Sexual Assault Awareness Week aims to teach men and women
Speakers emphasize the importance of awareness
Whitney Jenkins
Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: News
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Hosted by the Office of Victim Services, the sexual assault awareness events are aimed at increasing violence awareness among men and women, against women.
Similar programs in the past have generally been targeted at educating women on personal safety tips and what to do if they become a victim of rape or domestic violence.
This year, men were given the unique opportunity to participate in the one-hour men's workshop, "How to Help a Sexual Assault Survivor: What Men Can Do."
The program was held on Monday, Sept. 24 at Mendenhall Student Center in Hendrix Theater at 7 p.m.
The workshop is beneficial in educating men on how to help female rape victims recover from their experiences and in lowering men's likelihood of committing rape, according to Suzanne Molhan, director of the Office of Victim Services.
One-in-Four, an all-male sexual assault peer education group hosted the workshop.
The group's name stems from the national statistic that one in four college-age women report surviving rape or attempted rape since their teenage years.
"To end rape, it's extremely important to reach out to men," said Dan Mollison, One-in-Four group member.
"[To end rape] has to come from men choosing not to rape," Mollison said.
"This program is particularly good at awakening men to this issue."
Preceding the men's workshop, the annual "Take Back the Night" March was held at 6:30 p.m. at the top of College Hill, featuring One-in-Four.
"Take Back the Night" is an international march organized to unify men, women and children in the awareness of violence against women, children and families.
An important aspect of the march is the "walk a mile in her shoes" approach, where men literally walk in women's shoes, symbolizing the rape of female victims.
Some events for Sexual Assault Awareness Week began as early as last week.
The Lifetime TV movie, "A Girl Interrupted: The Debbie Smith Story," was shown on Friday, which depicts the true story of a woman who was repeatedly raped in the woods behind her house.
Debbie gave her testimony on the witness stand in court that during her rape, she began praying, according to the movie.
"My faith was greatly tested," Debbie said. "He [God] was preparing me to do exactly what I'm doing now."
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