Participating in Gender Based Harm Prevention at UMBC

My name is Abby, I use she/her pronouns. I am writing this blog to share about my experience this semester participating in gender-based harm reduction and advocacy through the Women’s Center.  I facilitated the We Believe You discussion group Fall 2023 - Spring 2024. This is for survivors to build community and support one another…

Take Back the Night, Forever and Always

Amelia Meman (they/them and she/her), GWST '15, is the interim director of the Women's Center. They have worked in the Women's Center as an intern, a student staff member, a volunteer, and now professional staff member. This is a loving retrospective on Take Back the Night (TBTN), written in the third spring semester where UMBC…

Reflecting on My Nigerian Community: Learning How to Be an Ally to Survivors of Sexual Violence

Arifat (she/her/hers) is a Senior majoring in Social Work and Political Science. She is working in the Women's Center this year for her social work field placement. Content Note: This blog is written from my experience as a first-generation immigrant and a Nigerian-American. After reading I encourage to think about your own identities and communities…

So, your fave has been accused of sexual assault.

 Kaitlyn Kylus (She/Her) Kaitlyn is a senior Social Work major and is a student staff member at the Women’s Center Content Warning: Sexual Assault  A note on the word survivor: I will be using the words “survivor”, “victim”, and “accuser” interchangeably in this post. It is always up to the person affected to decide how…

Face the Faceless

Content warning for sexual assault. Morgan is a senior here at UMBC pursuing a BA in Media and Communications major with minors in English and Cinematic Arts. If she’s not working at the Women’s Center you can find her watching Ghost Shark (2013) with her friends.  You know who Brock Turner is.  In January 2015,…

When Work Becomes a War Zone

This year, I became one of the many women who leave their jobs because of sexual harassment. I always knew it was something that happened; I just didn't think it would happen to me. I’m not alone; reports have found that 60% of women say they experience "unwanted sexual attention, sexual coercion, sexually crude conduct,…

Honoring stories/Consuming tragedy: Covering Take Back The Night as a photographer

Amelia Meman, '15, is the program coordinator in the Women's Center. She has worked in the Women's Center as an intern, a student staff member, a volunteer, a part-time coordinator, and now as a full-time staff member. Throughout this tenure, Amelia has attended every Take Back the Night (and is looking forward to attending many…

Survivorship Looks Different in the Asian American Community

  Samiksha Manjani is a Student Staff member at UMBC's Women’s Center. She is a Political Science and Sociology double-major and is currently a co-facilitator of the Women’s Center’s discussion group, Women of Color Coalition.       As a survivor of sexual violence, I have found myself re-traumatized by the recent events that have happened…

Supporting Survivors – Kelsey Donnellan

The UMBC Women's Center was instrumental in my success at UMBC and in my career. The staff, resources available, and partners helped me recover from trauma that impacted me everyday.

Supporting Survivors: Yoo-Jin Kang

We see you. We believe you. You matter. Today is our Black & Gold Rush! The Women’s Center has meant a lot to many alumni and we are lucky to have their support for this season’s fundraising campaign. For this Black and Gold Rush, we were lucky to have time with former (and current) community…