Overlooked Tools: Preventing Sexual Assault & Harassment in the Outdoors

with Seekhaven Family Crisis & Resource Center staff, Cora Phillips & Morgan Flynn

Being prepared is a very common concept for outdoor professionals and enthusiasts, but it’s not something that often gets applied to sexual violence and harassment intervention. And the skills we need to keep each other safer from sexual harassment and violence-- surprise!-- aren't ones we've been taught or encouraged to exercise. 

When it comes to outdoor communities, studies show there are additional factors to consider that increase the risk of sexual assault and harassment taking place. So why aren’t we talking about it? And more importantly– what do we do about it? Join Morgan Flynn and Cora Phillips, two staff members from Seekhaven Family Crisis and Resource Center in Moab, Utah, to hear more about how we can make a tangible difference, even in one person’s life, by showing up prepared.

Featured in this Episode: Seekhaven Crisis Family & Resource Center

Let’s be friends:

  • TAKE THIS SURVEY and let’s plan a retreat together! We’re planning to get together IRL in 2023 and we want you to be a part of the decision-making process. Let us know how you’d like to meet up with us for a retreat– survey closes in 1 week!

  • We’re getting weird (and real) on social media:

Support sex education:

Additional Resources:

Hosted by Laura Borichevsky.
Cover artwork by Hailey Hirst.
Music by The Wild Wild and UTAH.

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This transcript was lightly edited and created using a transcription service. As such it may contain spelling errors.

Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

Hey all-- it’s Laura. And before we get started with this special episode of Sex Outside, we want to get your thoughts on what it could look like to meet up together in 2023. Where would we go? What would you want to do together? I’ve got a survey link for you in the show notes of this episode, and we need your participation in order to know what next steps we’re going to take. If you’re even the slightest bit interested in an in-person retreat that I’d lead for a group of us next year, take a few minutes to complete the survey this week and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on what comes next.

Also, a heads up that this episode covers some in-depth aspects of the impacts of sexual assault and domestic violence. Okay, here’s the show.

—

I’m not going to sugarcoat it– this is an episode I’ve both been desperately wanting to make and, in the same breath, knew I’d have a difficult time pulling together. That’s probably because opening up about sexual assault, harassment, and violence isn’t something we’ve been told or shown is safe to do in society. And it’s also probably because the issues surrounding these experiences are too many to count, too sobering to understand, and have too many greater implications that are wrapped up in other challenges someone may face later in their adult life.

In short: the magnitude of this problem makes it hard to know where to begin.

So I’ll say this: if you don’t know of at least one person in your life who’s experienced sexual assault or harassment, or who carries sexual trauma, it’s because they haven’t told you. Not because these experiences have never happened to them– and likely many more folks who you come into contact with both in the outdoors and elsewhere on a regular basis.

And let me be clear: it’s nobody’s responsibility to make sure we know that sexual assault happens. It happens. Often. And in this episode, we’ll talk a bit about just how prevalent it is– especially in outdoor communities like commercial guiding and tourism. What is our collective responsibility is to believe that it’s a major issue, treat it as unacceptable in any environment, and recognize that safety outside isn’t just about gear and medical training, but also extends to the physical and mental safety of those who are being targeted with unwanted sexual behaviors. 

If you leave with just one thing from this episode, I urge it not to be despair or overwhelm. As you’ll hear, action, education, and relationship building are needed in order to keep each other safe. Which is why Morgan Flynn and Cora Phillips, two staff members from Seekhaven Family Crisis and Resource Center in Moab, Utah, are joining us today to share more about how we can make a tangible difference, even in one person’s life, by showing up prepared.

So let’s talk about it– and more importantly, let’s learn together. I’m Laura Borichevsky. And this is Sex Outside.

To start things off, let’s get on the same page. What do we mean when we say things like “domestic violence” and “sexual trauma”? Morgan Phillips, Seekhaven’s Service Coordinator & Outreach Manager, explains.


Morgan Flynn:

The way that we view it is, you know, domestic abuse is any sort of physical or emotional abuse by anyone that is a family member, anyone that you live with or anyone that you're in, in intimate relationship with. And then as far as like sexual trauma, right? Sexual trauma is any sexual experience that happens without your consent. And that includes physical, verbal, emotional experiences that are sexual in nature that have a traumatic effect on someone because they're happening without your consent.


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

Even though it’s not discussed openly, sexual violence is incredibly common.


