The event 鈥� which includes speakers and interactive arts-based opportunities for reflection, learning and healing 鈥� is Saturday, March 19, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in 91短视频鈥檚 Suter Science Center. It is free and open to the public as well as the campus community.

鈥淪exual violence doesn鈥檛 just impact individuals,鈥� Stauffer says. 鈥淚t is a breach of relationship. How can we rebuild community in the face of violence? If we can build toward a healthier definition of community, I think we鈥檒l all feel safer and provide an environment for profound healing.鈥�

Stauffer鈥檚 project, titled 鈥�,鈥� began in 2012 with research among domestic abuse survivors from within communities of homeless women, undocumented Latinas and Mennonite women from Old Order or conservative church communities. Stauffer employed a strengths-based approach, with particular focus on the resilient ways in which women survive in spite of gaps in societal support networks. Her project employed strategies that empowered study participants, integrating storytelling interviews with circle processes and healing arts workshops.

Last spring, MA in biomedicine students were integrated into the project with a about adverse childhood experience. Most of the students are future health care providers, and the experience asked them to reflect on the symptomatic and diagnostic implications of personal narratives as they participated in storytelling, communication activities and playback theater events with co-facilitators, some of whom were domestic abuse survivors.

Stauffer and the planning committee have included some of these same components in the symposium, she says. 鈥淭his is an interdisciplinary event with planning, support and participation coming from various groups and departments across campus,鈥� she added, the representation of which is important to the idea of both community response and support.

Plenary presenters include , assistant professor of restorative justice and peacebuilding at 91短视频鈥檚 Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, and University of Notre Dame doctoral researcher Sheila McCarthy. Turner will speak on 鈥淗ealing in Community鈥� and McCarthy on 鈥淪exual Violence through the Lens of Moral Injury.鈥� , an 91短视频 graduate whose published writing has explored her identity as a survivor of sexual abuse, will share her poetry. Inside Out, a campus theater group which has also participated in other parts of Stauffer鈥檚 multidisciplinary project, will host a session on the innovative and healing art of playback theater.

鈥淭o me, this type of witness moves our peace stance from the rubric of a privatized individual journey to a much more collective awareness of the church鈥檚 role in embodying the challenge to 鈥榮peak truth鈥� to abuses of power,鈥� Stauffer says. 鈥淚t invites us as a community of faith to higher levels of transparency, truth and grace for all parties involved.鈥�

Afternoon breakout sessions in two 90-minute blocks options provide attendees with a variety of options, including:

• 鈥淗ow to Appropriately Respond to Disclosures,鈥� by Mike and Lavonne Yoder of in Milton, Pa.;
• 鈥淏ody Work and Response Mechanisms of Memory Storage and Release,鈥� by , director of 91短视频鈥檚 (STAR) program;
• 鈥淎rts Approaches to Trauma Recovery,鈥� with Janine Aberg;
• 鈥淚nternational Perspectives on Sexual Violence,鈥� by Diana Tovar Rojas and Myriam Aziz of 91短视频鈥檚 Center for Justice and Peacebuilding;
• 鈥漊npacking Consent, Unhealthy Relationships and Sexual Assault,鈥� by Chris Ehrhardt and Laurel Winsor of James Madison University鈥檚 (CARE) program;
• 鈥淪afe Church Protocols of Prevention,鈥� by Ross Erb and Jackie Hieber of , which provides sexual assault crisis services and other programs in Harrisonburg;
• 鈥淐ircles of Support and Accountability (COSA),鈥� by Sarah King and Daniel Foxvog;
• 鈥淩estorative Justice Dialogues in Crimes of Severe Violence,鈥� by , restorative justice coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee;
• 鈥淟GBTQ Perspectives on Sexual Violence,鈥� by , assistant professor of education at 91短视频;
• 鈥淚 Am Your Broken Place: The Grief of Sexual Violence,鈥� by , director of at 91短视频.

Stauffer says the project has involved 鈥渕any hands coming together.鈥� Members of the faculty and staff planning committee include Mansfield, the STAR director; Comer, director of counseling services; Roger Foster, co-founder of playback theater troupe; , history professor and department chair; Teresa Haase, director of the graduate program in counseling; and , professor of social work. The student-led has also helped to advise and support the symposium, and students are being encouraged to attend.

