Out of the red zone: How the CARES program supports survivors of sexual assault

Melody Warnick

11 Nov 2024

For Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff who have experienced gender-based or sexual violence, the Women's Center's CARES program offers support, advocacy, and a path to healing. Illustration by Christina Franusich for Virginia Tech.

It's the red zone for sexual assault on college campuses.

That's the time between the start of school and Thanksgiving break, when more than 50 percent of college sexual assaults occur, according to RAINN, the nation’s largest anti–sexual violence organization.

Lyss knows about the red zone. She's a Virginia Tech senior who was assaulted in the fall of her first semester in 2021. (Lyss wanted to share her story but chose to use her first name only.)

At a rally outside Burruss Hall a few weeks before the assault, she happened to see a table with information about the Campus Advocacy Resources Education for Survivors (CARES) program offered by the Women’s Center. That information came flooding back in the days after her assault, and she requested an urgent appointment with a CARES advocate. “I went into her office, and it felt like a really safe place,” Lyss said.

CARES may be the service everyone wishes that Virginia Tech didn’t need to offer. Yet sexual and gender-based violence occurs on virtually every college campus. “Not to scare people, but this can happen to anybody, and it does happen in every community,” said Paige Bik, assistant director of outreach and education for CARES, which serves about 200 clients each year.

How CARES is different

CARES is one in an array of campus resources available to members of the Virginia Tech community affected by sexual violence, including the recently formed Office of Sexual Violence Prevention and Education. But a few things set it apart.

CARES is focused solely on survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. “When something happens and the aftermath — that’s where we see ourselves,” said Bik. Advocates support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, relationship violence, child sexual abuse, harassment, stalking, and similar issues, sometimes years after the initial incident.

CARES serves students, faculty, and staff regardless of gender. In fact, the Women’s Center recently decentered its own name in favor of CARES in an effort to be “an inclusive and supportive community to everyone this is happening to on campus,” said Christine Dennis Smith, co-director of the Women’s Center.

CARES helps survivors navigate the system. For people who don’t know what the Title IX office is or how to make a police report, CARES provides information and acts as a guide to different offices and processes.

CARES is a confidential resource. Because its team of advocates are not required to report assaults to Title IX, survivors have more autonomy to understand their options and choose their own path. “If we can give people just a little bit of that control back when it comes to decision making, it can be really powerful,” said Bik.

CARES support is available in multiple locations. Last spring, a new initiative called Community CARES expanded the program's reach. Advocates maintain office hours at the Roanoke campus, Oak Lane, Campus Cultural Centers, and among the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. According to Craig J. Alia, 1st Battalion deputy commandant for the Corps of Cadets, having a CARES advocate stationed in a corps building sends “a powerful message to cadets that we value them as people. Specifically, it shows that the CARES team is willing to come to upper quad to help a population who prides themselves on being tough. It breaks down walls for them and gives them access to talk confidentially about really difficult topics that they might otherwise not discuss with anyone.”

CARES guides the family, friends, and instructors of survivors. Advocates offer consultations to anyone who wants to more effectively support a loved one or student who’s experienced trauma.

Building community for survivors

For Lyss, her CARES advocate was like an on-call friend, offering comfort and a listening ear, as well as a much-needed guide to the various campus offices concerned with sexual and gender-based violence. “My mind couldn't really focus on anything, and so just hearing someone else explain it to me, someone who I trusted and I had built a relationship with, was really beneficial,” she said.

Trained in trauma, CARES advocates help survivors develop coping skills “so that they can continue to be successful,” said Dennis Smith. That may include teaching them to manage triggers or pointing a survivor toward resources like talk therapy at Cook Counseling.

Bik said that CARES plans to expand its programs to include other healing outlets, like yoga classes, running groups, or arts therapy, “so not only are victims able to heal from sexual violence, but they feel like they are building community within Virginia Tech.”

Past the red zone

The road since her assault hasn’t been easy, but Lyss chooses to be open about her experiences to help other students. She became a peer educator with Sexual Assault and Violence Education by Students (SAVES) and has stayed connected with the Women’s Center. Motivated by her own experiences, Lyss is applying to graduate school to become a counselor.

“Sexual assault and gender-based violence is a huge epidemic on any college campus, especially during this time frame of the red zone,” Lyss said. “In order to heal, you need to feel a sense of community and know that there's someone out there who's listening to you and who believes you. CARES really helped me. I don't think I'd still be at Tech if I didn't have the CARES program.”

To arrange to speak with a CARES advocate, email CARESupport@vt.edu or visit a CARES office.