Morgan Flyn:

 

Nationally, the CDC reports that one in three women and one in four men experience sexual violence involving physical contact. At some point in their life, nearly one in five and one in 38 men have completed or attempted rape. So those numbers are definitely really high. And even still, it's important to remember that it's estimated less than 25% of sexual assaults are even reported to law enforcement. So, you know, it's happening so much more than a lot of people even realize. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

In some states like Utah, the rates are even higher.


Morgan Flynn:

In Utah, rape is actually the only violent crime that's higher than the national average. So the CDC says that some common risk factors for sexual assault include societal norms that support violent lens adherence to traditional gender norms, gender inequality, and victim blaming. And so it's really similar in Utah. The Utah department of health identifies risk factors in Utah specifically include those same societal norms that support sexual violence and, you know, really harmful norms around masculinity and femininity. So outside those societal risk factors, there are just so many underlying and interconnected causes of sexual violence. You know, there are studies that show that people who receive sex education around consent are less likely to experience or perpetrate sexual violence. So that's definitely something to consider when talking about rates in Utah, right? There is an argument to be made that abstinence only programs reinforce those harmful gender norms. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

Morgan refers to Utah’s public school sex education programming as being abstinence-only, though the state itself would possibly argue on that point because the current laws in Utah mandate that sex ed is provided, that it contains medically-accurate information, and leaves high levels of discretion on other aspects of programming to a hyper-local level called Local Education Agencies, or LEAs. This gives the state room to make ambiguous claims about the type of sex education it provides its youth, but in reality leaves much to be desired when it comes to understanding how sex ed is actually being delivered across the state. However, we do know that in Utah, you’ll hear the term “abstinence-based” often because it’s mandated that sex education delivers information with a large focus on abstinence. Because of this, recent studies of students across the state have shown that by and large, contraception is discussed little or not at all, despite 68% of parents supporting this education in the classroom.

There is also the hugely relevant and extremely frustrating issue around consent to acknowledge. The state of Utah is one of 3 states in the country that uses an “opt-in” format for sex education courses– meaning that students are automatically not enrolled and need to opt in with a consent form signed by their parent or guardian in order to take a sex ed class. This creates an additional barrier to receiving the only accessible sex ed some may have. Ironically, for a state that believes in the power of consent when it comes to receiving sex education, they don’t generally support consent being covered as one of the classroom topics. While refusal skills are discussed, basic foundational knowledge about consent is currently not allowed, despite ongoing discourse about this at the State Congressional level. The result of this places the burden of navigating unwanted sexual advances squarely on those being targeted without setting them up for success of being heard or respected, and doesn’t proactively address the root of these issues to begin with.

This all feeds into a larger concept Morgan brought to our conversation, namely the term “gender-based violence” which isn’t recognized as often but helps us to unpack who is more often impacted by assault and harassment. 


Morgan Flynn:

 

So of course, people of all genders can perpetrate or experience sexual violence. And regardless of someone's gender, everybody deserves to be validated, supported, and have access to services. But when we view sexual violence through a gendered lens, we can see that the majority of people who perpetrate it are men and the majority of folks who experience sexual violence are women. So when we have that understanding of gender-based violence, we also have to recognize that it disproportionately affects marginalized communities. So folks who live like at the intersections of multiple marginalized communities, women of color, women of different abilities in trans people color, all experienced sexual violence at much, much higher rates. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

This also doesn't take into account Indigenous communities specifically, which is an issue everywhere but especially prominent in the southwest region of the United States. Among Indigenous women and girls, more than half have experienced sexual and domestic violence and are, on average, twice as likely to experience rape compared to white women. More information on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls can be found in our show notes.


As Morgan mentioned, a lot of people with more privileges are less likely to experience gender-based violence, and depending on the privileges they possess, they might even feel like they don't see it-- but that doesn't mean it's not happening at alarming rates.


Morgan Flynn:

 

And I talk a lot about the term microaggressions, right? And, and how so much of gender based violence is perpetuated by societal norms and those microaggressions. And they're really not micro, right? It's not a great term for it because it does have a big effect. A lot of CIS male people might say, I've never done this and maybe that's true, right. But I would, I would have a hard time believing that they've never seen it or, or don't know someone who has perpetuated this behavior or perpetrated sexual harassment or violence against another person. 


