ATHENS, Ohio (WCMH) — An Ohio University student’s story as a survivor after being sexually assaulted is the focus of a documentary now available online. It’s about Brie Sivy and how the Ohio University Police Department and Survivor Advocacy Program worked alongside her as the case was investigated.
“Really just giving me my power back that had been taken from me and making it feel like it was a safe space for me to be like this happened to me and I need help,” she said about the process.
She was a freshman at OU when after a night of drinking, she asked a man who she thought was a friend to walk her home. When they got back to her dorm room she expected him to leave.
“He clearly hadn’t and I woke up to him raping me. And it was very, very traumatic,” she said.
Detective Mathew Austin investigated her case which ended in a conviction. He used what’s called the survivor-centered process through the investigation.
“We’re still neutral fact-finders. We’re still cops we’re still looking for the facts of the case, but the way in which you can do that looks a lot of different ways,” Detective Austin said. “Through our trauma-informed interviews, we get better information than just going through a checklist. More open-ended questions allow room for things a survivor experienced that I couldn’t ask her or him.”
The documentary made by Ohio University’s University Communication and Marketing team centers around that process along with Brie’s story. It’s called “Start by Believing: The Power of a Survivor Centered Process.” Earlier this month a rape was reported happening in a residence hall on OU’s campus.
“It breaks my heart every time that I hear a new report,” Sivy said.
Especially with the most recent report, she knows there’s still a lot of work to do and hopes the documentary is another tool to help.
“He didn’t win, he didn’t break me and I’m here and I’m still speaking up for everyone who can’t,” she said.
Several resources for survivors are available on the Survivor Advocacy Program’s website and OUPD’s website.
