A video featuring victims of sexual assault debuted as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month on Tuesday at the Memorial Union.
The film, \Transition to Survivor,"" was created by Angela Rose, a UW-Madison senior and the founder of Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment. Rose herself was a victim of sexual assault as a teenager. The video features six female victims of sexual assault discussing their experiences and how they coped with what has been called a ""silent crime."" Nine out of 10 college-age victims of sexual assault will not report their attack, according to the video.
Rose made the film on a shoestring budget with the help of a few friends, according to Dana Borowski, a UW-Madison senior and a member of PAVE. Rose is currently working on distribution packets and hopes to circulate the film nationally to high schools, universities and police departments as a resource.
Stephanie Byrnes, a UW-Madison junior and vice chair of PAVE, said the video will be successful in distribution, in part because there are few other videos like it being circulated.
""You would think there would be [more] videos like this because there should be,"" Byrnes said. ""We're just trying to open a dialogue about sexual assault among the community because it is a taboo and it is such a complex issue.""
According to Borowski, ""Transition to Survivor"" was financed entirely by Rose. Friends volunteered to narrate and perform original music in the film, which was shot last summer. Final editing was completed Sunday.
The video aims to be emotionally striking by focusing on victims as they discuss their assaults and how they coped afterward.
One girl in the film reacted to her attack by locking herself in her room to cry. However, she ultimately found solace in her artwork. Another woman said she blocked out her memories, became anorexic and cut her arm to ease the emotional pain. A third victim broke into tears on camera and confessed the desires she had to kill herself.
One in three women and one in 10 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, according to the video which also aims to prepare police officers, friends and family members in the event that they are approached by a victim.
Borowski said the video will be successful because it puts a personal face on an anonymous crime.
""Just the humanness of this'it's not people talking about [other victims of sexual assault]. It's women talking about their own lives,"" Borowski said.
Byrnes expressed similar sentiments.
""I just think ['Transition to Survivor'] is really personal. It's college students being open and talking about their experiences,"" she said.
According to Byrnes, Rose was unable to attend the debut because she is currently in Illinois addressing a parole board regarding her sexual assailant.
