The Sex-E Collective, a student-run sexual education organization, has been disappointed with low attendance, despite a rise in national attention to sexual abuse and the language of rape culture, organizer’s said.
The infamous recording of President Elect Trump basically admitting to assaulting women, as well as his ongoing use of offensive language, has encouraged many individuals to talk about the language of rape culture. The New School even invited notable feminist Carol Gilligan to speak about this issue on Oct. 24.
This attention leaves Sex-E collective’s organizers confused as to why their events have such dismal attendance. So far this semester two thirds of the events they hosted had no attendees at all.
On Oct.19 they hosted a panel discussion on intimate partner violence. The panel discussed the topic for their one audience member.
The collective started a tradition in October called SexualiTea where they invite students to drop by the student health services offices on the third floor of 80 Fifth Ave and talk the first and third Wednesday of every month. So far, they have also had a single attendee.
“They don’t have enough advertisement,” said Lang junior, Kestrel Arthurs on Sex-E. “I never know where they are or what they’re doing”
Surprisingly enough this deficit in attendance is a new challenge for the Sex-E Collective. Last year, their event series called “Sex and Chocolate” brought in up to 50 students per event, according to Aaron Neber, a student member of Sex-E.
“Right now we’re working on training people on issues of consent, but also pushing towards making people aware of the resources they have here at The New School,” said Neber. Among these resources available to students are birth control and free HIV testing. Neber Added, “It’s incredibly vital for people to know they have access to all these resources.”
This organization was originally founded by three students who wanted to add consent to The New School’s sexual education curriculum. The members of Sex-E used to educate Freshman seminar classes with their original curriculum, but, due to changes in the Freshman seminar class schedule, they no longer directly educate students. Rather, they train RAs and first year fellows.
The Sex-E collective will be hosting a Holiday Survival Party on Dec.10 and their bi-monthly SexualiTea meetings are on going.
“[You] should care because these are issues that affect [you],” said Neber. “If [you] want to affect positive change in [your] life and community, [you] have to be involved.”