Resistance. Safety. Assault. As women, all of these words elicit horrendous images in our minds of abuse. Recently, Campus Safety Magazine released a public safety study showing the staggering number of incidents across campuses nationwide. In recent cases, 1 in 4 college women have become victim to sexual assault at some point during their college career. And around 90 percent of these assaults occur between people who know each other. But fear not Collegiettes! With April being Sexual Awareness Month, Social Work Council hosted Empowerment Week early this month to reinforce the same efforts as the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. By working together and raising public awareness, they are helping to educate our university’s women about how to prevent sexual violence.
Social Work Council tabled in Gregory Plaza making onlookers blush as they passed out free T-shirts, pepper spray, dental dams, and condom goodie bags! Empowerment Week is held every first week of April, and this year was focused on promoting personal, sexual, and alcohol safety.
Personal Safety:
Resist Attack, a local start-up business geared toward funding programs whose main mission is to help women, worked alongside SWC to give away 100 free cans of pepper spray to women on campus. Although pepper spray will not change the intent of an attacker, SWC hopes that carrying it will empower its users.
“There’s a culture of blaming the victim with cases of sexual assault and rape, and with handing out the pepper spray we are empowering people to feel safe,” said Katy Waters, SWC Financial Director. “Overall we are trying to spread awareness.”
Sexual Safety:
UT’s Voices for Reproductive Justice and the C.A.R.E. program teamed up with SWC to hand out condom goodie bags. The goodie bags not only contained male condoms but female condoms and dental dams, which in case you are unfamiliar (which I was) are used as a technique for safer oral sex, reducing the risk of STD transmission.
Alcohol Safety:
To educate students on the abuses of alcohol and knowing their drinking limit, UT’s Alcohol and Drug Peer Educators group passed out T-Shirts and literature.
Sexual Violence has become a major public health and human rights issue that concerns everyone. Luckily, there are several easy ways to get involved right here on campus with just the click of your mouse. You can use your social media networks to promote Sexual Assault Awareness Month events and spread awareness.
1) Become A Fan of Voices Against Violence: https://www.facebook.com/VoicesAgainstViolenceUTAustin
2) Check-In on Facebook when at a #UTAustinSAAM event, see the full calendar here: http://cmhc.utexas.edu/vav_calendar.html
3) Follow Voices Against Violence on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/UTaustinVAV and be sure to Hashtag #UTAustinSAAM
4) Use Your Status for social change and update with these stats and facts:
a. Almost 80% of female survivors in the U.S. experienced their first rape before the age of 25.
b. Almost 92% of rapes are by someone the victim knows—an intimate partner or acquaintance.
c. Completed and attempted rapes occurred at a rate of 35% per every 1000 female students. If we assume there are about 25,000 female students at UT Austin, we can assume 875 attempted or completed rapes against female students this year!
Look here for more statistical data: http://cmhc.utexas.edu/pdf/UTAustinSAAM%20Get%20Involved%20Via%20Social%20Media%20Flyer.pdf
Let’s be honest, there’s no easy way to talk about sexual assault. To speak with someone anonymously about relationship violence, sexual violence, or stalking, call UT’s 24-hour Telephone Counseling Hotline at (512)-471-2255 or go to the Counseling and Mental Health Center located on the 5th floor of the SSB. Learn more at http://www.nsvrc.org
And remember collegiettes: Being attacked is NEVER your fault!