Published: Dec. 4, 2018
By: Claire Bermudez, Caroline Fenton and Payton Ibos, LSU Manship School News Service
Following the #MeToo movement and the hearings on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, more women are coming forward on Louisiana college campuses with complaints of sexual assault and relationship violence.
LSU’s Lighthouse counseling program received 91 requests for support last year, up from 53 in 2016. During the September showdown between Kavanaugh and a woman who accused him of having assaulted her when they were teenagers, requests by LSU students for counseling increased to two a day.
Students can go to Lighthouse for support following rape, domestic violence, stalking or attempted sexual assaults.
Since assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men set off the #MeToo movement late last year, the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault (LaFASA) also has seen a spike in reports.
“When the #MeToo initially came out, a lot of our accredited sexual assault centers throughout Louisiana did see a surge in hotline calls,” Josef Canaria, LaFASA’s campus sexual violence coordinator, said. “Statewide, our rape crisis centers phone lines were off the hook.”
Read more in the News Star.
