Mission Statement
The mission of the Sexual Harassment & Rape Prevention Program is to eliminate sexual and intimate partner violence. SHARPP's mission is accomplished in two parts: by providing free and confidential advocacy and direct services to all survivors and their allies; and by offering culturally competent awareness and prevention programs to the University of New Hampshire community.
Land Acknowledgement
SHARPP is committed to ending all forms of violence and continuing to work towards dismantling systems of oppression within our community. SHARPP would like to acknowledge that UNH is located on the Indigenous lands of the Abenaki, Pennacook, and Wabanaki peoples. Many of the local mountains, rivers, streams, and other natural features within the state of New Hampshire still hold the names first given to them by local Indigenous peoples. SHARPP acknowledges the painful history of forced acculturation, removal, and cultural genocide, which Indigenous peoples have experienced here and all over the world. We honor their ongoing connections to the land and the waterways we gather on and prosper from. We would also like to acknowledge the enslaved people from Africa buried unmarked in the foundations of this institution and the involuntary and exploited labor of people from every land who helped to make the state of New Hampshire and UNH what it is today.
For more information, or access to maps, films, educational content, and social media platforms please check out Indigenous New Hampshire Collaborative Collective (INHCC). INHCC is committed to re-framing New Hampshire's history from an Indigenous perspective. It serves as a living project that adapts, evolves, and expands as knowledge of Indigenous history grows deeper and more complex.
Program Overview
SHARPP is a University of New Hampshire program overseen by Student Life, dedicated to providing free and confidential services to survivors of interpersonal violence (sexual violence, relationship abuse, sexual harassment, childhood abuse, and stalking) as well as their allies. We also provide education, outreach, and training on the above topics as well as on consent, bystander intervention, rape culture, and healthy relationships to the greater University community.
SHARPP was founded in 1978 by a group of concerned faculty, staff, students, and community members as a grassroots response to sexual violence on campus. Originally known as the Rape Task Force and later as the Rape Assistance and Information Program, SHARPP adopted its current name in 1982. In 1988, in response to a high profile sexual assault in Stoke Hall, the University administration provided SHARPP with the resources to hire its first full-time coordinator. An advisory board consisting of representatives from faculty, staff, students and community members was created soon after to serve as a source for community support and guidance.
Direct Services
SHARPP's direct services include a 24-hour telephone helpline, online web chat and text services, crisis counseling, accompaniment to hospitals, information and advocacy related to the criminal justice and University judicial systems/Title IX, and academic interventions. SHARPP provides support for those who have directly experienced interpersonal violence as well as those who are close to the survivor, including roommates, parents, friends, partners, family members, and faculty & staff. SHARPP's direct services are provided by trained advocates and provided to the entire UNH community, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff. To learn more about SHARPP's direct services, check out our SHARPP Services page.
Prevention Education, Outreach, and Awareness
SHARPP's prevention programs and trainings provide education for students, faculty, and staff on topics related to consent, healthy relationships, rape culture, bystander intervention, IPV, and more. Prevention programs are facilitated by trained violence prevention educators and student Community Educators. Trainings are delivered to students in a wide variety of settings (residential halls, academic classrooms, Fraternity & Sorority Life chapters, athletic teams, student organizations, etc.). Additionally, SHARPP hosts numerous events throughout the academic year, including rallies, direct action & awareness campaigns, film screenings, book clubs, speakers, and discussion series. More information surrounding these initiatives can be found on our social media pages (@UNHSHARPP).
To schedule a prevention education program visit our Request A Program page.
Learning Outcomes
As a department housed under UNH's Student Life division, our student learning outcomes include:
- Ensuring all students are able to demonstrate knowledge of who SHARPP serves, the services we offer, and ways to access us as a confidential resource.
- Ensuring students who attend our Wildcats Get Consent (WGC) prevention education program are able to demonstrate knowledge on what freely-given, specific, mutually agreed-upon consent entails, both in the context of personal practice and of laws & policies specific to UNH and the state of New Hampshire.
- Ensuring students who attend our You Can Help: Bystander Intervention (YCH) prevention education program are able to recognize potentially dangerous/harmful situations and apply knowledge of bystander intervention strategies in a manner that prioritizes their own safety and that of their peers.
SHARPP is a member of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. The Coalition is a statewide organization formed to provide technical and organizational direction to crisis centers throughout the state. The Coalition also works for legislative changes to aid victims of interpersonal violence. As a member of the Coalition, we are evaluated every two years on the quality of our administrative, prevention, outreach, and client services performance.
SHARPP is funded through the University's General Fund, student fees, and by a variety of state and federal grants such as the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), the Family Violence Prevention Service Act (FVPSA), and the Sexual Violence Prevention Grant (SVP). SHARPP is also funded through private grants, charitable donations, and agency fundraising.
