Editor’s note: This article contains reference to sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking and interpersonal violence.
In collaboration with other campus organizations, the Women’s Center will host events, trainings and workshops throughout the month of April on campus to spread awareness for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
According to the Women’s Center’s website, Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) is a national attempt to bring attention to interpersonal violence on college campuses. Throughout April, the Women’s Center will be holding various events to help raise awareness regarding sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, sexual harassment and stalking.
Alexis Jackson, interpersonal violence response coordinator for the Women’s Center, provides direct support to students who are survivors, provides temporary emergency housing for survivors and works as the team lead for the Clothesline Project.
“The Clothesline Project’s goal, mainly, is to break silence of sexual violence,”Jackson said. “It’s a visual display that we put on in Talley [Student Union] as well as other campus community centers: the Women’s Center, the [African American Cultural Center], [Multicultural Student Affairs], GLBT Center and the Office for Violence Prevention and Threat Management. The Clothesline Project visual displays will be hanging in each office during the entire month of April.”
Campus organizations hosting T-shirt making will be in the AACC in Witherspoon 355 from April 11-15, MSA in Talley from April 18-22, and the Women’s Center in Talley from April 25-29. The T-shirt making will take place during the center’s office hours — typically 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — and all supplies are provided.
“The T-shirts [are] created by survivors of violence or someone who supports someone or knows someone in honor of that violence that has been experienced,” Jackson said.
This visual display contains a line of different colored T-shirts that all represent something with each color, in order to raise awareness on campus. The pink shirts stand for adult sexual assault, yellow represents relationship violence, blue indicates childhood sexual abuse and incest, gray is for survivors of stalking, purple tees represent violence experienced for orientation and/or gender identity, and lastly, the white shirts represent lives lost to sexual or relationship violence.
Michelle Burden, director of events for Movement Peer Educators, has the role of working with the center’s Candies, Condoms and Consent events and the Take Back the Night event. Take Back the Night took place Tuesday, April 12, and provided an opportunity for the campus to come together in support of interpersonal violence survivors. Across the board, Burden encourages students to show up and get involved with the Women’s Center’s events throughout April.
“As far as getting involved students can just show up, it’s as simple as that,” Burden said. “There will be lots of different tables for different campus community groups for [students] to go interact with and get involved.”
Other events taking place this month include the Sexual Assault Survivor Expressive Arts Therapy on April 13, the Interpersonal Violence in the South Asian Community workshop on April 20 and the Building a Trauma-Informed Practice for Faculty and Staff Virtual Event on April 26. For more information on these events and more taking place this month, visit the Women’s Center calendar on the NC State website.
If you or someone you know is experiencing relationship violence, sexual violence, stalking or any other form of interpersonal violence and are in need of advocacy services, the NC State Women’s Center has trained advocates available to offer crisis intervention, emotional support, resources and referrals. Students can contact the 24/7 Sexual Assault Helpline at 919-515-4444 or email ncsuadvocate@ncsu.edu to schedule an appointment with an advocate.
Advocacy services through the NC State Women’s Center are available for all students inclusive of all gender identities and sexual orientations.
For more information on advocacy services, please visit go.ncsu.edu/supportsurvivors. If you would like to talk to a confidential resource, you can also connect with the NC State Counseling Center at 919-515-2423. You may also visit go.ncsu.edu/safe for additional information on resources and reporting options.
