Wright State's Campus | Photo by Soham Parikh | The Wright State Guardian
On Thursday, April 15, speaker Bonny Shade talked about what it means to support sexual assault survivors.
The College Panhellenic Council hosted the virtual Sexual Assault Awareness event along with the Victims Advocate Office, the Fraternity and Sorority Alumni Association and the Greene County Prosecutor's Office.
Sexual assault awareness
“Sexual violence can be experienced as a wide range of unwanted sexual behavior which occurs without consent. Victims may be manipulated, coerced, threatened and/or forced,” Greene County Prosecutor's Office Victim/ Witness Director Teri LaJeunesse said.
According to Shade, one in five college-aged women and one in 16 college-aged men will experience sexual assault. These numbers may seem high to some, but the reality is that 90% of cases of sexual assault go unreported.
“It’s not because it’s not happening, it’s because people aren’t talking about it,” Shade said.
According to College Panhellenic Council President Brittany Zazueta, the goal of the event was to show students what it means to be a sexual assault advocate and supporter.
“We wanted to bring this knowledge of what sexual assault violence is, how to be a good advocate for people even if that means just letting them tell you their story, and how to give the power back to the individual who had the control taken from them in that situation,” Zazueta said.
“Just Another Assault”
During the event, Shade gave her presentation titled “Just Another Assault” where she shared her sexual assault story.
Before beginning her presentation, Shade asked the audience to care about themselves by taking the time to step away from their computers if they needed to but to also care about becoming better.
“My job tonight is not to make you comfortable, it’s to make you better,” Shade said.
During the presentation, Shade encouraged the audience to participate by using the chat feature to answer questions, share their opinions and give any general reactions. Shade made her audience feel included and gave them a chance to use their voices.
According to Shade, the biggest way to advocate for sexual assault survivors and to be aware of the reality of sexual assault is to challenge your thoughts and understand that perception does not equal reality. Shade also told the audience to not only challenge themselves but the people around them as well.
