Sexual Assault Awareness Week at Ohio University has been around for 18 years, but its organizers don't think it deserves a week in September.
They think it deserves a month.
We've really moved away from one week
said Char Kopchick, director of OU's Department of Health Education and Wellness. Our intent is to spread our programming out so (sexual assault) is emphasized.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month this year includes programs that started on Sept. 19 and will end Friday. The Third Annual Sexual Assault March and Name Burning will take place at 7 p.m. tonight at the West Portico of the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
At the name burning, which takes place after a march and candlelight vigil, attendees can write the name of a sexual assault perpetrator on a piece of paper and burn it in dedication of victims and survivors, said Corie Richards, a senior peer health educator with POWER, Promoting Ohio University Wellness Education Responsibility.
All programs, primarily sponsored by POWER and OU's health department, include resources that will be available all year, but it is important to emphasize sexual assault awareness early in the school year, said Amanda Childress, assistant director of health education and wellness for sexual assault prevention.
It's a nationwide statistic that most sexual assaults occur within the first semester and (involve) first-year students Childress said. It's important to hit it hard now.
College students are the most vulnerable to rape during the first few weeks of the freshman and sophomore years, according to a 2000 study from the National Institute of Justice, the research branch of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The main focus of these programs will be on the sexual assault risks related to high-risk decision-making, Kopchick said.
We have to recognize that the majority of sexual assaults that occur on campus involve alcohol and other drugs she said.
According to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Justice, 41 percent of sexual assault offenders were under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Historically, 90 percent of the sexual assaults that occur on OU's campus involve alcohol or other drugs, Childress said.
While Sexual Assault Awareness Week originally was created for women's rape prevention, events tonight and the rest of this month focus on sexual assault awareness for all students, Childress said.
It's important to make sure that none of our students are putting themselves in a situation to be sexually assaulted or to be accused of sexual assault
she said.
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Anna Sudar
