The student groups Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment and Action in Sudan teamed up Wednesday to lead a discussion on the parallels of sexual assault in the United States and Darfur.
""Rape and a violent culture exist all over the world so … we [wanted] to address rape culture as PAVE does and then also have them bring in the Darfur piece so we can see how lots of cultures are affected by this,"" Anne Eichmeyer, peer facilitator for PAVE, said.
Eichmeyer and Jenny Pandl, also a peer facilitator for the group, initiated the meeting by handing out pieces of paper, allowing attendees to write down questions they had about sexual assault. It was an effort to keep the meeting comfortable and confidential.
Throughout the meeting, Eichmeyer and Pandl opened the discussion to the group, defining subjects like rape, domestic violence and dating violence.
A large part of the meeting focused on traditional methods women should learn to avoid being raped. Leaders of the discussion stressed the importance of recognizing that not every woman becomes a victim of rape.
""When we ask women to be constantly on guard, it creates a lot of fear,"" Eichmeyer said. ""We're brought up in a culture where we are pretty much told that rape is going to happen to us.""
According to Eichmeyer and Pandl, the purpose of PAVE is to address the consequences of sexual assault. Leaders from the organization strive to ask students questions regarding rape prevention and rape culture.
Teague Harvey, co-president of Action in Sudan, and Jacob Kushner, political coordinator of AIS, were also present at the meeting to explain how the Darfur society relates to rape culture in the United States.
""Rape is being used as a systematic fear tactic in the genocide in Darfur by the Arab militia called Janjaweed,"" Kushner said.
Kushner also emphasized the similarities between rape in the United States and rape in Sudan. He said the stigma of sexual assault is the same in both places.
To learn more about the groups, visit uwpave.rso.wisc.edu and actioninsudan.rso.wisc.edu.
