On April 28, 1,003 flags will appear on the Campus Mall to represent the proportion of Eau Claire’s college women who will be sexually assaulted during their college career.
The number is based on the statistic that one in six college women are victims of sexual attacks, said senior Rebecca Schiltz of the Center for Awareness of Sexual Assault.
The display will be part of Take Back the Night, an annual event to raise awareness of and prevent sexual violence on campus. CASA, College Feminists, the Peer Health Educators and community members are working to put on the event, Schiltz said.
“It does happen here,” she said. “It’s not a foreign event that we’re somehow immune to.”
Throughout the day on April 28, event organizers will distribute information and conduct activities to educate the public, she said. In the evening, participants will hold a rally on the Davies veranda at 7:30 p.m. Speakers, an open mic forum and a march around the campus area will follow the rally.
| To learn more about CASA, visit their Web site http://wcasa.org. |
Junior Katie Bowman, president of College Feminists, said the group also plans to have a banner that people can sign or illustrate to express their feelings about sexual assault.
In 2001, an estimated total of 5,292 sexual assaults were reported to Wisconsin law enforcement agencies, according to the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
The American Medical Association estimates that two-thirds of attacks go unreported, making sexual violence the most dramatically underreported crime.
More than two-thirds of victims in reported cases knew their attacker, according to WCASA. Women comprised 86.8 percent of attack victims. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice report that 2 percent of sexual assault accusations turn out to be false, which is no higher than other rates of violent crimes, according to WCASA.
Bowman said College Feminists and CASA have had somewhat different goals for the event.
While CASA’s aim is to increase awareness of sexual assault and resources for survivors, she said, her organization is working to address the question of why women are raped at night.
“Let’s stop it before it starts,” she said.
However, Bowman said, everyone involved with organizing the event is committed to educating the public about sexual assault.
“All of our groups are really working towards that same goal,” she said.
Schiltz agreed saying, “Support is out there, but more is needed.”
