander intervention: Direct, Distract, Delay, and Delegate. These approaches give faculty and staff several options for responding when they notice concerning behavior while considering their own safety and the needs of the student. The presenters also introduce the ABC method for responding to a disclosure: Acknowledge, Believe, and Check-in. This approach centers active listening, validation, student choice, and avoiding assumptions or unnecessary advice.
The session also reviews reporting and referral responsibilities at PCC and encourages faculty and staff to be transparent with students about those responsibilities. Presenters demonstrate how gentle interruption, warm handoffs, CARE referrals, and connections to confidential resources can help students understand their options while preserving as much choice and privacy as possible. Through classroom and online scenarios, participants practice responding without making assumptions, retraumatizing students, or taking control away from the person seeking support.
Slides: Survivor Centered Classrooms: Intervention & Response to Gender Based Violence at PCC
Presentation Outcomes
- Recognize common forms of gender-based violence, including stalking, dating and domestic violence, sexual violence, sexual harassment, and nonphysical forms of abuse.
- Identify practical strategies for creating survivor-centered classrooms, including sharing resources, providing appropriate flexibility, offering alternate assignments, and responding to disclosures with care.
- Apply the 4 D’s of bystander intervention: Direct, Distract, Delay, and Delegate, when responding to concerning behavior in classroom and campus settings.
- Use the ABC method of Acknowledge, Believe, and Check-in to respond to student disclosures in a trauma-informed and student-centered way.
- Understand PCC reporting and referral responsibilities and communicate those responsibilities transparently when a student begins to disclose gender-based violence.
- Use warm handoffs and referrals to connect students with confidential advocacy, counseling, and other PCC support resources while respecting student privacy and choice.
- Practice responding to in-person and online classroom situations without making assumptions, labeling a student’s experience for them, or causing additional harm.
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