By Felipe Montano |Staff Writer|

The Women’s Resource Center (WRC) at CSUSB looks to assist students in matters of women’s health, safety and education.

An essential resource for the campus, the center host’s events that would be a resource for the female student body.

The most recent event being “Take Back the Night,” in which sexual assault was the topic and how it can be prevented.

They hosted an instructional course that showcased self-defense methods and avoidance techniques.

Each month, the center tackles a different topic that women face on a daily basis. April is consent month and May is sexual assault month.

The center takes pride in being an exemplary resource for the women on campus. They establish themselves as an open and safe environment for women.

The topic of sexual assault is not one that is readily discussed amongst our student body, according to Irene Tobias, staff member of the WRC.

However, the staff is trained to handle such topics.

The staff is also able to assist in the steps one should take if they feel the need to report an act of assault or harassment.

From October until now, there has been about 80 cases overall; the cases range from sexual assault to stalking to domestic violence. 

These cases usually go unreported since most victims do not report the cases that they are involved in.

Also, there are those that do not know the steps to reporting such cases, according to Tobias.

“We go through Title IX for the protection of the students and our staff, but through Marina Woods, students can feel free to share as they please,” said Tobias.

Marina Woods is part of Survivor Advocacy Services (SAS) and works directly with the WRC in order to counsel women in matters of sexual assault, dating/domestic violence and stalking.

According to the CSUSB website, the mission for SAS is to educate and counsel the student body on how to cope and deal with whatever trauma that they may be dealing with.

They provide encouragement for these individuals to share their concerns and empower them to decide on what they choose to do as far as “justice and healing”.

“Confidentiality is fundamental to the safety of survivors,” stated the SAS website.

The students that come to SAS can be assured that only the information that they choose to share will be reported—as many students do not come forward due to fear of consequence.

The WRC is on the second floor of the San Manuel Student Union.

If you feel like you have been a victim of abuse or know of somebody that needs assistance, regardless of gender, feel free to come into the WRC and they will be more than willing to provide assistance.

As part of Title IX compliance, the direct staff of the WRC would have to report any acts of abuse.

However, through SAS, counseling is available that is completely confidential for students.

Marina Woods is located in the counseling center and can be reached at (909) 537-5040.