Cora Phillips:

 

I start off with the conundrum of that very exact thing. You know, I've worked in the outdoor industry in MOAP for years, and I never saw any kind of inappropriate behavior. Let's not make a problem where one doesn't exist. And just really addressing that, you know, safe outside did a pretty incredible study where they one in two women and one in five men boarded experience in sexual harassment or assault while working in the outdoor industry, like the facts are there. And just because it's not our own personal experience doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

This seems like a great time to bring Cora Phillips into the conversation. She's Seekhaven's Community Prevention Coordinator and one of her primary focuses is working with the outdoor recreation and tourism communities to support prevention when it comes to sexual harassment and violence.


Cora Phillips:

 

I came in to Seekhaven about halfway through the five year grant cycle in which my position is funded. So the outdoor recreation and tourism industry had already been chosen as a community within Southeast Utah that was high risk for sexual assault. And I was really excited about the position and as someone enjoys being outdoors and part of that community, it was really important for me to do this work. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

Some of you might be wondering why the outdoors specifically were identified as a part of Seekhaven’s work. Cora has an answer for that.


Cora Phillips:

 

So the equal employment opportunity commission has a chart of risk factors on their site and the guiding industry has a strong majority of those risk factors. You know, it's typically a young workforce since white male dominated. You're working in very remote environments. You know, you're out on a Cataract Canyon trip. You're, you know, four to six days out on the water you're in these remote environments and you're relying on yes, service and customer satisfaction. Just all those factors combined can present some issues. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

The issues Cora’s referring to here may look like harassment, microaggressions, assault, and even rape. And you might be thinking– wow, that doesn’t sound like it should be prevalent on trips like this. Everyone’s just having fun! That’s one way to think about it. But as Cora mentioned, everyone on commercial trips are also very much remote for days or weeks on end, often where there is forced physical proximity, potentially alcohol depending on the outfitter, and nowhere to easily remove yourself from uncomfortable situations. There’s also an inherent power dynamic within commercial guiding trips that’s not often addressed, and it has to do with the relationship between guides and guests. When there is money involved, especially in a service industry like guiding, there is an inherent power imbalance. In short, the pressure to make sure everyone is happy so that they provide good feedback– and of course a fat tip– definitely adds another layer to the conversation that is often swept under the rug. Some guests are keenly aware of this power imbalance. Some aren’t. But it’s up to each outfitter to make sure that as much as possible, this power dynamic is neutralized.


So, how do we know this is an issue specifically in southern Utah, anyway? Well, Cora's been collecting data through a survey.


Cora Phillips:

 

Really, I wanted some data to work off, you know, what is happening here in, in Southeast Utah, where do we need to focus our efforts and really have those difficult discussions. And the survey only asks about the past year and the fact that people are responding, that these negative behaviors are unwanted behaviors are happening more than 10 times is rather alarming. And you know, it can be really difficult to hear those statistics and it's not easy to acknowledge that. And it takes a lot of courage to acknowledge that. And you have to challenge yourself to think differently. Like, you know, if you are in one of those privileged positions, it requires you to become a leader and not be a passive bystander. And that, yeah, it takes a lot of courage to stand up to this and really affect meaningful and lasting change within your organization. And I think really paints the picture of why the work is necessary and why we need to have these conversations. So folks have the tools to make the industry safer for everyone. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

Cora recently released a free training for organizations and individuals who are looking to better understand how to step in and be an active part of prevention, especially in an industry like commercial guiding in the outdoors where the risks of sexual harassment and violence are high.


Cora Phillips:

 

The training that I'm offering is helping to mitigate those risks. So it's bystander intervention training. The training is designed to empower folks to step in and be an active bystander when they witness harassment and violence take place in the workplace. And the goal is to stop violence before it even has the chance to occur. I use the five DS of bystander intervention. So the extract direct action document, the incident delegate a helper or delay and check in, and these can all be a combo. And during the training, we go through scenarios that show up in the workplace. And I usually work with Outfitters to kind of identify maybe things that have occurred in the past or at things that they're concerned about coming up. And we can talk about them all as a group and you know, what might work well for me might work totally different for another person, or maybe they like a combo of distract and delay and check in where I'm using all those five DS of bystander intervention. And I find that just the discussion alone can really be helpful in letting folks know that management has their back, or maybe just talking through some of those scenarios and what that response looks like, what accountability looks like and how to report. If you are in a remote environment, are you using the satellite phone or in reach to file or, you know, can you helicopter somebody out? If the behavior is really egregious 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

Understanding all of the options available to you, and aligning with any companies you might be working with or will work with in the future, is step number one to knowing how you can act so that if a situation arises you know that the organization you’re a part of has your back. Another part of being an effective, active bystander is having the individual skills ready and at your disposal, if and when you need to use them. Being prepared is a very common concept for outdoor professionals and enthusiasts, but not something that often gets applied to sexual violence and harassment intervention.


