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Jennifer Pencek

Programming Coordinator

Gender Equity Center

814-863-2027

Jlp35@psu.edu

Retired Nashville police officer Monica Blake on campus Feb. 25 to tell the story of sexual assault by fellow officer and aftermath

UNIVERSITY PARK (February 1, 2020)—Though retired Nashville police officer Monica Blake became an officer to help victims of crime, in 2016 she survived a violent sexual assault from an off-duty police officer that changed her life forever by exposing her to the other side of criminal justice and the so-called Blue Wall of Silence. Hear her story at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25 in Flex Theater in the HUB-Robeson Center. The program, sponsored by Penn State’s Gender Equity Center and Centre Safe, is free and open to all. It will be moderated by Schoolin Life podcast host Dr. Ashley Adams.

"The story of Monica Blake is compelling and thought-provoking,” said Terry Watson, founder of Strategies for Justice (Blake’s social justice-driven speaking bureau). “It gets at the heart of the #MeToo and the #BlackLivesMatter movement and what resiliency looks like for not just black law enforcement, but our sisters in blue."

Jennifer Pencek, the programming coordinator of the Gender Equity Center, said Blake’s story is particularly poignant since one often does not hear from police officers about their own ordeal surviving sexual violence and other crimes.

“It is important we recognize the fact that sexual violence has no barriers,” Pencek said. “Taking the time to hear Monica’s story, and the stories of other survivors, shows we actually care and want to do more to make sure survivors are heard and validated.”

For more information on the Gender Equity Center, please visit

studentaffairs.psu.edu/genderequity. Learn more about Centre Safe at ccwrc.org.

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