Wellness Wednesday: First Night of Rape & Sexual Assault Awareness September 24, 2008
Posted by Marina in : Informational Events , trackbackTonight, the Wellness Center and the Justice Society had two guest speakers discuss the important issues of rape, sexual assault, and procedures/steps you can take to protect yourself. Around 20 students, male and female, filled the TV room in the Avalon Community Center to hear the important issues brought about.
The first speaker up was Rick Saylor, a former police officer who talked about the legal side of sexual assault. He continuously repeated the importance of telling an officer, a coach, a teacher, a leader, or anyone who can help you if you have been or you think you have been raped. Consent was also a main message in his presentation. One of my fellow STAR’s was asked to get up and move seats. The rest of us looked around like “what is he doing?” But we soon found that he had a point to prove. His point was that sometimes people do things they don’t want to do, and do not give consent. “Without your consent, sex is rape,” he says. Sober or not, as he further explained, there are nice guys and there are good men. A nice guy is more likely to take advantage of a girl under the influence of substances – while a good man will pick her up and take her home. Makes us girls out there a little more cautious around those “nice guys.” He left the discussion with something for us to ponder… “Is it wrong because it’s illegal, or is it illegal because it’s wrong?”
The next speaker, Linda Kelly is a Forensic Nurse Examiner. She works at GBMC Health Care and talked a lot about her job and what it entails. She began her presentation with her PowerPoint as well as passing around a real rape kit. We all peared inside to see what the big white envelope held within. She gave stories of past rape & murder cases as well as her personal experiences with victims in the area. There was kind of an ’awe’ over every single one of us. I don’t think people can grasp the concept that human beings are capable of doing such horrible outragious things.
Both speakers where phenominal and opened the eyes of everyone present in the room. I learned that if anything like that ever happens to me, I need to take immediate action and tell the police. File a report and get tested.
Students: Tomorrow night is the second night of this presentation, only more focused on “what should i do now?” I recommend this to anyone who is looking to get out of the room and learn something new that could potentially save your life. Same place, 7 – 8 p.m..
Enjoy 
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