Sexual assault affects everyone.
Statistics show that one in four women between the ages of 15 and 23 is the victim of a completed or attempted sexual assault, Lee Van Donselaar, a psychologist at the Counseling Center, said. However, one in 11 men are also victims of sexual assault, he said.
Ball State University students can learn more about how sexual assault affects them during the 11th annual Sexual Assault Awareness Week.
The Sexual Assault Prevention Outreach Team, which consists of four counselors and eight trainees from the Counseling Center, organized the week of events.
Men don't often think sexual assault is an issue that matters to them, Van Donselaar said.
"Men have a choice," he said. "They can either contribute to a culture that tolerates rape and sexual violence or they can contribute to change the culture to make it intolerant of rape and sexual violence."
Rape is everyone's problem, he said. With it affecting one in four women, people do not have to look far to find someone they know who has been affected.
"It's important to get information out there so that students can understand what's happening and choose to do whatever they can to change the atmosphere on campus so that this is as safe a place is it can be," Van Donselaar said.
Liz Cassidy, a doctoral intern at the Counseling Center and graduate student from West Virginia University, said the main goal of the week is to provide information and get the word out about sexual assault on campus.
The information given out can tell victims what to expect from medical exams or legal proceedings after a sexual assault occurs, she said.
"One of the big problems is myth about rape," Cassidy said. "Beliefs that people hold about what sexual assault is, and it's surprising, but a lot of people have been through assault and didn't define it that way."
Some women may have been sexually assaulted but don't think they have been because they didn't protest enough or they were drunk at the time, she said.
Speakers and presentations will be held all week to help clear up some of these myths. A "Wall of Healing" will be set up in the Atrium of the Art and Journalism Building Wednesday through Friday. Students can write poetry, display art and write personal messages on the wall.
"I think our campus is relatively safe," Van Donselaar said, "but information we know says that sexual assaults do happen here, and there have been studies conducted over the past decade to see what kind of prevalence there is compared to the picture nationally."
Ball State's reported number of sexual assaults does not vary much from the numbers at other colleges, he said.
"As a counselor, my colleagues and I see a number of victims of sexual assault victims here in the center," Van Donselaar said.
However, he said sexual assault was highly unreported.
"Survivors often especially at first don't want anyone else to know and are afraid of what people might think," he said. "They initially may blame themselves even though it not their fault. Also, many survivors choose not to prosecute because they don't want to put themselves through the trauma of a court hearing or trial."
Van Donselaar said he encouraged students to use the buddy system when going out. That way, students have a trusted friend watching out for them.
Another frightening statistic shows that 85 percent of all rapes are by someone the victim knows, he said.
Also, he warned students should be careful around alcohol, which is the number one date rape drug.
Alcohol does not cause sexual assault, Van Donselaar said, but statistically, it's highly correlated with sexual assault.
In about 75 percent of sexual assault cases, the perpetrators have been drinking, and in 55 percent of cases, the victims have been drinking.
When other date rape drugs are used, they are often slipped into an alcoholic drink, he said.
Vagina Friendly Week, which also focuses on prevention of sexual abuse toward women, also begins today. While these weeks weren't planned together, Van Donselaar said he was delighted that it worked out that way.
Victims of sexual assault can seek help at the Counseling Center by seeing a counselor or joining a group for sexual assault victims called Journey to Wholeness, Cassidy said.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:* Feb. 13 - 2 p.m., Student Center, Pineshelf Room: "Journey to Wholeness: A Therapist's Perspective," a presentation by Robyn Geelhoed, counseling center staff.
* Feb. 13 - 7:30 p.m., Art and Journalism Building, room 289: "When Love Won't Quit: Stalking," a presentation by Doris Kirkpatrick and Erin Snyder, counseling center staff.
* Feb. 14 - 10 a.m., Student Center, Pineshelf Room: "Taking the Trauma Out of the Exam: What to Expect from the Medical Profession After a Sexual Assault," a presentation by Tammy Smith, Ball Memorial Hospital, and Kent Bullis, medical director and physician, Amelia T. Wood Health Center.
* Feb. 14 - 2 p.m., Student Center, Pineshelf Room: "Prosecution of Rape and Sexual Assault," a presentation by Diane Frye and Mark McKinney, Delaware County Prosecutor's Office.
* Feb. 15 - 2 p.m., Student Center, Pineshelf Room: "Sex on the Rocks," an interactive program designed to show the prevalence of alcohol-related sexual assaults, presented by Lisa Thomason, health educator.
* Feb 15. -- 7:30 p.m., Student Center, Ballroom: "Kristin's Story," a presentation on the dangers of acquaintance rape, depression and suicide, presented by Andrea Fuller Cooper, mother of a woman who was raped and then committed suicide.
* Feb. 16 - noon, Student Center, Pineshelf Room: "Sexy vs. Sexism: Links to a Culture of Rape," a presentation by Liz Cassidy, Jamie Goodwin and John Stachula, counseling center staff.
* Feb. 16 - 7:30 p.m., Student Center, Pineshelf Room: "The Poetry of Pain and Healing," a presentation in narrative and poetry by Julia Corbett-Hemeyer, staff chaplain at Ball Memorial Hospital and Professor Emerita of Religious Studies.
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