As part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month this April, College organizations such as the Sexual Assault Peer Advisors and the student-led organization Movement Against Violence have spearheaded an awareness campaign and planned multiple events aiming to spark conversation around issues relating to sexual assault.
Dartmouth, like many college campuses, struggles with issues of sexual violence.
“As far as the statistics go, we’re not exceptional in numbers. But we aren’t an exception either,” Saemi Han ’18, MAV director said.
The SAPAs kicked off Sexual Assault Awareness Month with a general awareness campaign, publicizing national statistics as well as statistics about sexual assault at Dartmouth.
By spreading awareness of the subject, the SAPAs hope to promote conversation about sexual violence, as they feel like one of the primary barriers to ending sexual violence is that no one wants to discuss the issue.
The SAPAs organized a ribbon tying event, allowing Dartmouth students and community members to show support for survivors by tying a ribbon around their backpack in solidarity. For every ribbon taken, a ribbon was also tied to the tree outside of Collis. The tree is a public show of support for anyone who has struggled with sexual violence or related traumas and an acknowledgement of how difficult such experiences can be.
“Extending the conversation outside of these events is the only way we can get the entire community on the same page,” SAPA Megan Mounts ’18 said.
The SAPAs also executed the Clothesline project, another visual representation of how many Dartmouth students wish to show their solidarity with survivors of sexual assault on campus.
A dozen t-shirts, decorated by Dartmouth students, are strung up across Collis atrium, covered in words that Dartmouth students wish to say to survivors of sexual assault: “We’re here for you,” “Break the silence,” “Dartmouth unite to Take Back the Night” and “Together we stand.”
The SAPAs also hosted a Take Back the Night rally, during which students gathered together to march across campus and show their support.
The most recent event, Wednesday’s Denim Day, continued the trend of public demonstrations of support for sexual assault survivors. Denim Day is part of a national movement and sexual violence prevention and education campaign, during which individuals are encouraged to wear jeans to raise awareness of rape and sexual assault. The sexual violence prevention and education campaign seeks to combat the negative misconceptions and destructive attitudes surrounding sexual assault.
The Denim Day campaign was originally started after a rape conviction in the Italian Supreme Court was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped her rapist remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim.
MAV hosted a screening of the award winning documentary, “The Hunting Ground” (2015), an exposé of sexual assault on college campuses. The documentary brought issues of sexual assault home for many of the audience members as it mentions Dartmouth and includes interview footage with former interim College President Carol Folt.
About 90 people attended the screening and many viewers asked how they could get involved after the viewing.
Last night, the Alpha Pi Omega sorority hosted it’s fourth annual “1 in 3” dinner, a dinner and discussion focused on raising awareness of sexual assault in the Native community, drawing over 60 attendees. The event name refers to the statistic that one in three Native American women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime, vice president of Alpha Pi Omega Bazille Owens-Reese ’15 said.
This year, for the first time, the SAPAs took charge in planning and executing events during Sexual Assault Awareness Month through the Student Wellness Center.
SAPAs undergo a 32-hour training course to serve as a resource for students who have been confronted with issues of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. These students work with survivors, secondary survivors — UGAs, friends, family or partners — and help to educate the Dartmouth community about sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
“SAPA provides a necessary alternative to any sort of college or adult presence,” Mounts said.
The SAPAs fit into a greater network of sexual assault resources on campus that includes the Wellness Center, Dick’s House counseling and human development, the judicial affairs adjudication process and Title IX coordinator Heather Lindkvist.
Next year, the SAPAs and MAV hope for greater attendance and for people to take initiative to come to these events, even if they do not understand the issues surrounding sexual assault.
“Everyone is probably on the same page of wanting to make our campus more welcoming and safe, and that should be a given,” Mounts said.
