Sexual assault is a topic students usually don't want to talk about, Ball State University victim advocate Michele Cole said after her presentation.
Cole and psychologist Pei-Yi Lin gave their presentation, "The Bystander Effect: You can Make the Difference," Monday in the Burkhart Building in which they talked about ways students can help their friends prevent sexual assault. Their presentation was the first of this year's Sexual Assault Awareness Week.
"We are taking this week to raise awareness and hopefully offer some prevention strategies and talk about a topic that often not a lot of people want to talk about," Cole said. "It really brings the issue to the forefront, it brings it to light and hopefully it offers a little prevention."
Cole said during the presentation that the student community should be aware of the reality of sexual assault to protect each other from possible attacks.
"We have a duty to our fellow students to protect and actively intervene, whether it's a friend or a stranger, because we would want someone to intervene for us," she said.
In the presentation, Cole and Lin said some ways students can help in preventing sexual assault is pulling their friends away from a situation that makes them feel uncomfortable.
"You don't always have to call the police," Lin said. "It doesn't always have to be in an aggressive way that you pull your friends out from these situations."
Cole concluded the presentation saying no matter what the circumstances are, the victim should not be judged.
The presentation was a call for action from the student community to be aware and to help others be aware of sexual abuse, senior social work major Cody Ramos said.
"I think there should be more involvement from the student community in protecting each other," Ramos said. "I think it's extremely important for people to know how to intervene."
Ramos is a student advocate, who works in the office of victim services helping students victims of sexual assault get the necessary services and support. He said he would like to see more awareness and openness to advocate against the issue.
"I feel like, being more aware of the problems and being more aware that [sexual assault] actually happens, and that it happens to us and it happens to our friends and in our community, that could actually help change it positively."
The Sexual Assault Awareness Week of events will have several events of topics aimed to a variety of audiences, Cole said. The keynote speaker for the week is Andrea Cooper, a mother of a college student who committed suicide after she was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance.
A wall of healing will also be displayed at Bracken Library from Monday to Thursday to honor and remember survivors of sexual assault. Students are invited to share messages of support.
Presentations this week:
TUESDAY
Law & Order: BSU
2 p.m. 101 Burkhart Building
Kristin's story
7:30 p.m. Cardinal Hall, Student Center
Sensory Overload: The Pornographic Imagination in Music Videos
7:30 Forum room, Student Center
THURSDAY
Women's Self Defense Seminar
6 p.m. 106 Health and Physical Activity Building and 200D Irving Gym
Understanding Intimate Partner Violence in LGBT Relationships
8:15 p.m. Forum room, Student Center
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