鈥淗aving students as an integral part of what we鈥檙e doing is key,鈥� Stauffer says. 鈥淭he investment and energy that students bring adds huge value to the whole process.鈥�

A final educative component, designed for 91短视频 faculty and staff and focusing on institutional dynamics, is being planned for this coming fall.

The 鈥淪ilent Violence鈥� project has been funded by a JustPax Fund grant since 2014. focuses on individuals and organizations working for effective change through innovative approaches to societal challenges relating to gender, environmental and/or economic justice. The fund is administered by through the Everence affiliate, Mennonite Foundation. Due to that support, the event is free and open to the public. No pre-registration is required.

While empowering the women, the storytelling itself also provides important clues about finding access into these hidden communities, identifying the most likely allies within each community, and understanding the complicated choices the women make in seeking or not seeking help.

鈥淭heir courage and resilience are breathtaking,鈥� says Stauffer, assistant professor of at 91短视频.

Called 鈥淪ilent Violence,鈥� the project recently garnered a $10,200 grant from (TJPX), which focuses on individuals and organizations working for effective change through innovative approaches to societal challenges relating to gender, environmental and/or economic justice. TJPX is administered by through the Everence affiliate, Mennonite Foundation.

Six projects were awarded approximately $58,000 from a pool of 15 applicants, according to Joseph Lapp, managing director at the Harrisonburg Everence office.

鈥淭he Advisory Committee believes this project is a positive method of vocalizing the silence around domestic violence,鈥� Lapp said. Upon successful completion of the first-year goals, an additional $7,100 will be awarded to complete the project in its second year.

鈥淰ocalizing the silence鈥� is an important and restorative component of this study, Stauffer says. 鈥淲e are using a strengths-based approach and want to build on and help surface the assets and resilient strategies these women have been developing. They are obviously surviving and going on with their lives. So what can they teach us about the strategies they are using, and the relationships and social support networks they are building?鈥�

The women鈥檚 stories are also helping researchers identify 鈥渨hat we鈥檙e calling structural holes,鈥� Stauffer continues. 鈥淗ow are our ideologies or institutions complicit? What are the gaps within the system that these women are falling through? These particular groups of women exist under circumstances where protections and services are less likely to reach them.鈥�

Bridget Mullins is among several master鈥檚 level students with the who have contributed to the research since the project鈥檚 inception. Fluent in Spanish from several years of living in Latin America, Mullins partnered with Cristian Quezada (MA `13 in ) to conduct interviews with many of the Latina women. She鈥檚 now preparing to conduct interviews within the two other communities.

鈥淢y favorite moment during these interviews is the last question,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat last question is, 鈥榃hat advice would you give to women in a similar situation?鈥� Their voices shine through. You can see them looking with hindsight and realizing how much they have been through, and drawing on their wisdom to communicate hope to other women who might be living through something similar.鈥�

One important goal of the project is social transformation. Some participants have taken part in circle processes to share and reflect on their experiences or in a facilitated by Cristian and Anita Quezada. Stauffer is also working on other ways to safely share the women鈥檚 stories without compromising confidentiality or putting them in danger.

A one-day symposium involving survivor groups, service providers, business, academic, religious and public officials is being planned for next year.

Stauffer notes that the financial commitment from the JustPax Fund is an important affirmation of the need to address micro-level violence and create a place to safely and carefully house these narratives as 鈥渟acred stories鈥� of our collective life. She views an arts-based approach as 鈥減articularly effective because it unlocks many parts of who we are that would otherwise remain trapped in trauma responses.鈥�

鈥淥ur faith tradition is peace-oriented on an international level,鈥� Stauffer says, 鈥渁nd we have focused a lot of time and energy on that kind of macro-violence, but we haven鈥檛 been as forthcoming about the violence that is happening within our intimate domains, here at home, and in our communities.

“At the end of the day, if we鈥檙e ignoring this type of violence, we鈥檙e undermining our peace witness. This project addresses that and helps us see ways that we can surface those stories, validate them and work to address those needs in the families and communities where we live.鈥