Nine out of 10 women in college who are raped do not report the crime, according to the Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault.

Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment, is a campus organization that hopes to change such statistics through education about sexual violence.

Originally formed in February 2001 at the University of Wisconsin, an Eau Claire chapter of PAVE was created in October of last year. The group has 25 active members and sends an e-mail newsletter to about 100 people.

“Our goals are to inform and reach as many people as possible about the prevalence and facts of sexual assault in our society,” said senior Cynthia Patterson, chair of the Eau Claire chapter.

The group works to educate people by hanging posters, holding meetings, talking in classes and doing other activities to get the word out, Patterson said.

One upcoming activity PAVE is using to inform students is Musicanafreeya, a two-night concert on Sept. 28-29 at the House of Rock. The concert will feature the bands Hattie, Food and Day Old Bread Saturday. Hattie and Legend of Duluoz will play Sunday. Saturday’s show is for those 21 years old and older, but the Sunday show is open to all ages.

A main focus of the group this year is to enact a change in current state legislation.

“My goal for this year is to get the laws changed,” said senior Kelly Mourning, community outreach director for PAVE. “Now is a crucial time because it’s an election year, so we have to put pressure on politicians.”

PAVE is circulating a petition calling for a change in state statute 940.225, which discounts alcohol as an intoxicant in rape cases, Mourning said.

“We work to change legislation in favor of victims,” Patterson said.

Although the group focuses on assault prevention, the type of prevention they focus on differs from that of similar groups.

“Our main focus is prevention, but it’s perpetrator prevention, not victim prevention,” Patterson said, “Too often the focus is on the victim’s actions rather than the perpetrators.”

Patterson said she believes that traditional prevention teachings are not good enough. The NCASA reports that up to 85 percent of sexual assaults are committed by someonewho knows the victim

“Actions such as the buddy system and not walking in the dark we feel are completely irrelevant,” Patterson said.

Patterson believes such teachings leave out the role of the perpetrator.

“When you focus on victim prevention, it results in victim blaming,” she said.

Although there was only one sexual assault case reported on campus last year, according to the University Police Web site, the rate of under-reporting may make such statistics misleading, Patterson said.

Even a student who has never been assaulted can understand the possibility of an assault on campus.

“I’ve never had a bad experience,” sophomore Tanya Ringquist said. “But I can see why people would have reason to be scared.”

Future plans for PAVE include forming a support group for victims of sexual violence.

“We would really like to start a support group for campus students,” Patterson said. “Something for our age group.”

The next PAVE meeting is Tuesday. The group meets regularly on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month in Davies Center.