April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. In the spirit of raising awareness and supporting survivors, student organization Rallying Against Sexual Assault is organizing multiple events at the University of Mississippi.
Alexis Pelton, graduate assistant of prevention programming and co-advisor of RASA, talked about the importance of sexual assault awareness.
“It’s very important to get the message across to the entire campus that sexual assault is something that is happening here and everywhere,” Pelton said. “It’s very important for us to spread the message that survivors are believed and survivors are supported and there are outlets for people to go to if they need assistance.”
According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 13% of all graduate and undergraduate students experience sexual assault through physical force, violence or incapacitation. Among undergraduate students, 26.4% of females and 6.8% of males experience rape or sexual assault.
While RASA’s “What were you wearing?” exhibit, was designed to combat the narrative that clothing can invite sexual violence, took place on April 11 on the student union terrace, there are still many events left for students to take part in.
The annual “Take Back the Night” event will take place at the Student Union Plaza on Tuesday, April 16, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
“Our most important event that goes on during sexual assault awareness month is Take Back the Night,” Pelton said. “On the Union Plaza during Take Back the Night, we have a march. We have a speak-out wall where survivors can anonymously put whatever they want to put on the wall, their story, a message, or anything like that. We’re also going to have a resource fair, where a bunch of different organizations on campus come to hand out their resources and all that kind of stuff. And then we’re also going to have different speakers from around campus to talk about why that event is so necessary and so important.”
Denim Day, which takes place on April 24, aims to fight against victim-blaming. It was derived from a sexual assault case in Italy in which a rape conviction was overturned due to the victim wearing tight jeans, according to Peace Over Violence, the organization that originally developed Denim Day.
In addition to these events, the Healthy Relationships Workshop will be held on April 24 at 4 p.m. in Longstreet Hall, room 102.
