SPARK Allyship Interview Series Ep 1 | Pingyifan

In this episode, Kelly, a student activist at Brown University, invited Ping Yifan, an LGBTQ ally engaged in O4S (Organizing for Survivors) at Swarthmore College. Over the past four years, he has helped several survivors to collect evidence and report their cases. Yifan studied Education at Oxford and will continue his anthropology study at UChicago this year. Ping Yifan shared with us his experience as a male ally, critiques the systematic issues in the college sexual harassment reporting system, elaborates on the distinction between "survivors" and "victims," what a good allyship looks like, and gave advice for international students on how to prevent sexual harassment.

[Voices are modulated due to the privacy issues]

Time Stamp and Main Issues Discussed:

1:07 The distinction between “survivors” and “victims”

2:54 Yifan shares his previous experience with sexual harassment cases as a male ally at Oxford and Swarthmore and comments on systematic issues

4:19 Coherent Inconsistency in recalling the experience of sexual harassment: false accusation or expressiveness?

9:13 Reflections on systematic issues regarding college sexual harassment

9:53 What is allieship in sexual harassment?

16:47 Why not call the police? A common stereotype

19:32 Is exposing the persecutors on social media a form of allyship?

25:13 Suggestions for students/ Preventive strategies