The "How to Help a Friend" video series is a student created and led project to share resources with University of Iowa students to help them learn more about gender-based violence and discrimination and to support and care for their friends and peers.

How to Support a Friend Who Discloses

At the University of Iowa, we want to create a culture of care and compassion, where we support our friends who have experienced sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, or dating violence. We all want to help, but it can be scary to have these conversations. To support you in having these conversations with your friends or peers we wanted to share five tips.

The Speak Out Iowa survey data shows that UI students are most likely to disclose an experience with sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, or dating violence to someone they know, such as a friend or peer. To learn more about available resources visit the Resource of Victims/Survivors page. 

Confidential Resources: Where to Start

It’s important to know about confidential sexual misconduct resources because most people tell a friend when they’ve been hurt. Confidential resources provide support and understanding in a non-judgmental environment.

How to Help a Friend Who has Experienced Stalking

Stalking is conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear and that significantly disrupts the person’s work, educational performance, on-campus living, or participation in a university activity on or off campus. In this video, we share ways to identify different types of stalking and how to get support.