By Laura L. Dunn
Special To The daily cardinal
Each year around the country a day, week or month is dedicated in April to sexual assault. Here at UW-Madison, many student organizations have created an entire month of awareness campaigns on sexual violence. With sexual assault becoming an increasingly poignant issue on campus, we must use this time to educate ourselves and create a voice for change around the often-silent issue of sexual violence.
Throughout our lifetime we will undoubtedly read many stories about strangers raping young women, but this will never fully inform us on the pervasive problem of sexual abuse. Every two and a half minutes someone—a male or female, ranging from infancy to the elderly—will be sexually assaulted in the United States alone. The majority of these assaults will be committed by individuals known to victims through acquaintance (47 percent), a former or current relationship (22 percent), or even familial relations (2 percent). But this is not what we know since the media silences many sexual assaults in order to highlight the less than 30 percent committed by strangers.
Even on our liberal campus there is much silence around the realities of sexual assault. At UW-Madison, 78 percent of assaults each year are committed against freshmen and sophomores during their fall semester, with over 65 percent of incidences involving alcohol.
Does the scenario of new students going to house parties with acquaintances sound familiar? Alcohol is a drug we regularly use but rarely recognize as assisting the perpetration of sexual violence. With our campus dialogues solely focused on street assaults, we are largely failing to address the most pervasive form of sexual assault happening to us!
Rather than blaming alcohol, the victim's choice of recreation, or normalizing such incidences into expectancy, we as a community of men and women, administration and students, need to recognize this harm in order to work for change.
On April 21, the ""Silence is Violence"" show at the Memorial Play Theatre will showcase performances by fellow students and community members on their experiences while providing information on local resources that aid the healing process.
Again, many will speak out April 25 on behalf of the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims bill at the state Capitol. On that day, those affected by sexual violence will call on Wisconsin to acknowledge and assist victims by providing necessary health care after rape. Survivors will share their experiences, which can educate and aid our work against sexual violence.
Sexual assault is a problem in our community, our country and throughout the world. This month, take time to attend an awareness event (www.danecountyrcc.com) that educates on the realities of sexual assault and prevention efforts in our communities. Beyond April, each of us can take part in ending sexual violence by always asking for consent, respecting desires or ability to consent, intervening on behalf of others facing sexual harm, or helping to create an informed campus dialogue for change around sexual violence. It is our problem to end, so take part!
