April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and many campus and community organizations have arranged a full schedule of events to inform a college-aged audience particularly affected by sexual assault.
""The general message for SAAM this year is sexual violence is a community problem, and it's going to take the whole community to solve it,"" said Margot Presley, vice chair of Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment. ""It is not simply a women's issue, and it hurts men as well.""
Laura Dunn, chair of PAVE, said though sexual assault is the same everywhere year round, designating a certain month is helpful because it gives the opportunity to plan and collaborate on many activities.
Dunn said this month's activities may especially drive home information to students because of recent incidents in the UW-Madison campus area.
""It's a great way to encourage people to come because we're all being affected by it, seeing it in the media and realizing how prevalent it is,"" she said.
PAVE is sponsoring a ""Can I Kiss You?"" presentation Wednesday. Mike Domirtz will talk in Memorial Union Theater at 8:30 p.m about relationship communication, sexual assault and his involvement in the anti-violence movement.
Other events include a lecture on sexual harassment in the workplace, a survivor empowerment show, a candlelight vigil and Chimera self defense classes. A full schedule can be found at http://www.danecountyrcc.com/education/index.php?.category_id=51.
—Lexie Clinton