Cora Phillips:

 

I have had a lot of really good feedback in the community so far people want to get engaged in this conversation, but might not have all the tools necessary. And the bystander intervention program per provides those tools and gets people more comfortable with having those discussions when something happens, it's very similar to any type of, well for first aid EMT training, where you're presented the scenario and you don't know what to do unless you have practiced that over and over again. So it's just like the back of your hand. It's like, you know, immediately when somebody breaks their leg, you know exactly what to do, who to call and how to work together as a team to get that person, the help that they need. The bystander intervention training gives folks that repetition and that ability to take time, to reflect on a scenario where it's not jarring, you're already have that toolkit in your back pocket that you can pull out and react immediately when something occurs, whether it's in the workplace or, you know, outside of work in your day to day life, this is definitely training that you can take with you and use throughout your life and you, your day to day. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

Another benefit of going through training like this is to build trust in the relationships you may have with the friends and peers you spend time outside with, both personally and professionally.


Cora Phillips:

 

In some of the trainings that I've done so far, just having the conversation and knowing that maybe a buddy of theirs uses direct action. And they know that can give that person and knowing glance and be like, uh, and you can, you know, delegate that helper can be really powerful. Harassment is often very isolating. And to know that you have someone that you can turn to for assistance and vice versa is really important. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

So, the skills we need to keep each other safer from sexual harassment and violence-- surprise-- aren't ones we've been taught or encouraged to exercise. And just one training may not be enough to fix the years we've all spent learning to *not* speak up when we see something happening-- or to see it at all-- but as Cora says, it's an important tool to have within reach.


Cora Phillips:

 

I don't believe that this bystander intervention will solve all the world's problems, but one seasoned river ranger told me you have to have a diverse toolkit. You can't just have a toolbox full of hammers. And so I'm just like one tool in the toolbox. And if we can introduce more protective factors, we can really make a difference. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

So, to recap-- sexual violence is extremely prevalent, and there are often ways that bystanders can step in... especially those with more privilege. And it makes a big impact, not just in outdoor communities, but also outside of them. Those who experience sexual trauma are likely to feel the effects of those experiences throughout their entire life and are more likely to come up against societal, financial, emotional, relationship, and systemic challenges as a result of that trauma. So when we can prevent it from happening, it makes a big difference.


As you're probably getting by now, there are so many reasons to create safer experiences for others, which is something the Seekhaven staff thinks about often. Just in my time speaking with Morgan and Cora, they shared their thoughts on the sexual assault to prison pipeline, sex work, and the disproportionate impacts that sexual trauma can create for folks with intersecting, systemically oppressed identites. One additional issue that is especially relevant right now surrounds housing impacts as a result of experiencing domestic violence.


Morgan Flynn:

 

You know, Seekhaven is an organization that serves people who have experienced sexual assault and domestic violence. And like I said, those things often happen together. You know, sexual abuse is a really common abuse tactic in intimate partner, violent relationships, and nationally domestic violence is the number one cause of homelessness for women and children, you know, 40% of sexual assault happen at someone's home and many victims by themselves needing to move or relocate because staying in that home where the assault took place can be really traumatizing and oftentimes unsafe, right? A high amount of sexual assaults are perpetrated by intimate partners. They really often co-occur with domestic violence. And so, so many people are forced to make this decision. Do I stay in a home that's unsafe where I'm being abused, or do I go out on the streets? You know, we understand, especially like in our small corner of Utah, there's a really serious housing crisis and safe, affordable housing options are usually completely out of reach. So without safe housing, that risk of revictimization is much higher. And there are a lot of studies that show that those intersections of, you know, women who live with mental illness or women of color. And then when you add in homelessness, there are some studies that show that over 90% of homeless women report that they've experienced multiple sexual assaults during their time of being without a home. So I think that's a really very important part of the conversation, especially with the housing crisis, getting so much worse and in so many communities across the country. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

So with all of this information, what can we do as individuals wanting to make a difference in our communities? It can feel overwhelming to know where to begin. The first thing that's critical is understanding what resources are available to you in the spaces you occupy. For folks in and close to Moab, there's Seekhaven Family Crisis and Resource Center.


