April assault awareness

ASUCC and the Battered Persons’ Advocacy have teamed up to bring several events to campus to raise awareness for sexual assault and prevention during April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month. A fleece blanket drive is being held in the Campus Center all month, along with an opportunity for students to anonymously share stories of sexual violence in an event called Sole Survivor.

For Sole Survivor, students are writing their personal experiences on paper cutouts of shoes, which will then be displayed in a gallery for other students to read.

The all-male Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event will be held at the Douglas County Courthouse on Friday, April 23 at 3 p.m. Men walking in this mile-long demonstration wear high heels to show support for victims of domestic abuse. Spectators are welcome at the event; donations to help produce the event can be made in the Student Life Office.

On National Denim Day, Wednesday, April 21, everyone will be encouraged to wear jeans to protest myths about sexual assault. The event relates back to 1998 when, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, “an Italian Supreme Court decision overturned a rape conviction because the victim wore jeans, reasoning she must have helped her attacker remove them.” Jeans have now become a symbol of protest against myths surrounding sexual assault.

The month opened with signs containing facts about sexual assault that were posted in various locations around campus. Students then identified various misinterpretations about sexual assault in the Campus Center.

One focus of the 2010 campaign has been preventing sexual assault on college campuses. According to the NSVRC, sexual violence rates are higher in colleges; one in five women are sexually assaulted before graduating. The campaign also puts emphasis on how these problems exist within communities, not just in individual scenarios.

According to the NSVRC, the campaigns started in the late 1980s with the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault scheduling a week of awareness in April. The month of awareness has been a recognized event since 2001.

Anyone wanting more information about Sexual Assault Awareness Month should visit www.nsvrc.org/saam, or contact ASUCC for more information.

The Mainstream is a student publication of Umpqua Community College.