For many students, college is a whirlwind of parties, new friends and freedom, with a few classes here and there. The first years away from the shelter of home and parents can be liberating and make the dangers of the real world seem completely foreign. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
The actual reality is that violence, assault and rape can happen anywhere, anytime and to anyone. A research study titled The Sexual Victimization of College Women found that nearly 60 percent of completed rapes that occur on a college campus take place in a survivor’s residence, 31 percent in other on-campus living quarters and 10.3 percent in a fraternity house.
Though it may be easier to pretend that instances of rape, violence and assault don’t occur on N.C. State’s campus and within the surrounding community, the facts are hard to ignore. According to the University Women’s Center, one in every four women will be a survivor of rape or attempted rape by the time they graduate from college. Furthermore, 350 of every 10,000 female students on a college campus will be raped each academic year.
“Rape and sexual assault are so pervasive on our campus and it is so important to educate the members of our community,” Emily Schultz, junior in Spanish language and literature, said. “With awareness, hopefully the community will feel empowered and impassioned to want to create change.”
Schultz is part of a collaboration between the Women’s Center and the NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault to help promote awareness and prevention through a new fundraising event. The Sexual Assault Free Environment, or SAFE, walk and run is an event focused on educating students and community members about sexual violence and to raise funds for training, advocacy, referrals, prevention education programs and support services to survivors of rape on campus and within the community.
“We are hoping to raise $10,000 and that money will go to both NCCASA and the Women’s Center,” Lynne Walter, NCCASA prevention education coordinator, said.
Walter and the NCCASA work to end sexual violence through education advocacy and legislation. The NCCASA provides training and technical assistance across the state to law enforcement, college and universities, medical personnel and other allied professionals in addition to working with legislatures to ensure that the laws passed treat sexual violence as a crime and keep North Carolinians safe. The collaboration with the Women’s Center on the SAFE Walk/Run began about five months ago.
“We work closely with the Women’s Center on numerous projects,” Walter said. “They contacted us and said hey, we have this idea to help raise awareness about sexual violence and get the community involved, what do you think, and we thought it was great.”
The Women’s Center is very excited about the project’s potential as well.
“It is a great way for two organizations with similar aims and goals to work together to raise money for the programs they each support,” Krista Price, assistant rape prevention and education coordinator, said.
Though the event is in its first year, both the Women’s Center and the NCCASA have high hopes for student and community involvement. Price said they have a goal of 150 participants and several volunteers are already donating their time to the cause. Many organizations on campus such as the Delta Zeta Sorority and the Movement Peers, have also made contributions to the event through sponsoring participants, helping with promotion and making monetary donations.
“We have received monetary donations from WISE, Lee Hall Council, FYC, Inter-Residence Council, NC CAMPUS Community Coalition and Theta Tau Engineering Fraternity,” Price said. “Several RA’s and student groups will also be sponsoring participants in the race.”
Though the Women’s Center and the NCCASA are hoping to raise funds for their prospective projects, both agree that the main purpose of the event is educating the community, raising awareness about the issue and promoting an environment without sexual violence.
“Not only will the race raise funds to support the efforts of the NCSU Women’s Center and the NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault, but it also shows survivors that we support them, and perpetrators that we support a sexual assault free environment where violence is no longer tolerated and survivors are supported and believed,” Price said.
The Women’s Center and the NCCASA are working on future projects to help combat sexual violence. The Movement Peers, a student organization focused on the prevention of sexual and relationship violence, are working on getting sponsorship from local bars to purchase koozies for the Hillsborough Hike that have bystander intervention messages on them in addition to doing workshops with groups on campus. The NCCASA is working on projects for Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April and its upcoming conference on May 20-22 in New Bern.
Interested participants can register for the SAFE Walk/Run on location at the event. It will be held on March 21 at the MRC Plaza on Centennial Campus. Check in is at 8:00 a.m. and the run begins at 9:00 a.m.
“If people realize that they can truly make a difference, whether it be donating to the cause, participating in the walk/run, or spreading the word of hope and educating their peers, I believe that the occurrence of rape and sexual assault can be greatly reduced,” Schultz said.