The Women’s Leadership Project is hosting an event called RAINN Day in the quad on Thursday, September 25, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to raise awareness about sexual assault. The Campus Safety Initiative will be hosting a bystander training in the Memorial Union Pioneer Room on Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 4 p.m.
RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) is an organization that spreads awareness of these issues to students across the country and encourages them to take a stand.
The Women’s Leadership Project is hosting RAINN Day as a kickoff for the Red Flag Campaign. This is a campaign that is held throughout the month of October to address dating violence. The WLP will be providing students with information about sexual assault and asking anyone who is interested to sign a pledge against sexual assault, which will then be hung in the Student Union.
These events are to raise awareness for everyone and directed at only one gender. “One in sixteen men and one in four women are victims of sexual assault,” said Sadie Lungren, student coordinator of the Women’s Leadership Project. “It [sexual assault and dating violence] is something that will take men and women to end. It is really a battle for everybody, not one gender or the other.”
This event is not only focused on raising awareness about sexual assault and dating violence. There will also be focus on raising awareness about bystander intervention.
“Intervention is when we encourage people to say something when they do see it happening instead of just standing by and letting it happen,” Lungren said.