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Student Association is working with Syracuse University administrators to bring Callisto, a third-party sexual assault reporting system, to the university.

SA is working with Sheila Johnson-Willis, SU’s chief equal opportunity and Title IX officer, to implement the app, said SA President Justine Hastings and Vice President Ryan Golden. SA’s diversity affairs co-chairs, Candice Ogbu and Taylor John, detailed the initiative at last Monday’s Assembly meeting.

“(Callisto is) a technology that empowers survivors and provides them options to disclose in a way that makes them feel safe,” Hastings said.

The Callisto app uses a matching system to record repeat sexual assault offenders. When a survivor of sexual assault enters the name of their attacker, it records the offender’s identity. The app then works across universities to identify repeated perpetrators, according to the app’s website.

After the database identifies a repeat offender, Callisto will partner each survivor with a third party “Legal Options Counselor” to discuss what options they may want to pursue. The app also publishes and updates a list of resources for survivors, including the American Bar Association to the National Women’s Law Center, on its website.

Bringing the app to SU was one of Hastings and Golden’s campaign promises when they ran for the SA presidency and vice presidency last spring.

Only about 5% of students who faced sexual or relationship violence filed an official report to the university, according to a survey SU conducted in spring 2018. One of the main goals of bringing Callisto to SU is to help survivors feel supported without requiring them to file a formal report, Golden said.

Although SA is not amending the current sexual assault reporting process at SU, the association hopes this alternative avenue encourages more survivors to report sexual assault, Hastings and Golden said.

SA plans to further expand diversity and inclusion initiatives that help marginalized groups on campus, including victims of sexual assault and violence, Hastings said.

“The Student Association unequivocally stands with survivors of sexual assault and we are committed to supporting and advocating for them,” Hastings said.

Published on September 6, 2020 at 11:39 pm

Contact Alexandra: azpollac@syr.edu