Events promote talk about sexual assault

Lee-Anna Bardun
September 23, 2009

1 million people joined RAINN Day events last year

“College-aged women are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted” is the glaring statistic on cards being passed out for RAINN Day.

Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network is a campaign across the country organized to spread awareness of sexual assault, said Amanda Roder, a graduate assistant in higher education and student personnel. Roder said she is planning several events to raise awareness about RAINN Day, which is today.

Activities are scheduled to begin at 6:45 a.m. with a “healing walk” around campus, starting at the Women’s Resource Center. Roder said the walk will be a time to “enjoy the silence and reflect on your day and life.”

Last year, more than 1 million students and faculty across the country participated in RAINN Day events, but Roder said her main goal is to spread awareness and improve prevention of sexual assault.

“A lot of times, sexual assault is a topic that maybe an administration doesn’t necessarily want to talk about,” Roder said. “It’s kind of one of those things that you know it happens, but you don’t want to talk about it because of what it might look like. It is something that is going on on campus.”

There is a lot of confusion about the definition of sexual assault, said senior English major Beth Vild, who is a member of the Women’s Liberation Collective. Members of the student organization will participate in RAINN Day events.

“It’s important to get the message out there,” Vild said. “If you are sexually assaulted, there are many people and organizations including RAINN, WRC and WLC that are there for emotional systems and/or legal assistance.”

Heather Adams, director of the Women’s Resource Center, said the it is creating programs for the remainder of the semester. Programming for domestic and relationship violence awareness will begin in October.

A breast cancer support group meets in the WRC every other Tuesday, which anyone can join. Roder said for more information about RAINN Day or the resource center, students can contact her by e-mail at [email protected] or call 330-672-9230.

Contact student life reporter Lee-Anna Bardun at [email protected].