Brianna Sivy

Survivor, Former Student, Ohio University

Brie Sivy, now a Senior at Ohio University, was sexually assaulted in October of 2016, during her first semester of college. Early in the legal process, she was compelled to push through a lengthy investigative and prosecution process for herself and other survivors who may not have obtained the “justice” they wanted from the legal system. Throughout the process, Ms. Sivy remained an advocate for herself and spoke up when she felt she wasn’t being heard by a person or institution involved in the process (medical, legal and institutional/title IX). Because of her experiences, Ms. Sivy changed her major to social work and hopes to advocate professionally for survivors of interpersonal violence. Ms. Sivy has spoken to sexual assault forensic examiners about her experience during the medical forensic examination in hopes of preventing future survivors from having to endure the mistakes made in her case. Ms. Sivy has also been actively working on Ohio University’s campus to improve the responses survivors might receive when they disclose an assault, leading and organizing a Start by Believing event which drew over 200 attendees. In April 2018, she was awarded the Model of Justice Special Courage Award. Since this time, she has also presented at another Start by Believing event on her campus and presented at the 2019 EVAWI conference. Ms. Sivy hopes to dedicate her life to paving a better future for survivors of interpersonal violence. She hopes to one day open her own private practice with a focus on trauma rehabilitation for adolescents and young adults.