Fear of Harassment

A Saint Joseph’s University student reads the experience of a Junior and her experience with harassment via social media. The student shares the feeling of getting the message and then finding out that other women also received similar messages. The student also describes how Public Safety did not do anything that made her feel safe on campus. 

Start Talking SJU is a social media impact campaign that encourages members of the Saint Joseph’s University community to engage each other by discussing difficult, yet important topics, that are vital for a healthy, open, inclusive campus. Our current topic is Living in Fear, Striving for Hope.

More videos like this one on the topic of Living in Fear, Striking for Hope in 2020 can be found at http://livinginfear.starttalkingsju.com. You can also see our prior campaigns: Attacked (http://attacked.starttalkingsju.com), Belonging (http://belonging.starttalking.com), and Mental Health (http://mentalhealth.starttalking.com).

This video was co-created with the person depicted and/or represented in a story read by another. All persons reviewed and signed consent forms granting permission to share this story online. 

If you are experiencing any personal or social effects due to fear on or off campus, the university has resources that can help, including:

The Office of Student Outreach and Support (https://sites.sju.edu/sos/); the SJU COVID website (https://www.sju.edu/hawk-hill-ready); if you are experiencing food insecurity, HawkHub (https://clubs.sju.edu/hawkhubclub); The Bias Activity Review Group, which connects to Public Safety (https://sites.sju.edu/oid/bias/); CAPS (610-660-1090); TitleIX titleIX@sju.edu; REPP (*confidential support) 610-733-9650 (24 hr. Peer Helpline); or SJU Public Safety 610-660-1111.

A complete transcript of the video reads as follows:

On September 11 of this year, I received a weird Instagram message from an account with a graphic username. The username raised my concerns at first, and I just deleted the account because it made me uncomfortable. I thought it was just a spam account at first, but the following week, I saw on Instagram someone had posted the messages they had received from the same account. I messaged this person, and I said, “Hey, I got messages from that account too.” She then told me that numerous other women had messaged her about receiving messages as well. Everyone contacted Public Safety to report the account, including myself, but the university did nothing that made me feel better about the situation. 

I emailed the investigator who was handling my case, and they said nothing that made me feel safe. Then, when I started not getting daily updates or responses from Public Safety, I started getting more concerned because at this point I thought that the person behind the account was someone on campus. I think that my main concern was that I didn’t feel protected at St. Joe’s.