Panel Discusses Faith's Role in Supporting Sexual Assault Victims

As Title IX and sexual assault discussions dominate campus discourse, Harvard-affiliated religious groups sponsored an event Monday emphasizing an angle they feel has been missing from the conversation: the role of religious groups and faith in supporting victims of sexual assault.

The event, titled “Sexual Assault, Faith, and Healing,” featured a panel discussion moderated by University Chaplain Lucy A. Forster-Smith, who said she is herself a victim of sexual assault. The interfaith panel included “survivor advocates,” religious leaders, and a legal expert.

Diane Rosenfeld, who teaches a course on Title IX at the Law School, discusses sexual assault after a screening of the film The Hunting Ground. By Savannah I. Whaley

Panelists and attendees shared personal stories of sexual assault during the conversation, which lasted for over an hour and focused on how religion and campus groups can facilitate healing.

“Tonight we’re really here to have a very different type of conversation… [about] the possibility and potential for the way that healing and wholeness can come particularly with the support of religious communities,” Forster-Smith said. “Sometimes that voice can get sort of sidelined.”

Omobolaji O. Ogunsola ’10, one of the panel’s organizers, was disappointed by the low turnout at the event, but called the substance of the event “impactful.” Harvard Soulfood Christian Fellowship member Denzel W. Paige ’16, who described the event as “eye-opening,” said it highlighted how religious communities should approach victims without alienating them.

Organizers and attendees who graduated from the College several years ago said that robust conversations currently underway about sexual assault contrast with the silence that surrounded the issue during their time as undergraduates.

“I think there is a lot more awareness because of the Title IX suit and the federal government becoming involved,” Ogunsola said.

The panel followed a screening of The Hunting Ground, a film which has generated controversy as a group of Harvard Law School professors challenged the film’s portrayal of a sexual assault case at the Law School. While the film has garnered national attention—Lady Gaga performed her song from the soundtrack at the Academy Awards on Sunday—Law School professors have publicly argued that it is “unfair” and “misleading.”

Ogunsola said the point of showing the film was to highlight the recent wave of Title IX activism at college campuses across the country. She acknowledged that doubts surrounding the specific Law School case were “fair.”

A federal lawsuit filed by Alyssa R. Leader ’15 against the University is the latest probe into the University’s compliance with anti-sex discrimination law Title IX. The University overhauled its sexual harassment policy in 2014, and the Law School was found in violation of Title IX later that year.