For Alyssa Chavez, the scariest part of Halloween is the unwanted attention she might receive while dressed in her costume.
Chavez, an 18-year-old UF computer science freshman, said people have grabbed her and taken photos of her without her consent while in costume at comic conventions.
“All we’re trying to do is go out and have fun in our costumes without people harassing us,” she said.
Chavez spoke with officers and support groups at “My Costume is Not Consent,” an event about consent and Halloween costumes hosted by the University Police’s Office of Victim Services Wednesday morning on the Plaza of the Americas.
The UPD Office of Victim Services partnered with support groups including the Alachua County Rape Crisis Center, National Organization for Women, Women’s Student Association and Sexual Trauma Interpersonal Violence Education at Gatorwell.
Chavez felt more comfortable after the event because she thinks students will look out for each other this Halloween, she said.
“You never know what situation you’re going to find yourself in, so it’s nice to know there are a lot of resources I can look to for help and look for comfort in,” she said.
The groups set up 12 tables to hand out T-shirts, condoms, pamphlets and pins to about 100 students who attended. Students played trivia about sexual assault statistics and about what is considered consent.
This is the first time the Office of Victim Services has hosted an event about consent and Halloween costumes, said Andrea Palmer, an event organizer and victim advocate.
Consent is a common issue among people of all ages, not just those in college, Palmer said.
“Sometimes there is a notion that if I’m dressed half naked, that you’re asking for people to touch you without your permission,” Palmer said.
UPD officer Henri Belleville said he knows the importance of consent after seeing many sexual assault cases reported in his ten years as a police officer.
Belleville gave students advice on how to stay safe, like going out in groups, looking out for friends and saying no if someone is making them feel uncomfortable, he said.
“You can’t just assume because someone is dressed a certain way or in costume on Halloween they are willing to do certain things,” Belleville said.
Meg Johnson, a health promotions specialist at STRIVE at Gatorwell, said the group wanted to connect students with resources to help them prevent sexual assault and violence.
“We are trying to break the stigma of not being able to talk about it, because consent is something we should all be talking about and encouraging,” Johnson said.
Alissa Adam, a 21-year-old UF women's studies and African-American studies senior, reads off some of the myths and facts of domestic violence during the My Costume is Not Consent tabling event at the Plaza of the Americas Wednesday afternoon. This event was hosted by the UFPD Office of Victim Services. Volunteers like Adam represented 11 other organizations that deal with domestic violence and its effects in the Gainesville area.
