Students who are the victim of sexual harassment or violence have multiple resources at Moorpark College, so he or she can receive the help they need.

President Barack Obama signed into law the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, known as the Campus SaVE Act, on March 7, 2013, with the goal to help colleges better protect students and employees from sexual violence and harassment, according to the Ventura County Community College District website and video.

“As a community, what affects one of us affects all of us,” said VCCCD Campus SaVE Act video.

Last March the Campus SaVE Act was put into effect forcing the college to report and keep records of all sexual harassment or violence, but according to Patricia Ewins, dean of counseling and a member of behavior intervention team, the campus has already been following these regulations and is providing conferrable areas like, the health center, campus police, counselors, and even the students’ instructors that will provide them with the help they need.

“Hopefully there is someone on campus,” said Ewins. “It might be the receptionist in the ACCESS area, it might be their psychology teacher or their coach or whatever. They should always go to a staff member on campus and share their concerns.”

Sharon Manakas, coordinator of the Student Health Center, said in the previous years and in the future, the health center and social sciences division provides presentations to bring awareness to the subject in the month of October and safe places for students seeking help.

“[The health center] is a safe place to [receive] nonjudgmental assistance, resources and explanations of the procedures,” said Manakas.

According to the crime statistics provide by the VCCCD website, there weren’t any incidents from 2010 to 2013, but there was one sexual battery last year.

Depending on the level of sexual harassment, the college will decide on which path to take. For instance, if a student is raped on campus the school will immediately go into a medical and legal mode to get services for the victim, but if the student is fondled it won’t be as high of a level of an emergency, but the school will get to the bottom of the situation, said Ewins.

“At least they’ll get some emotional support and action to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” said Ewins.

Ewins said that the Campus SaVE act has encourage the college to reach out to students, which is why the Campus SaVE Act video popped up on the VCCCD portal.

“These regulations remind us, like you’re right we need to get this out even more to give students more information,” said Ewins.