Help from Campus Groups Available

To the editors:

We are writing as a follow-up to Irene B. Janis's "No One Should Be Laughing" (Opinion, Oct. 5). Janis makes an excellent point: There is nothing funny about rape or other crimes of sexual violence, nor should they be portrayed as joking matters.

We are writing on behalf of the entire staff or Response, one of the five peer counseling groups on campus. We are concerned that Janis's piece gives the impression that there are no resources on campus to help those concerned about, affected by and dealing with these traumatic issues. We want to make it known that we are one such resource and serious about helping the community.

Response deals primarily, although not exclusively, with issues surrounding relationships, harassment, sexual abuse and rape. We are trained and supervised by the mental health staff at University Health Services and the Bureau of Study Counsel.

Our staff consists of 20 undergraduate women, all of whom care deeply and seriously about these issues. We are a confidential hotline. We take calls and drop-ins from men and women, on or off campus.

We are not here to judge or label your experiences, nor to make light of them, only to support you unconditionally, whatever your concerns and however you wish to handle them. We also have an extensive library of resources and can refer to services both within and outside the Harvard community.

While we do deal with many of the same issues as Peer Relations/Date Rape Education (PRDRE), the group that Janis discusses, we are separate groups with different training and entirely different approaches to addressing these sensitive issues. Our focus is on counseling anyone with concerns, and we take this work extremely seriously.