DID YOU KNOW?
- 9/10 women raped on college campuses tell no one about the rape *
- 74% of sexual assaults are perpetrated by assailants well known to the victim *
- An American woman is 10 times more likely to be raped than to die in a car crash *
- More than 61.5% of rapes are never reported to law enforcement *
- 10% of rape survivors contemplate suicide *
Since this month is National Domestic Abuse awareness month, I decided to devote this week’s article to domestic and sexual abuse. Sexual violence, including relationship violence, is a very sad reality that affects a shocking number of women and men.
Last Wednesday, October 5, I attended a talk sponsored by UVA’s One in Four organization about the realities of sexual violence. Andrea Cooper shared her daughter’s, Kristen Cooper’s, story; Kristin committed suicide her sophomore year after a close male friend raped her. You can learn more about Kristin’s story at http://www.kristinsstory.com/wp/.
The One in Four association is a national organization that organizes and encourages men to raise awareness and promote education within the male community about the prevalence of sexual violence on college campuses. Their name “One in Four” refers to a horrifying statistic; one in four college women are survivors of rape or attempted rape. The University of Virginia has a One in Four group; you can learn more about the organization at http://www.oneinfourusa.org/.
The University of Virginia community and the Charlottesville community have many resources for survivors of sexual violence. If you or someone you know may be the victim of any kind of sexual violence or misconduct, the University encourages students to contact:
- The U.Va. Police at 911
- Sexual Assault Resource Agency (SARA) 434-977-7273
- Shelter for Help in Emergency (SHE) 434-293-8509
- U.Va. Medical Center Emergency Department 434-924-2231
- Sexual and Domestic Violence Services in the U.Va. Women’s Center 434-982-2774 or email sdvs@virginia.edu
- and/or the Dean of Students by phone (434-924-7429 or 434-924-7133) by email DeanofStudents@virginia.edu, or by person in the office of the Dean of Students in Peabody Hall on the second floor.
Also, The University of Virginia has changed their policies concerning sexual violence. Under the new policy there is more emphasis on assisting the victim. There is no time or geographical limitations on invoking procedures and there has been a clarification of the definitions of “effective consent” and “incapacitation.”
Under the new definition for “effective consent” and “incapacitation,” if you said no or said yes under the influence of drugs or alcohol and sexual intercourse occurred, it is rape, PERIOD. If you or a friend is the victim of sexual violence, you are not alone and there are resources and people to help you get through this ordeal.
This information and more is available at:
http://www.virginia.edu/sexualviolence/
http://womenscenter.virginia.edu/sdvs.php
http://www.rainn.org/
* These statistics provided by http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/sexualassault/rapestatistics.htm