What Survivors on Campus Really Need: Rethinking Support Groups for Sexual Assault

On many college campuses across the country there is growing awareness of sexual violence, more conversations about consent, and an increasing number of students seeking support. Yet many of the structures meant to hold that support, especially peer-led groups, are struggling to meet the moment.

In conversations with campus practitioners and students alike, a common theme emerges: The need is there, but the model isn’t always working.

The Gap Between Need and Participation

Across campuses, it’s not uncommon to see a paradox. Students are reaching out for individual support, asking for help, and expressing interest in connecting with others who understand what they’ve been through. And yet, when support groups are offered, attendance can be low or even nonexistent.

This disconnect isn’t about a lack of need. It’s about a lack of alignment.

Many traditional campus support groups are loosely structured, drop-in spaces. Topics may shift week to week, and are often based on facilitator choice or participant suggestion. While this flexibility can feel intuitive, it can also create uncertainty, especially for survivors whose experiences have already disrupted their sense of safety and predictability.

There is a persistent belief in trauma-informed care that less structure equals more safety. That openness, fluidity, and participant-driven conversation are inherently more supportive. But for many survivors, the opposite can be true.

Trauma dysregulates the nervous system. It disrupts a person’s sense of control, predictability, and safety. In that context, a loosely held group can feel overwhelming rather than freeing. What begins to emerge, both from experience and evolving practice, is a different understanding. Structure is not the opposite of compassion. It is what allows compassion to land.

When groups are intentionally structured, and when everyone knows what to expect, when time is shared equitably, when there are clear boundaries around how people engage, it creates a container strong enough to hold difficult emotions.

Structure doesn’t limit expression. It makes it possible.

Another common feature of many peer-led groups is the tendency toward advice-giving and open dialogue between participants. While this can feel supportive in theory, it often places unintended pressure on both the person sharing and those listening. For survivors of sexual violence, hearing “what worked for someone else” can sometimes feel invalidating or overwhelming, especially when their own experience is different.

There is a growing recognition that healing in groups is not primarily about fixing or advising. It’s about witnessing. Listening becomes as important as speaking. Being held in silence can be as powerful as being responded to. Even moments where someone cannot find words, where a group simply sits together, can become deeply meaningful experiences of connection and safety.

The Courage It Takes to Show Up

It’s easy to overlook what it actually takes for someone to walk into a support group for the first time. For many survivors, that moment is not casual. It is often the result of weeks, months, or even years of internal negotiation. It carries fear, vulnerability, and uncertainty. Showing up is, in itself, an act of courage.

And yet, if that first experience feels chaotic, unstructured, or emotionally unsafe, it may also be the last time that person seeks support in a group setting. This is the responsibility, and the opportunity, of campus programs: Create environments that are not only welcoming, but truly hold space for everyone.

The Role of Peer Facilitators

Many campus support groups rely on student facilitators, often individuals with lived experience who want to support others. This is a powerful model. Peer connection can reduce isolation and stigma in ways that formal services cannot. But lived experience alone is not enough.

Facilitators need support, training, and structure. Without it, they can feel overwhelmed and unsure how to respond, how to manage group dynamics, or how to hold intense emotions.

When facilitators are given a clear framework like the GPS model, something shifts and the pressure to “say the right thing” is replaced by the ability to simply be present. The role becomes less about solving and more about holding.

In that shift, both facilitators and participants benefit.

What Healing in Community Can Look Like

At its best, a support group offers something many survivors have never experienced,  a space where they are not alone, not judged, and not expected to perform their healing in a particular way. It is a place where someone can speak, or not speak, and still belong. Where emotions are not problems to solve, but experiences to be held. Where listening is as valued as sharing. And where, slowly, connection begins to replace isolation.

As campuses continue to grapple with how to support survivors of sexual violence, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: Good intentions are not enough.

Support groups require thoughtful design, strong facilitation, and an understanding of how trauma actually shows up in group spaces. They require investment, not just in programming, but in the people leading it. 

Most importantly, they require a shift in mindset from open-ended to intentional, from reactive to structured, and from advice-giving to presence. Because when done well, group support is not just an add-on to care. It is a powerful, transformative space where healing can begin.