The Lumberjack

Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Culture

Media Credit: Matthew Barry

Media Credit: Matthew Barry

A woman laid unconscious, bleeding from the head on the footbridge connecting Humboldt State University campus and Northtown Arcata. Mary Ellen Gordan and a friend thought she was dead.

Two other women walking by noticed the scene, called the police and left. Gordan and her friend waited until the police and ambulance arrived. To their horror, the woman was taken to jail for the night instead of the hospital because she was homeless and intoxicated.

Gordan and a group of about 10 students joined together last Thursday to put on a transformative theater piece aimed to prevent, diffuse and deal with sexualized violence.

The group acted out real-to-life scenes where sexualized violence happens. The group would then act out the scene again. The second time around, people from the audience were encouraged to freeze the action, replace actors, and solve the situation using nonviolent tactics.

After each skit, audience and actors discussed what worked, what didn't and what else could have been done. The fact that the performance took place deep in the basement of Gist Hall didn't stop people from showing up.

Simona Duque was one of the many who organized of the event. She acted in the skits as well.

"I was really stoked to see that many people come out and to participate. The discussion was great," she said.

It was one of many events on campus during the week-long Campus Dialogue on Race. The performance dealt with sexualized violence across different genders, races and classes.

The performance encouraged nonviolent alternatives as well as solutions that lessened the victims' dependence on the state. The police or medical services can re-victimize a person who has already been hurt physically and/or psychologically, said Duque.

"A big part of transformative justice is to lessen reliance on the police," said Duque. The group stressed an emphasis on community prevention and awareness.

After all the skits were acted out, a final discussion took place. Chairs were moved into a circle and everyone discussed personal experiences and ideas about ending sexualized violence.

One woman (who requested her name not be printed) compared the final skit with her own experience. She felt the police were misrepresented.

In the skit, a woman was calling friends, police, and medical services about her recent sexual assault. The man acting as the police figure was not very helpful to the woman playing the victim because the incident involved alcohol and she was under 21.

The woman who was sexually assaulted in real life said her experience with police was a positive one.

"They were very professional, not cold and mean," she said. "I felt like [the performance] could have given people the wrong idea. But overall, it was really well done," said the woman at the performance.

When Duque was asked why the police were portrayed that way she sympathized with the woman and agreed that the police don't always re-victimize.

"It would have been an over-generalization on our part to assume that those things don't happen," Duque said. "Every person's experience is different."

Paula Arrowsmith-Jones is a major figure at the North Coast Rape Crisis Center.

"We realize that each case is different and that is why we do not pressure victims to contact police," Arrowsmith-Jones said. "If they choose to, we can help them through the process by having a volunteer accompany them to any medical evaluations, talks with police, or court appearances."

After watching the police take the bleeding homeless woman to jail, Gordan was scared that she didn't make it through the night.

"I had to walk by the blood stain on the footbridge two or three times a day, thinking about it," she said.

Gordan dropped to her knees with relief when she finally saw the woman days later. She told the woman what happened and gave her a hug. The woman was so thankful. She was wondering why her head hurt.


INFO BOX: The center offers a free 24/7 crisis hot line. The number is (707) 445-2881. The hot-line is for everyone, no matter age, gender or sexual preference. The hot-line also accepts collect calls.


Matthew Barry can be reached at mkb27@humboldt.edu

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