Stephanie Tolbert

University of Colorado Denver - 2019

Raising awareness about how to stop the cycles of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Project: I have partnered with CU Denver’s Women and Gender Center and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to examine how sexual misconduct training practices in academic settings address identity. Specifically, my Puksta project will culminate with training materials and recommendations for inclusive gender and sexual representation within these trainings. These identities are already marginalized and silenced within society at large. If the same is happening within practices that attempt to prevent violence, and non-binary identities are not part of the conversation, then their experiences with sexual harassment are delegitimized and invalid.

 

Inspiration: My project began with a question of whether or not sexual harassment training is successful in creating any cultural change as more and more survivors began to publicly speak about their experiences. I also knew that I wanted my project to address issues surrounding gender identity and sexism. After attending events, speaking with faculty who are invested in this issue, and looking at training materials from various campuses, it became clear that what I needed to do was combine these issues into one project in order to change the heteronormative conversation around and within these training practices.