Morgan Flynn:

 

Seekhaven was founded in 1990. So the organization has been around for a really long time, and a lot of stuff has changed and we've grown a lot. Our mission is empowering individuals and families to survive domestic violence and sexual assault and to thrive in a strengthened community. And our vision is communities in which all individuals are empowered to maintain safety and stability. Seekhaven started off in the nineties as an emergency shelter for women and children who were victims of domestic violence. And during that time, a really common term for organizations like Seekhaven were a “battered women's shelter”. Yeah. I have heard that term still out there in our community when people talk about Seekhaven. And so I think it's really important for us as an organization to bring awareness about what we do cause we serve people of all genders and all ages by addressing issues of domestic abuse and sexual trauma across the lifespan.


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

It's not uncommon for folks who have experienced sexual trauma to take months or years to process the experience before they might choose to seek therapy to address it, if at all. So it’s pretty incredible that Seekhaven leaves those doors open for folks to access services in support of healing when the time is right for them.


Morgan Flynn:

 

It can take a really long time for people to look back and say, like, that happened to me. It wasn't okay. And it was traumatic and it had an effect on my life. And so, yeah, we wanna be able to provide support to people in whatever way that we can. We don't have a licensed mental health counselor or on staff, but we do have contracted therapists and we can pay for typically 13 sessions of counseling over the course of a year. We work with some other organizations too that have other funds. So if someone was in need of more counseling than those 13 sessions in a year, we can definitely fill those gaps. And we really wanna be able to provide services to as many people as possible. And if someone calls and maybe they're out of our scope, but we're still going to be able to connect you with an organization or resources that can help. 


It's really great. And it can be really challenging, especially in a small town like Moab. It can be really scary, you know, to talk to people about stuff like this, because there are a lot of stigmas still, unfortunately, but our services at sea CA are fully confidential. So we're protected under the violence against women act. It's a federal law that protects our clients’ information. So that means that under no circumstances, do we ever share who we work with or what we're helping people with? We can't be subpoenaed by court. We truly believe that our clients, their information belongs to them and we're just the holders of it. So it doesn't hurt to call. We have a 24 hour helpline. We don't ask for your name or any identifying information unless you choose to share it. So, yeah. Yeah. I just wanna wanna really get that out there to people in our community that we're here. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

This is just a reminder that there’s no despair or overwhelm needed as this episode comes to a close. There’s learning, there’s action, and there’s relationship building. But you don’t really need to hear it from me– Cora and Morgan have some closing words to leave you with.


Cora Phillips:

 

The thought that I leave at the end of the course that I offer is how do we convey these expectations to others? How do we convey that with your new team members, guests, when they use an outfitting service or, you know, come to an organization, what does that look like? What does refresh your training look like? How do we incorporate these conversations more on the regular and then translating that not only to the workplace, but your every day, how are you having those conversations with your family members or your friends when you're out at dinner or, you know, out at the bar, like, what do those conversations look like? What established protocols do you have with your friend group? You know, what do those cultural norms look like? 


Morgan Flynn:

 

It's so overwhelming when you start to think about this and can be really very frustrating to think about how so many of our systems are broken and have holes, and it can be really discouraging, right? But being able to make a difference on a person to person basis, you know, it, it does make a difference. So if we can stop one act or intervene in one situation like that does make a big difference. 


Laura Borichevsky (narration): 

 

Thank you so much to Morgan Flynn and Cora Phillips for their time, passion, and expertise. You can support Seekhaven by visiting seekhaven.org/donate, and if you’ve had any experiences in the past year guiding or working in outdoor tourism in southern Utah especially, please consider taking Seekhaven’s short survey, linked in our show notes along with a bunch of other resources.

Lastly, you’re probably wondering why this podcast is on such an unusual schedule, and why we’ve been MIA for so long. Well, in short, I’m still in school for a pretty hefty sex educator certificate, and life has pulled me in some other directions while I work on being the best educator I can be. I still love this show and this community, and can’t wait to get things back on a regular schedule, so thanks for your patience while I balance more things than I probably should be. In the meantime, you can catch more short-form content from me on social media, and I’ll be back in your feed as soon as possible with another episode or Nature Quickie so stay tuned to catch a new one soon. Also– we love reviews around here and it really helps the show, so please consider leaving us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, making sure you’re subscribed, or by sharing this episode with a friend you think might appreciate it.

Music is by the Wild Wild and UTAH.

I’m Laura Borichevsky. Thanks for joining us. Until next time-- stay fresh, stay dirty, stay safe.

Full EpisodeLaura BorichevskyComment